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. They need frequent testing to make sure they activate correctly.

Dry risers

These are pipes that allow the fire service to pump water to upper floors quickly in taller buildings. They have to be inspected and pressure‑tested at set intervals by qualified engineers to stay compliant and ready for emergency use.

Smoke ventilation systems (including automatic opening vents or AOVs)

These systems remove smoke from corridors and stairwells, helping to keep escape routes clear. They need routine functional testing, maintenance and certification to make sure they open and work properly during a fire.

Sprinkler systems

Sprinklers activate when they detect heat from a fire and can help slow or stop its spread. They need scheduled inspections, flow tests and servicing by accredited specialists to make sure they run as they should in an emergency.
 
Emergency lighting

If there’s a power cut, emergency lights switch on to guide you safely to exits. We have to give them regular operational checks and full‑duration tests.
 
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. They need inspections to check closers, seals, hinges and overall condition, making sure they function as needed.

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. They need regular checks to make sure signs can be seen, are in the right place, aren’t damaged and meet all legal standards.

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.

Fire safety systems have to be inspected, tested and maintained to meet strict legal and safety standards. Many of these checks can only be carried out by certified professionals, which increases the cost of the work.

In recent years, safety regulations have become much stronger. This means more checks, more detailed inspections and higher standards for those carrying out the work.

At the same time, the cost of specialist parts, equipment and certification has also risen across the industry, which has increased the overall cost making sure we meet the fire safety standards needed to keep you safe.

In some cases, buildings share structural elements such as walls, loft spaces 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.

Fire safety costs include both planned checks and reactive repairs. While we can estimate the cost of scheduled inspections and servicing, it’s much harder to predict when parts of a system might fail and need repair or replacement.

Systems such as fire alarms, emergency lighting or ventilation equipment can develop faults unexpectedly, and these issues must be fixed quickly to keep buildings safe and legally compliant.

Due to this, the costs between the estimated charges and the incurred expenditure may fluctuate and lead to deficits or surpluses for this individual service. 

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.