A fire extinguisher service checklist is easy to document and track your fire prevention equipment maintenance and service. In particular, this free and downloadable template primarily focuses on the fire extinguisher – a vital tool necessary in almost every work environment.

The Fire Extinguisher Service Checklist provided here is free and downloadable and will aid your team in effectively documenting and tracking your fire extinguisher service and maintenance. 

You can use the checklist to ensure your team doesn’t miss critical information during routine inspections. Similarly, you can use this guide as a training tool, so feel free to bookmark this page for future reference.

Included In The Fire Extinguisher Service Checklist

The Fire Extinguisher Service Checklist works flawlessly for fire prevention groups certified in the maintenance and service of extinguishers. The checklist has four primary components:

1. Administrative
2. Internal Inspection Maintenance Procedure
3. Hydrostatic Testing
4. Notes and Sign-Off

Administrative

The administrative section of the checklist allows your team to document essential information like the name of the technician performing the maintenance or servicing of the equipment, the equipment identifier, and more pertinent information.

Documentation is essential to maintain compliance with OSHA regulations. Therefore, you must ensure your team performs inspections routinely, as regulated, and documents all their assessments and maintenance.

Internal Inspection Maintenance Procedure

The internal inspection is critical when performing anything beyond a simple external visual inspection of the fire extinguishers. You can use a tool like our downloadable Fire Extinguisher Inspection Checklist for exterior visual inspections. Otherwise, if service or maintenance to the equipment is required, then the internal inspection procedure is necessary.

Your technicians must maintain certification in NFPA 10 and understand how to discharge and recharge extinguishers properly. Similarly, they must have full training on any equipment used to complete the discharge and recharge procedures included in the internal inspection maintenance procedure.

Hydrostatic Testing

According to the NFPA, hydrostatic testing of fire extinguishers must occur based on the frequency set out by the NFPA 10-8.3.1. The frequency determination appears based on the extinguisher type. Here is a table showing the hydrostatic test interval minimums.

Extinguisher Type	Test Interval (Years)
Pressurized water, water mist, loaded steam or antifreeze	5
Wetting agent	5
AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam)	5
FFFP (film-forming fluoroprotein foam)	5
Dry chemical with stainless steel shells	5
Carbon dioxide	5
Wet chemical	5
Dry chemical, stored-pressure, with mild steel shells, brazed brass shells, or aluminum shells	12
Dry chemical, cartridge- or cylinder-operated, with mild steel shells	12
Halogenated agents	12
Dry powder, stored-pressure, cartridge- or cylinder-operated, with mild steel shells	12

Notes and Sign-Off

The final section of the fire extinguisher service checklist includes a text box where your technician can document further notes. Furthermore, there is another area for the technician to sign and date the service checklists to verify authenticity and completion.

How To Manage Fire Extinguisher Maintenance, Service, And Inspections

Managing fire extinguisher maintenance, service, and inspections might seem daunting, possibly even confusing. But, with the right team in place and a few helpful tips, you can rest assured that your equipment is up to code and compliant with OSHA regulations.

Ensure compliance by maintaining records of all extinguisher service, maintenance, and inspections. You can use the Fire Extinguisher Service Checklist to maintain compliance and keep track of service and maintenance requiring internal cylinder inspections. Similarly, as mentioned earlier, you can download and use our Fire Extinguisher Inspection Checklist for your routine monthly facility fire prevention equipment inspections.

Generally, you should always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for service and maintenance. But here are a few tips and best practices to help you manage your program.

9 Tips and Best Practices for Fire Extinguisher Management

Fire extinguishers are fire prevention equipment often forgotten but always in view. It’s easy to forget about requirements like annual inspections. That is easy to forget until you have your facility shut down by bylaw enforcement for lack of proper fire safety.

To make your job easier, we’ve got nine tips and best practices to help you maintain strict fire equipment safety protocols.

