What this is
What is a fire extinguisher inspection?
What is a fire extinguisher inspection?
A fire extinguisher inspection is a routine visual check that each extinguisher in a site is present in its mapped location, fully charged, unobstructed, correctly mounted, undamaged and within its service date. It is a condition check, distinct from the annual maintenance examination and from the coverage decision that placed the unit there in the first place.
Who carries out a fire extinguisher inspection?
The area owner or a designated competent person, on a monthly cycle. It does not require a fire protection qualification, because the monthly check is a condition check rather than a technical examination; annual maintenance and hydrostatic testing are a distinct duty carried out by a qualified person.
What is the difference between this inspection and annual maintenance?
This inspection is a monthly visual check of presence, charge, access and physical condition, performed by the area owner. Annual maintenance is an internal examination, performed by a qualified person, that verifies the extinguishing agent and expelling means are still serviceable. A unit can pass every monthly check and still be overdue for annual maintenance.
Scope
When is a fire extinguisher inspection required?
This inspection is one step in a larger programme. Using it for work that belongs to a neighbouring template, or as a substitute for the assessment that decided what provision is needed, produces records that look complete and protect nothing.
Use this template when
- The routine monthly cycle for the site is due
- A new extinguisher has been installed or an existing one relocated, and the record needs its first entry
- The unit was discharged, serviced, refilled or replaced and needs to be re-checked in position
- A previous inspection raised an action, and the fix needs to be verified as closed
- Extinguisher provision was set or changed by a Fire Risk Assessment and needs its first check against the new plan
Do not use it for
- Fire Alarm System Check, which records testing of detection, sounders and panel function, not portable extinguishers.
- Sprinkler System Inspection, which checks sprinkler heads, valves, gauges and clearance below heads.
- Fire Door Inspection, which checks doors close, latch and are not propped open.
- Fire Risk Assessment, which is the instrument that decides how many extinguishers, what type and where; this inspection only verifies what that assessment already specified is still in order.
- Annual maintenance and hydrostatic testing, which is a qualified-person duty distinct from the monthly area-owner check, even though both leave a record against the same asset
Compliance mapping
Which NFPA 10 requirements does this satisfy?
OSHA and NFPA 10 treat extinguisher upkeep as two separate duties: a monthly visual check that any competent person can perform, and an annual maintenance examination that requires a qualified person. Placement and coverage are set at installation and revisited by the fire risk assessment, not reinvented by each monthly check.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| OSHA 1910.157(e)(2) | Monthly visual check confirming the extinguisher is in its designated place, accessible and not obviously damaged | Extinguishers |
| NFPA 10 sec.7.2 | Monthly inspection covering location, visibility, access, mounting and physical condition | Extinguishers |
| NFPA 10 sec.7.3 | Annual maintenance examination by a qualified person, distinct from and in addition to the monthly check | Extinguishers |
| OSHA 1910.157(c)(1) | Extinguisher type and rating suitable for the class of hazard present in the area | Extinguishers |
| OSHA 1910.157(d)(2) | Travel distance from any point in the area to an extinguisher does not exceed the limit for the hazard class | Coverage check |
| NFPA 10 sec.6.2 | Selection and placement matched to the hazard classification across the whole protected area, not just at the point of installation | Coverage check |
| OSHA 1910.157(e)(3) | Record of the annual maintenance date kept and available for inspection | Result |
What it does not cover
- Fire Alarm System Check, which records detection, sounders and panel function and is a separate template.
- Sprinkler System Inspection, which checks heads, valves, gauges and clearance below heads.
- Fire Risk Assessment, which is the instrument that determines how many extinguishers are needed, of what type, and where, and which this inspection assumes rather than re-derives.
- Annual maintenance and hydrostatic testing, a qualified-person duty under NFPA 10 that a passed monthly inspection does not defer or replace.
- Fire Door Inspection, which covers self-closing doors and compartmentation rather than portable extinguishers.
Global
Fire Extinguisher Inspection requirements by country
The duty to inspect extinguishers monthly is close to universal in industrial and commercial premises, though the instrument that carries it differs by jurisdiction.
OSHA 1910.157; NFPA 10 incorporated by reference in most state fire codes
Monthly visual inspection and annual maintenance are both mandatory, with NFPA 10 supplying the technical detail OSHA does not.
An OSHA citation for extinguisher condition will typically also reference the NFPA 10 clause the inspection failed to meet.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; BS 5306-3
The responsible person must ensure firefighting equipment is maintained in efficient working order; BS 5306-3 sets the commissioning and servicing detail.
The monthly user check and the annual service by a competent contractor are both expected, and the Order does not treat one as covering the other.
ISO 11602-1
Selection and installation of portable extinguishers set against hazard classification and travel distance, independent of national enforcement route.
