Maintaining your fire alarm system
Regular servicing and maintenance is an important part of limiting the false alarms that may occur on a system. BS 5839-1 gives recommendations for periodic inspection and test of the system in Section 6.
Tests for detectors (all types) should ensure that products of combustion are capable of passing into the sensing chamber of the detector and this testing should be carried out by a competent person.
The period between successive inspection and servicing visits should be based upon a risk assessment, taking into account the type of system installed, the environment in which it operates and other factors that may affect the long term operation of the system. The recommended period between successive inspection and servicing visits should not exceed six months. If this recommendation is not implemented, it should be considered that the system is no longer compliant with BS 5839.
Some issues to check:
- Are contact details of the maintenance company available?
- Does the maintenance company hold an LPS1014 certificate or BAFE SP203 MaintenanceCertificate of competence?
- Are they providing an Inspection and Service certificate after each service visit, (details of thesecertificates are given in BS 5839-1, Annex G6)?
- Further guidance on maintaining your system, together with guidance on reducing false alarms, can be found in BS 5839-1, sections 3 and 6