Maintenance of fire safety measures and equipment

In all premises, including those not usually staffed or those used on a relatively infrequent basis, emergency routes and exits, firefighting equipment, fire alarms, emergency lighting, fire and rescue service facilities and other fire safety measures must be regularly maintained and tested to ensure it is operational and in effective working order.
Regular in-house testing of the system, such as functionality of emergency lighting and fire alarms, can easily be done by trained members of staff.
Testing that can be carried out in-house includes:
- Fire alarm system
- Visual inspection of the control panel to ensure it is active and indicates normal operation: Daily
- Test of the alarm system by using a test key to activate a manual break glass call point, using a different call point each successive week (Where alarm systems are linked to alarm receiving centres, the centre should be notified prior to any test): Weekly
- Test of any other means of raising the alarm e.g. hand bell, klaxon horn: Weekly
- Test of domestic smoke alarms by activating the test button: Weekly
- Emergency lighting systems
- A test to simulate power failure should be carried out to determine that emergency lighting luminaires are functioning: Monthly
- Visual inspection to ensure there are no obvious faults / defects. (Frequency of this visual inspection can be reduced or increased where necessary): Monthly
- Fire exit doors, fire doors and doors on hold open devices
- Visual inspection of all fire exits to ensure they are unlocked and operational and available for us: Daily
- Doors that are held open by automatic release mechanisms should be released to test functionality and released overnight: Daily
- Hold open devices should be tested to ensure they operate on activation of the fire alarm or upon failure of the power supply: Weekly
- Water sprinkler and gaseous suppression systems
- The installer shall provide the user with a documented inspection and test procedure bespoke to the system that will enable the user to carry out regular inspections
- Smoke exhaust ventilation and control systems
- Actuation of system should be carried out to ensure that any fans and powered exhaust ventilators operate correctly and that smoke dampers close (or open for some system types) and that natural exhaust ventilators open: Weekly
Any identified faults or failures in the system should be reported to the maintenance engineers.
Each day that a property is used, a general walk through should take place to ensure that escape routes are clear from obstructions and that any fire detection system is working. All emergency escape doors must be operational and any emergency lighting working.
All other fire safety measures, including fire extinguishers, should be checked on a monthly basis to ensure that they are in the correct location and operational.
Most fire safety equipment and systems require certified inspection and testing (typically once a year) by a competent person who has detailed knowledge of such systems. Competent persons to carry out any certified periodic maintenance should be sourced locally or nationally by each congregation.
It should be noted that the provision of fire safety equipment within premises will vary dependant on the size, use and complexity of each building. The frequency of testing may also be dependant the use and operational hours of specific buildings.
Appendix 1 of this guide gives detailed maintenance and testing requirements, including frequencies for all common types of fire equipment likely provided within premises.
Note: In the event that any provided fire safety equipment may be offline or inactive for substantial periods of time, i.e. in the event of the failure of the fire alarm system, suitable reactive contingency measures should be implemented as necessary. Please contact the General Trustees for further information and advice.
See the utilities section of the toolkit for gas and electrical safety certification and maintenance.