Multi-site operators outside the US and UK typically anchor coverage decisions to ISO 11602-1 even where local law is silent on inspection frequency.
How to complete it
How to complete a fire extinguisher inspection, step by step
The template checks the state of what is already mounted on the wall. It does not, by itself, verify that the plan behind that placement is still correct.
A clean monthly record with every unit passed says nothing about whether the annual maintenance date has lapsed. Treat the service date field as a hard gate: a unit overdue for annual maintenance is not made current by a good monthly result.
The type-matches-risk and travel-distance questions exist because areas change use after the extinguishers were placed. An inspector who only confirms the unit present is unobstructed and skips those two questions has completed the easy half of the record.
A missing or discharged extinguisher is an unprotected area from the moment it is found. The record should show same-day replacement and a work order reference, not a priority rating that lets it wait for the next maintenance round.
Pressure in the green band tells you the unit is charged today. It tells you nothing about whether the extinguishing agent has degraded or whether a hydrostatic test is due, which is why the service date question sits alongside the gauge check rather than replacing it.
What auditors find
Most common fire extinguisher inspection findings
Extinguisher inspection findings split cleanly into two kinds: the unit itself is wrong, or the coverage around it was never re-examined.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Extinguisher missing from its mapped location or moved without the record being updated. | OSHA 1910.157(e)(2) | Locate or replace the unit immediately, and correct the location record before closing the inspection. |
| Pressure gauge outside the green band, or tamper seal broken, indicating an undetected discharge. | NFPA 10 sec.7.2 | Remove the unit from service, replace with a charged one the same day, and route the discharged unit for recharge or disposal. |
| Access to the extinguisher obstructed by stock, equipment or racking. | OSHA 1910.157(e)(2) | Clear the access immediately and raise the recurring obstruction with the area owner rather than only clearing it once. |
| Extinguisher type does not match the hazard in the area, for example a water unit near an electrical panel. | OSHA 1910.157(c)(1) | Replace with the correct type and flag the area for the next fire risk assessment review. |
| Annual maintenance or hydrostatic test date lapsed despite a clean monthly record. | NFPA 10 sec.7.3 | Take the unit out of service until a qualified person completes the annual examination, and do not let a passed monthly check stand in for it. |
| Failed unit left in place without a work order or same-day replacement. | OSHA 1910.157(e)(2) | Enforce same-day replacement as policy and require a work order ID on every fail before the record can close. |
Case in point
Case in point: the unit that passed every month and matched nothing
A meat processing site's monthly extinguisher inspection passed every unit for two years running: present, charged, accessible, signage visible, correctly mounted. The coverage check questions, added to the template after an audit, were answered the same way each month without anyone re-walking the area against the hazard it actually contained.
A fault in the plant room's electrical panel started a small fire. The nearest extinguisher, a dry powder unit rated correctly for the general storage risk it had been installed against, did nothing useful against a live electrical fire; the CO2 unit rated for that panel was two aisles away, outside the room, because the panel had been relocated eight months earlier and no one had asked whether the extinguisher provision moved with it. The inspection had never failed the unit, because none of its questions had ever asked whether the right extinguisher was in the right room, only whether the one already there was in order.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
5 sections
- Reference
- SAF-110
- Archetype
- Inspection
- Record ID
- INSP-2026-000
- Scoring
- Pass or fail per unit
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- NFPA 10, OSHA 1910.157
- Links
- Links Asset
- Tags
- Fire, Inspection
- Sections
- 5
- Fields
- 39
- Follow up fields
- 5
- Repeating sections
- 1
- Links out
- 5
Header
8 fieldsInspection ID*
Auto sequence. Format INSP-2026-00000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Area*
The area within the site.
Exact Location
Drop a pin for anything hard to find.
Extinguishers
Repeats17 fieldsExtinguisher*
Asset ID*
Format AST-0000.
Links to FDN-002 Asset ID
Location*
Extinguisher Type*
Water, foam, CO2, dry powder or wet chemical.
Suitable For Nearby Risk*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Present In Position*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Access Unobstructed*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Signage Visible*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Correctly Mounted*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Pressure Gauge In Green*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Pin And Tamper Seal Intact*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Body Free Of Damage Or Corrosion*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Hose And Nozzle Clear*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Service Date Current*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Result*
- Pass3 pts
- Pass with conditions2 pts
- Fail0 pts
Replaced Immediately
Work Order ID
Links to MNT-002 Work Order ID
Coverage check
2 fieldsTravel Distance Within Limit*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Type Matches Risk In Every Area*
Water near electrical panels or CO2 in a confined plant room are both findings.
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Related records
1 fieldFire Risk Assessment ID
The assessment that set the extinguisher provision.
Links to SAF-115 Assessment ID
Result
11 fieldsItems Assessed*
Excludes anything marked N/A.
