What is fire equipment and fire safety maintenance?

The charge covers regular testing and servicing, repairs, replacement of faulty parts, emergency call-outs and the inspections needed to make sure equipment meets current fire safety standards.

Depending on your building, you may have some or all of the following:

Fire alarms

These detect smoke or heat and warn residents if there’s a fire, giving everyone time to leave safely.

Dry risers

These are pipes that allow the fire service to pump water to upper floors quickly in taller buildings.

Smoke ventilation systems (including automatic opening vents or AOVs)
These systems remove smoke from corridors and stairwells, helping to keep escape routes clear.

Sprinkler systems

Sprinklers activate when they detect heat from a fire and can help slow or stop its spread.

Emergency lighting

If there’s a power cut, emergency lights switch on to guide you safely to exits.

Fire doors

Fire doors are designed to slow the spread of fire and smoke, protecting escape routes and giving you more time to get out.

Portable fire extinguishers

You can use these to tackle small fires before they spread.

Fire safety signage

These signs show escape routes and give instructions during an emergency.

Some fire safety systems protect the structure of the building or shared escape routes rather than individual homes. Even if you don’t use a particular system day to day, you still benefit from the protection it provides to the building as a whole.

In some cases, buildings share structural elements such as walls or roofs. Fire safety systems may cover more than one block where those structures are connected. When that happens, the cost of maintaining the shared protection is divided in line with the terms of each lease or agreement.

We follow a schedule based on fire safety regulations and the type of equipment installed in the building. Some systems are checked monthly, others quarterly or annually. How often we check depends on the equipment and the building’s fire risk assessment.

If testing shows that something isn’t working properly, we take action to put it right. That might mean adjusting the system, replacing parts or arranging further investigation. Our priority is to make sure the building (and everyone in it) remains safe.