Cheap, annual, and the single most common thing a fire official writes up. Every extinguisher tagged, dated and in date.
Portable fire extinguishers need a monthly visual check and annual professional maintenance under NFPA 10. The annual is a licensed activity and it ends with a tag on the extinguisher showing the date.
It is a small line item and it is written up more often than almost anything else, because an out-of-date tag is visible from across the room.
Monthly. A visual check — right place, visible, unobstructed, seal intact, gauge in the green, no obvious damage. This can be done by staff and should be recorded.
Annually. Professional maintenance by a licensed contractor: a thorough examination of the mechanical parts, the extinguishing agent and the expelling means, ending with a new tag.
Periodic hydrostatic testing. Interval depends on the extinguisher type — commonly five or twelve years. Units past their test date have to be tested or replaced, and replacement is often cheaper than testing on small units.
Six-yearly maintenance on certain stored-pressure types, involving discharge and internal examination.
Coverage and travel distance. It is not enough to have extinguishers; they have to be within a defined travel distance of any point in the occupancy, and the required distance varies with the hazard classification. Buildings that have been reconfigured frequently fail on this without anyone realising.
Mounting and visibility. Height, signage and obstruction all get cited. An extinguisher behind a stack of boxes is a finding.
The right type. A kitchen needs a different class from a plant room. Getting this wrong is worse than useless.
We cover the whole state. These are the metros we work in most often — each page covers the local housing stock, code position and insurance context.
Monthly visual checks by your own staff, and annual professional maintenance by a licensed contractor. Hydrostatic testing is periodic — typically five or twelve years depending on type.
Yes. The tag shows the date of the last professional maintenance and it is the first thing an inspector looks at.
It depends on the hazard classification of the occupancy and the travel distance to any point in it. We assess that as part of the visit rather than assuming what is there is correct.
On small units past their hydrostatic date, usually yes. We will tell you which way round it falls rather than defaulting to the more expensive option.
One number for the inspection and for whatever it turns up. Licensed, insured contractors across Florida.