Ceiling smoke detector being tested with a service pole during a fire alarm service
South Wales & Bristol

Six-Monthly Fire AlarmServicing &Certification

Scheduled, documented servicing that keeps your system compliant, your insurer satisfied and your licence intact, delivered on-the-date, every date, with the certificate emailed before our van leaves your kerb.

Trusted by landlords, developers & letting agents across South Wales & Bristol.
15+
Years on the tools
BS 5839
Certified to standard
24–48h
Typical callout window
100%
Insured & DBS-checked
Service overview

Fire Alarm Servicing, explained without the jargon

What it is

A BS 5839 inspection and test of every device, sounder, panel battery and cause-and-effect routine on your fire alarm system, carried out at six-monthly intervals by a qualified engineer.

Who it's for

HMO landlords with active licences, letting agents managing third-party portfolios, commercial occupiers, schools, care providers and anywhere the Responsible Person under the RRFSO needs an audit trail.

When it's needed

BS 5839-1 (commercial) requires service visits at intervals not exceeding six months. BS 5839-6 (domestic/HMO) recommends annual professional servicing plus weekly user tests, most licensing schemes require six-monthly.

Why professional matters

Without dated, signed service records your fire alarm is technically non-compliant the moment the previous certificate expires. Insurers will use the gap to repudiate a claim.

The cost of ignoring it

What happens when servicing slips

Risks if left unchecked

  • Licence enforcement action and immediate prohibition notices from local fire authorities.
  • Insurance cover void on the date the last certificate expired, not the date of the incident.
  • Battery failures during a real activation, the system simply does not sound.
  • Detector contamination that silently raises false-alarm rates and trains occupants to ignore the bells.

Common mistakes

  • Relying on the alarm company's reminder email, there isn't always one.
  • Letting a non-competent handyman 'test' the alarm by pressing a single call point.
  • Skipping a service after a panel was replaced, breaking the certificate chain.
  • Storing certificates in a desk drawer instead of a digital, dated log accessible to inspectors.

An expired servicing record is the first thing a fire safety officer asks for after an incident. There is no retrospective fix, the date is on the certificate.

Our process

A clear path from enquiry to certificate

  1. Step 1

    Schedule

    We diary your next two service dates at handover. You get a calendar invite and a 7-day reminder, no nagging, no missed slots.

  2. Step 2

    Pre-visit checks

    Engineer reviews the previous report and any logged faults so the visit fixes problems rather than just documenting them.

  3. Step 3

    On-site test

    100% device test on a six-monthly rotation, panel battery load test, sounder dB readings, cause-and-effect verification and visual condition check.

  4. Step 4

    Faults & quote

    Any minor faults rectified on the spot; larger items quoted in writing the same day so you can decide before we leave.

  5. Step 5

    Certificate & log update

    BS 5839 service certificate issued digitally, your site log book signed and a copy filed to your portal, ready for inspection.

Why clients stay with us

Specific, measurable benefits

Compliance, on time

We diary the dates and turn up. You don't need to chase.

Fewer false alarms

Detector cleaning and zone management cuts unwanted activations and stops occupants ignoring bells.

Insurance protection

An unbroken certificate chain that your insurer can verify on demand.

Lower long-term cost

Catching a failing battery at a planned service is far cheaper than catching it after an emergency callout.

Single portal

All your properties, all certificates, one login, useful for portfolios and letting agents.

Honest reporting

We list every device tested. No 'sampled and assumed compliant' shortcuts.

Technical detail

Everything that goes into a proper fire alarm servicing

A fire alarm service visit is a technical inspection governed by section 45 of BS 5839-1 and section 25 of BS 5839-6. Below is what we actually do, and what some lower-priced providers quietly skip.

What a compliant six-monthly visit includes

Visual inspection of panel, batteries, devices and cabling; functional test of at least 25% of automatic detectors each visit (100% over the year); test of every manual call point annually; sounder dB readings in sleeping areas; standby battery load test; cause-and-effect verification for any interfaces (door holders, AOVs, lift recall).

What we do that others skip

Detector head removal and contamination check, panel firmware version log, battery serial and date recording, and full-loop quiescent current measurement. These add 20 minutes and they are the difference between a service and a sticker.

Servicing wireless and hybrid systems

Wireless detectors carry their own 5-year sealed batteries, we record install date and forecast replacement at the next-but-one service so it is never a surprise cost.

Multi-site servicing for portfolios

Letting agents and landlords with 5+ properties get a single quarterly schedule, consolidated invoicing, and a portal listing certificate dates so you can prove compliance across the portfolio in one screen.

Taking over from another provider

We never charge to take over, a free takeover inspection lists any compliance gaps in writing, and we quote remediation separately before adopting the contract.

Out-of-hours and emergency cover

Contract clients get a priority phone line with a rapid response for total system failures and a 48-hour SLA for partial faults.

Frequently asked

Frequently asked questions

BS 5839-1 requires service intervals not exceeding six months for commercial premises. HMOs under BS 5839-6 should be serviced at least annually; most licensing authorities require six-monthly.
Related services

Often paired with fire alarm servicing

Ready to make fire alarm servicing one less thing to worry about?

Free survey, fixed-price quote within 48 hours, and certified work delivered when we said we would.

Covering South Wales & Bristol