I get some interesting questions and see some very strange things in my work around the country, but this one seems to have grown legs in the world of “cost-cutting” in safety. “Let’s have our maintenance people do the ‘annual maintenance’ on our fire extinguishers”… um NO WAY! And this is just not a “Haywood Safety Thing”… it’s a matter of IFC, NFPA 10, and even OSHA.
906.2 General requirements.
Portable fire extinguishers shall be selected, installed, and maintained in accordance with this section and NFPA 10.
Exceptions:
1. The distance of travel to reach an extinguisher shall not apply to the spectator seating portions of Group A-5 occupancies.
2. Thirty-day inspections shall not be required, and maintenance shall be allowed to be once every 3 years for dry-chemical or halogenated agent portable fire extinguishers that are supervised by a listed and approved electronic monitoring device, provided that all of the following conditions are met:
2.1. Electronic monitoring shall confirm that extinguishers are properly positioned, properly charged and unobstructed.
2.2. Loss of power or circuit continuity to the electronic monitoring device shall initiate a trouble signal.
2.3. The extinguishers shall be installed inside of a building or cabinet in a noncorrosive environment.
2.4. Electronic monitoring devices and supervisory circuits shall be tested every 3 years when extinguisher maintenance is performed.
2.5. A written log of required hydrostatic test dates for extinguishers shall be maintained by the owner to verify that hydrostatic tests are conducted at the frequency required by NFPA 10.
3. In Group I-3, portable fire extinguishers shall be permitted to be located at staff locations.
906.2.1 Certification of service personnel for portable fire extinguishers.
Service personnel providing or conducting maintenance on portable fire extinguishers shall possess a valid certificate issued by an approved governmental agency, or other approved organization for the type of work performed.