1. Understand the Fire Extinguisher Types and Use
2. Maintain a Strict Fire Extinguisher Policy
3. Perform Regular Fire Extinguisher and Facility Inspections
4. Ensure to Set Recharge Reminders
5. Extinguishers Need to Be Readily Available
6. Choose Maintenance and Service Providers Wisely
7. Avoid Fire Extinguisher Abuse
8. Don’t Forget to Train Your Employees
9. Use a Service and Inspection Reporting App

Understand the Fire Extinguisher Types and Use

Each fire extinguisher is different. Extinguisher types each have a specific use, and some are more effective than others in particular situations. The most common types of fire extinguishers include:

• Water and Foam
• Dry Chemical
• Carbon Dioxide
• Halotron I or Clean Agent
• Wet Chemical

Knowing the types of extinguishers available and their intended use, you can better match the right fire suppression equipment to your specific needs.

Maintain a Strict Fire Extinguisher Policy

It would be best if you had a policy that covers all aspects of your fire extinguisher program, from who is responsible for service and maintenance to how often inspections should occur. Furthermore, your approach should also address expectations for team member training and consequences for fire extinguisher abuse.

Perform Regular Fire Extinguisher and Facility Inspections

You should perform monthly visual inspections of all fire extinguishers and document the results. These inspections are a crucial part of your fire prevention program because they allow you to identify any issues early on before they become more significant problems. You should also perform quarterly facility inspections to identify potential fire hazards.

Ensure to Set Recharge Reminders

After each discharge, it’s essential to recharge the extinguisher according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Luckily, most modern fire suppression systems have a built-in indicator that alerts you when to recharge. However, you should keep track of all discharges and schedule a recharge as soon as possible to ensure your extinguisher is always ready for use.

Extinguishers Need to Be Readily Available

Fire extinguishers need to be easily accessible in the event of an emergency. They should be placed in strategic locations throughout your facility so you can quickly access them in the event of a fire. You should also ensure they are correctly mounted and not obstructed by any furniture or equipment.

Choose Maintenance and Service Providers Wisely

Not all fire extinguisher service providers are created equal. When choosing a provider, you should ensure that they are properly certified and have experience servicing the specific type of extinguisher you have. It would be best if you also got quotes from multiple providers to ensure you get the best possible price.

Avoid Fire Extinguisher Abuse

Fire extinguishers are a crucial part of your fire safety program, but team members should only use them in the event of a fire. Unfortunately, some employees see them as toys and use them for fun or as pranks. This abuse can damage the extinguisher and make it ineffective in the event of an actual fire. To avoid this, you should have a strict policy outlining the consequences of abusing fire extinguishers.

Don’t Forget to Train Your Employees

Your employees need to know how to use a fire extinguisher properly in the event of a fire. You should conduct regular training sessions to ensure they are familiar with the types of extinguishers and how to use them correctly. It would be best if you also had a designated fire marshal responsible for leading these training sessions and ensuring everyone understands fire safety.

Use a Service and Inspection Reporting App

There are a few fatal flaws to maintaining paper documents. Paper and ink costs, storage and shredding fees, floorspace for filing cabinets, printers, and the potential for paperwork to be lost, damaged, or poorly written are a few of the fatal flaws of paper forms.

I could go on and on, but the point is that technology has a much more robust solution: a reporting application. Let me introduce you to 1st Reporting.

1st Reporting is an industry-leading application that makes reporting, documenting, managing, analyzing, and retrieving documents like inspection reports, checklists, and other templates easy.

Aside from the plethora of templates built into the platform and ready for you to use, the template customizer and builder lets you make any template, checklist, form, or other documents you might need.

You can use the app to set up teams in your organization and disperse select checklists and templates to them. Furthermore, the Microsoft Teams® integration and customizable notifications mean that you can automate communications, so the right manager receives a notice when a specific report completion event occurs on the app. Can your paper-printed forms do that? I didn’t think so.