Items Failed*
Score Percent*
Calculated on submission. High is good. N/A items leave the denominator.
Result Band*
- Pass3 pts
- Caution1 pt
- Fail0 pts
Completeness Percent*
How much of the template was actually answered. A high score on a half completed form is not a high score.
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Completed By*
Signature*
SAF-110 · record IDs look like INSP-2026-000 · Links Asset
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The inspection form is the easy part. What actually fails is the coverage question being answered from memory, and the failed unit sitting unreplaced because no work order was raised against it.
Holds the extinguisher inspection library against the asset register, routes each record to the area owner, and flags units overdue for annual maintenance.
Turns a failed or discharged unit into a work order automatically, so replacement happens the same day rather than at the next round.
Schedules the qualified-person annual maintenance and hydrostatic testing against the contractor who holds that duty, separately from the monthly cycle.
Watches for a passed monthly record sitting against a lapsed annual maintenance date, and raises the mismatch before an auditor finds it.
This template lives in KnowSafe — safety and compliance. Incidents, hazards, permits, inspections and the critical controls behind them.
Meet KnowSafe→Glossary
Fire Extinguisher Inspection definitions and key terms
- Travel distance
- The maximum distance from any point in a protected area to the nearest extinguisher, set by hazard class and used to determine how many units and where.
- Hydrostatic test
- A periodic pressure test of the extinguisher cylinder, on an interval set by agent and construction, distinct from the annual maintenance examination.
- Class rating
- The letter rating (A, B, C, K and combinations) describing which fuel types an extinguisher is suitable for, which the coverage check verifies against the actual hazard in each area.
- Annual maintenance
- A qualified-person examination of the extinguishing agent, expelling means and mechanical parts, required once a year regardless of how the monthly checks went.
- Tamper seal
- The frangible seal through the pull pin that shows whether the extinguisher has been operated or interfered with since it was last serviced.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about fire extinguisher inspection
How often should extinguishers be inspected?+
Monthly, as a visual check of presence, charge, access and condition. This is in addition to, not instead of, the annual maintenance examination by a qualified person and any hydrostatic testing interval that applies to the unit.
Who can carry out the monthly check versus the annual maintenance?+
The monthly check can be done by the area owner or another competent person familiar with the site; it needs no fire-protection qualification. Annual maintenance is a technical examination and must be carried out by someone qualified to do it, typically a contracted fire protection company.
What does pressure gauge in the green band actually confirm?+
That the unit is currently charged. It says nothing about whether the agent has degraded, whether the last hydrostatic test is still current, or whether the type is right for the hazard in the room, which is why the inspection carries separate questions for those.
What happens when an extinguisher is found discharged or missing?+
It is treated as an immediate finding, not a scheduling item. Replace it the same day with a charged unit of the correct type, and record a work order reference so the discharged unit is tracked to recharge or disposal.
Does passing this inspection mean the fire risk assessment is still valid?+
No. This inspection verifies that what the assessment specified is still physically in order. It does not re-derive how many extinguishers are needed or of what type; that judgement belongs to the fire risk assessment and should be revisited when an area's use changes.
How is travel distance actually checked in practice?+
By walking the area and confirming no point exceeds the limit set for the hazard class present, not by assuming the original installation is still correct. Layout changes, new equipment and altered storage all move the effective travel distance without moving the extinguisher.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Emergency Preparedness
Contractor Emergency Drill Participation
Records contractor involvement in an evacuation or emergency drill, including whether they were accounted for
Site Resilience and Continuity Plan
Sets out how the site keeps operating or recovers after loss of power, refrigeration, water, IT, key equipment or people
Business Continuity Exercise Record
Records a test of the continuity plan, what worked and what did not
Environmental Spill Drill Record
Records a practice spill response, timed from discovery to containment
Emergency Response Plan
Sets out what happens in a fire, medical emergency, spill, power failure or evacuation, including who does what
Evacuation Drill Record
Records a practice evacuation, including clearance time, headcount and anything that went wrong
More in Fire Safety
Fire Alarm System Check
Records testing of detection, sounders and panel function
Sprinkler System Inspection
Checks sprinkler heads, valves, gauges and clearance below heads
Hot Work Fire Watch Log
Records the fire watch kept during and after hot work, including the time the watch ended
Fire Door Inspection
Checks fire doors close fully, latch, are undamaged and are not propped open
Fire Risk Assessment
Assesses fire risk across a building, covering ignition sources, fuel, people, detection and escape
Fire Pump Test Record
Records the routine run test of a fire pump, including pressure, flow and run time
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- OSHA 1910.157 — Portable fire extinguishers
- NFPA 10 — Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers
- BS 5306-3 — Commissioning and maintenance of portable fire extinguishers (UK)
- ISO 11602-1 — Portable and wheeled fire extinguishers, selection and installation
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.