Fire Alarm Maintenance: What the Law Expects and What It Costs
A fire alarm system has to be looked after by two different people. You test it every week yourself, and an engineer services it twice a year. Most businesses do the second and forget the first, which is the one an inspector asks to see.
This page sets out what the law expects, what a proper service includes, how long it should take, and what it costs.
The rule. Test one call point every week and write it in the log book. Have the system serviced twice a year, roughly every six months, by a competent engineer. Keep the log book, because it is the first thing asked for.
Where the duty comes from
Two documents cover this.
- The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the law. It says the responsible person must keep fire safety equipment in efficient working order and in good repair. It does not say how.
- BS 5839-1 is the British Standard, currently the 2025 edition. It says how. It is not law in itself, but it is the yardstick everybody is measured against, including in court.
The law requires the system to be in efficient working order. BS 5839-1 is how that is judged, including in court.
The weekly fire alarm test
The weekly test is the one that gets missed, and it costs nothing. It is done on site, not by the engineer.
Every week, somebody on site tests one manual call point, the break glass unit. Not the same one each time. You work through them in rotation so that over a period every call point has been tested.
- Do it at the same time each week so people recognise it as a test rather than a fire.
- Check the sounders can be heard everywhere they need to be, including the noisy parts of the building.
- Write it in the log book. Date, which call point, who did it, and that it worked.
- Reset the panel afterwards and confirm it goes back to normal.
A weekly test finds a dead sounder or a fault within seven days. A six monthly service finds it up to six months after it failed.
The six monthly service
BS 5839-1 expects at least two service visits a year, roughly six months apart, carried out by a competent engineer.
One point worth knowing, and it is new. The 2025 edition of the standard is reported to have introduced a permitted window around that interval, so a visit between five and seven months after the last one still counts. Not every source agrees this is in the published standard, so if the timing of a visit matters to you, ask your engineer to show you where the standard says that. The safe assumption remains six months.
What a proper service actually includes
If a visit does not cover these, you have paid for a look round rather than a service.
- A functional test of every device. Every automatic detector, every manual call point, every sounder and every visual alarm. Not a sample.
- The control panel. Indicators, zone display, logic and fault monitoring all checked.
- Batteries and power supply. Standby capacity tested, not just glanced at.
- Interfaces. Door releases, lift recall, ventilation and any suppression system triggered by the alarm.
- Visual inspection of cabling, fixings, detector heads and enclosures.
- The panel fault log read and reviewed, not cleared and forgotten.
- A written report and the log book filled in.
The 2025 edition adds a few housekeeping items to that list: correcting the panel clock so the event log timestamps are right, checking the zone chart still matches the building, and marking battery installation dates so replacements can be tracked.
How long a service should take
A fire alarm service that takes thirty minutes in a large building is almost certainly not a service. Every device has to be operated individually. In a medium sized commercial premises that is several hours of work, not half an hour.
This is the most useful question you can ask before booking: how long will the engineer be on site. Then compare that against the number of devices in the building. If the answer is an hour for eighty detectors, something is not being tested.
A service that misses a fault leaves you with a system you believe works.
What it costs
Figures published in 2026 by a UK fire alarm advice site, for a contract covering two visits a year with a certificated company. Basic means the two visits. Full cover means visits plus unlimited call outs and parts.
| Premises | Devices | Basic, per year | Full cover, per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small shop or cafe | 5 to 15 | £180–£280 | £420–£600 |
| Small office | 10 to 25 | £220–£350 | £500–£750 |
| Restaurant or pub | 15 to 40 | £280–£450 | £650–£1,000 |
| Medium office or warehouse | 30 to 80 | £380–£650 | £900–£1,500 |
| Hotel | 60 to 150 | £650–£1,100 | £1,600–£2,800 |
| School | 100 to 300 | £900–£1,800 | £2,200–£4,500 |
The device count is what drives the price, not the floor area. A small office with a lot of detectors costs more than a big warehouse with few. So when you ask for a quote, give the number of devices and the panel type, or you will get a number that changes later.
