Summit Fire and Safety Equipment

Three Facts Every Business Owner or Manager Should Know About Fire Extinguisher Maintenance

State Fire Code (NFPA 10), OSHA, and DOT (DOT specification extinguishers) require the owner or occupant of a place of business to ensure proper selection, installation, inspection, maintenance, and testing of portable extinguishing equipment. Even though the recharging, yearly maintenance, etc. must be performed by someone trained and certified to perform the needed maintenance on that particular extinguisher, the owner or designated agent is still responsible.

State fire code requires all DOT specification fire extinguishers be hydrostatically tested by an organization approved and certified to retest such cylinders. This is true even if your company has nothing to do with the Department of Transportation. Most high quality extinguishers are DOT specification.

Just because a service company is licensed to provide some maintenance on certain extinguishers does not necessarily mean that provider is qualified to perform the required test on your particular extinguisher. To find out if your service company is qualified to hydro-test your DOT specification fire extinguishers, just follow this link to the DOT official site and check for your extinguisher company on the list for your state.