🔥 Fire Safety Questions & Answers

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There are several types of fire extinguishers, each designed to tackle specific fire classes:

• Water extinguishers – for Class A fires involving solid combustibles like wood or paper.
• Foam extinguishers – for Class A and B fires (solids and flammable liquids).
• CO₂ extinguishers – ideal for electrical fires and Class B liquid fires.
• Dry powder extinguishers – suitable for Class A, B, and C fires, including flammable gases.
• Wet chemical extinguishers – specifically for Class F fires involving cooking oils and fats.
• Lithium battery Fire extinguishers - specifically for use on lithium battery fires

Choosing the correct type is essential for effective fire response and safety compliance.

A fire risk assessment should be reviewed at least annually, or whenever:

• There are significant changes to your premises, layout, or processes

• There's a change in the number or type of occupants

• A fire incident or near miss has occurred

• You install or remove fire safety equipment

Regular assessments are a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The Responsible Person — typically the employer, landlord, building owner, or occupier is legally accountable for fire safety in non-domestic premises. Their duties include:

Conducting fire risk assessments

Implementing necessary fire precautions

Ensuring staff receive fire safety training

Maintaining fire protection systems (e.g. alarms, extinguishers, signage)

Failure to meet these responsibilities can lead to enforcement action or prosecution under the Fire Safety Order 2005.

Passive fire protection (PFP) involves built-in measures that contain or slow the spread of fire and smoke, helping to protect lives and property. Examples include:

• Fire-resistant walls, ceilings, and floors

• Fire-stopping and sealing services

• Fire doors and glazing

• Cavity barriers and compartmentation

These systems work without human intervention and are essential for compliance with building regulations.

A fire stopping survey identifies breaches in your building's fire compartments (such as gaps around pipes, cables, or ductwork) that may allow fire or smoke to spread.

It includes:

• A visual inspection of all penetrations

• Recommendations for remedial action

• Compliance checks with Approved Document B and BS 9999

It's especially important during building refurbishments or after services have been installed.

Fire extinguishers should be:

• Visually inspected monthly by a responsible person

• Serviced annually by a BAFE-approved technician

• Refilled or replaced after use, even partially

• Pressure-tested or replaced every 5 or 10 years, depending on the type

Regular servicing ensures your extinguishers are fully operational and compliant with BS 5306-3 standards.

Fire safety signs:

• Guide people to exits in an emergency

• Indicate the location of fire equipment

• Provide critical instructions (e.g. "Keep Fire Door Closed")

They're required by Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 and should follow BS ISO 7010 standards for consistency and visibility.

We provide a large range of fire extinguisher boxes for equipment which is installed outside. This ensures that the fire extinguishers do not corrode and also ensures you get the maximum life cycle from the equipment. Water based fire extinguishers should always be protected with low freeze additive to stop the contents freezing during winter months.

A fire risk assessment should be reviewed at least annually, or whenever:

• There are significant changes to your premises, layout, or processes

• There's a change in the number or type of occupants

• A fire incident or near miss has occurred

• You install or remove fire safety equipment

Regular assessments are a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The British Standard for portable fire extinguishers states that fire extinguishers need to be fitted to a wall or placed on a suitable fire extinguisher stand. By keeping fire extinguishers on the floor you are at risk of causing damage to the equipment and creating an unnecessary trip hazard.

We aim to make your experience with Kings Fire as hassle free as possible. We take the worry of maintenance schedules away from our clients. When your equipment is due for maintenance we telephone you in advance to book appointments for each maintenance visit.

Every time we carry out an inspection we review your fire safety requirements to the relevant standards. This ensures that you have exactly the correct amount of equipment to cover the relevant risks within your premises.

In most cases you own your fire extinguishers, Fire blankets, Stands etc. When you purchase fire extinguishers they are your property and the current provider has no right to remove them without your prior consent. The only case where the current provider owns the fire equipment is when you have entered into a hire agreement which runs for the period you agreed with the provider.

In order to carry out fire safety maintenance we ensure that all necessary certification is in place for anyone visiting your premises. Feel free at any time to request a copy of our certificates of competency. If we or our subcontractors are not certificated to carry out maintenance on specific equipment we will not enter any agreement to maintain it.