Basic or full cover
The gap between the two columns is call outs and parts, and it is worth thinking about properly rather than defaulting to the cheaper one.
- Basic buys the two visits. A call out is charged separately, and the response time is not guaranteed.
- Standard usually includes call outs with a response time of about four to eight hours.
- Full cover includes unlimited call outs, typically two to four hours, and parts.
If the alarm goes into fault on a Friday afternoon and nobody can attend until Monday, a shop can usually wait. A hotel with sleeping guests may not be able to stay open. That is what the call-out time on a full-cover contract is for.
How to check the company before you sign
- Ask what third party certification they hold. BAFE SP203-1 is the recognised one for fire alarm servicing. Take the registration number rather than accepting the logo on the website.
- Ask what qualifications the engineer holds, not the company. It is the engineer who does the work.
- Ask how long they will be on site and compare it to your device count.
- Ask what is excluded. Parts, call outs, batteries and travel are the usual four.
- Ask to see a sample report from another site with the details removed. It tells you whether you will get a document or a scribble.
- Check the notice period on the contract before you sign. Rolling annual contracts with a long notice period are common in this trade.
Certification is not a legal requirement. It is evidence of competence, and competence is what the law asks for.
The log book
A fire alarm log book is the cheapest piece of fire safety equipment you own and the one that does the most work when somebody official arrives.
It should record the weekly tests, the six monthly services, every false alarm, every fault and every repair. An inspecting officer will ask for it early, and a book with weekly entries in different handwriting tells a very different story from one with two service stickers in it.
If you have lost it, start a new one today rather than backfilling it. A gap you can explain is better than entries that were written all at once, which is obvious to anyone who has seen a few.
False alarms
Repeated false alarms are the fastest way to lose the fire service’s attention, and some services now charge for repeated unwanted calls or stop attending automatic alarms from certain premises.
Staff also stop taking the alarm seriously. If the panel log shows the same detector triggering month after month, that is a fault. Raise it at the next service and ask for it in the report.
HMOs sit under a different part of the same standard
Most shops and offices sit under BS 5839-1. Shared houses and many HMOs sit under BS 5839-6, which grades the system. Grade A is a commercial-style panel. Grade D is mains detectors. The weekly test and the six-month service still apply to Grade A.
Some councils that licence HMOs ask for a copy of the six-month Inspection and Servicing Certificate. Oxford publishes that as a condition on its HMO fire alarm page. Check the council that licences you. Oxford is one council. Check yours.
Scotland sits under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, not the Fire Safety Order. The duty to maintain the alarm is still there. The British Standards are the usual yardstick. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority.
Six-month visits, HMO conditions, and Scotland
How often does a fire alarm need servicing?
Twice a year, roughly six months apart, by a competent engineer. Plus a weekly test carried out by you.
Is servicing a legal requirement?
The law requires the system to be kept in efficient working order. Servicing to BS 5839-1 is how you demonstrate you have done that. In practice, treat it as required.
Can I do the weekly test myself?
Yes, and you are supposed to. It needs no qualification. Test one call point, check the sounders, write it in the log book, reset the panel.
What is BAFE SP203-1?
A third party certification scheme for companies that design, install, commission and maintain fire alarm systems. It is voluntary, and it is the clearest evidence of competence available to you.
My alarm keeps going off for no reason. Whose problem is that?
Yours to fix, and it should be raised at the service. A recurring false alarm is a fault, and the panel log will usually show which device is causing it.
What does a service actually cost?
For a small office with 10 to 25 devices, roughly £220 to £350 a year for the two visits, or £500 to £750 with call outs and parts included.
Do I need a contract, or can I book a visit each time?
You can book each visit, and for a very small premises that can work out cheaper. The reason most take a contract is the call out response time, which is what you are really buying.
How this sits with the fire risk assessment
Alarm servicing is one line in the fire risk assessment. The assessment decides how much detection the building needs, and whether what is installed still suits it. How to check a fire risk assessor is competent. What a fire risk assessment costs. Fire door regulations.
Sources
- The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
- BS 5839-1, fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings, 2025 edition
- Published UK fire alarm maintenance contract price ranges, 2026