Do you own or operate a business in New Zealand? Did you know that you are legally required to invest in regular fire extinguisher servicing? We’ll explain the fire extinguisher standards that you must adhere to in our latest blog post.
At Jim’s Fire Safety, we are passionate about spreading fire safety awareness. If you have any questions about your statutory testing requirements, please contact us now for business specific advice. For general guidance, check out the rest of this article.
New Zealand Fire Extinguisher Standards
According to new legislation from Fire and Emergency New Zealand, the owner of any hand-operated firefighting equipment installed in a building for firefighting by the building’s occupants must maintain it in accordance with NZS 4503:2005—Hand operated fire-fighting equipment. This includes all portable and wheeled fire extinguishers you have on your property.
If you fail to meet these fire extinguisher regulations, an individual could face a fine of up to $10,000 and an organisation could face up to $20,000 in fines. In order to avoid any unnecessary costs to your business, you need to invest in regular servicing.
Regular Extinguisher Maintenance
At Jim’s Fire Safety, we conduct all our tests in accordance with the most recent fire extinguisher standards. We test and inspect extinguishers in accordance with the NZS 4503:2005.
This means that:
- tests need to be performed at least once every 12 months (we recommend 6 monthly intervals)
- every 5 years, there needs to be a hydraulic pressure test
- results must be recorded and provided to the client
- plastic tags must be attached and/or updated
It is very important that only reputable service technicians complete your tests. Portable fire extinguisher requirements are dictated by the government and are nothing to mess around with. If you fail to meet the requirements, aside from monetary loss, someone could be injured in your workplace. Don’t become a statistic – make sure your workplace is safe today.
Other Fire Extinguisher Standards
There are a number of other standards that may affect the way you implement fire safety in your building. If you’re interested in learning more about the standards for fire extinguishers in New Zealand, check out the following list of regulations:
- Australian New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 1841/1850 Portable fire extinguishers – Australian Government – If your ship is equipped with motor lifeboats, they must carry 2 portable fire extinguishers that are capable of discharging foam or dry powder of a kind that is suitable for extinguishing oil fire.
- AS/NZS 1841.1:2007Portable fire extinguishers – General requirements- Provides general requirements for portable fire extinguishers other than aerosol type.
- AS/NZS 1850:2009 Portable fire extinguishers – Classification, rating and performance testing – Classifies extinguishers according to the general classes of fires for which they are suitable and gives a method of rating.
- NZS 4507:1978 -Specification for fire testing and rating of portable fire extinguishers
You can find copies of these standards and many more on the Standards New Zealand website.