When we carry out a first service on your fire extinguishers we compile a new equipment asset register which includes locations, types, size, Dates when new or last tested and dates when the equipment is due test or replacement. This information is emailed to each client along with their certificate after every inspection. The information provided in our location reports assist our clients with their monthly visual checks and more importantly their fire safety budgets year on year.

You can request that both services are carried out on the same day, But this is rare and not often required. The British Standards for most disciplines ensures there is enough flexibility in the service frequencies to get each service discipline carried out in adequate time.

We receive lots of calls from people asking if we can specify/install a fire alarm system just by using plans or visiting their new premises. We strongly advise that your fire alarm system is specified in your fire risk assessment document. This ensures you get the correct fire alarm system for your premises. If you do not seek professional guidance from a qualified fire risk assessor you run the risk of installing an inadequate fire alarm system or in some cases over spending on a system which is simply too complicated for the premises and not required. 

Providing nothing has changed from the previous year you can safely sign off your review if you are comfortable with signing off the document as the responsible person. If there have been changes to the building or working practices then a new fire risk assessment must be carried out by a competent and experienced fire risk assessor. We would also advise that a fresh risk assessment is carried out every two to three years due to any legislative changes which you may not be aware of and could have an impact on your fire safety.

The annual wet test is one part of the testing process of a dry riser system. The system "Stack" must be filled with water to a set pressure and hold for an amount of time as stated in the British Standards (BS9990:2015) You cannot and should not test a dry riser system with air only (Some fire protection businesses actually do this!) The British Standards also advises that you should have 6 monthly visual inspections on each dry riser stack.

Since 1989, it has been the responsibility of a building's owner / occupier to keep its fire hydrant systems in working order. Your fire hydrants should be flow tested annually. We strongly advise that the testing is completed where possible in the summer months. If fire hydrants are tested during the winter months you risk creating slip and fall risks due to the possibility of water freezing on the ground after the testing has been completed.

You should look to get your fire hydrants tested between the months of March and November. The reason for this is due to the risk of freezing weather conditions in the other months. Fire hydrant testing disperses large amounts of water (Up to 2,500 litres per minute!) so you need to ensure that you do not create ice patches especially on footpaths or roads as this can be very dangerous.

Yes. Regular fire door inspections are a legal requirement to ensure they function correctly in the event of a fire. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require:

• Quarterly checks of fire doors in communal areas

• Annual inspections of flat entrance doors in multi-occupied residential buildings

Proper maintenance helps prevent the spread of fire and smoke, giving occupants vital time to evacuate.

Most definitely not, It is a legal requirement that fire doors are only held open with devices which automatically close the door in the event the fire alarm sounds. This can be magnets which are part of your fire alarm system or by using Dorgards which are battery operated.

Due to the poor quality surveys we have seen over the last few years and the amount of time it takes to decipher other companies documents we have decided to only quote for fire door remedial works from our own surveys. 

We are able to carry out a vast amount of repairs to fire doors both internally or externally. We will always look to repair a door rather than replace although should the door require replacement that would not be a problem. All works are certificated and this is sent to you upon completion. 

Unlike some other fire safety companies we will visit any business wanting to discuss their fire safety requirements completely free of charge and without making people sign any form of contract. We believe our relationship with future or current clients is based on trust and everything we do is agreed prior to any action being taken.

We would never charge for a fire extinguisher survey or fire safety sign survey. If you require a fire safety survey we will attend site on an agreed date and then send the quotation to you shortly afterwards. We can also survey a building using your building plans which gives you an indication of amounts and costs prior to site surveys. We also compile and send you our very popular equipment asset register which assists you with your monthly checks and future fire safety budgeting.

In 2018 Kings Fire was formed in Houghton Regis near Dunstable which had an 01582 number for our local area. In late 2020 we relocated to Shefford in Bedfordshire which has a 01462 area code. As we are now established in the area we thought it best to use a local number so we purchased the additional number which will be shown on all vehicles, Documents, Labels etc. from April 2023. 

We will continue to use the 01582 number alongside the new local number for the foreseeable future. 

We are SafeContractor and Safe PPQ accredited and have been for many years. See our accreditations page for more details.

Yes we were approved by BAFE in March 2025. See our accreditations page for more details. 

In January 2025 we become ISO9001 compliant. See our accreditations page for more details.

We are full members of Fire Industry Association (FIA) and affiliate members of The Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM). This is in addition to our Managing Director Darren King having Membership status (MIFSM).