How often
For this equipment family the inspection interval is one year unless the relevant standards set a different period. Where a standard sets a shorter interval, the shorter one applies; where the manufacturer's instruction requires more frequent checks, that is followed. The validity of an inspection depends less on its interval than on what the report contains.
Four separate systems
Portable extinguishers; fixed suppression systems (sprinklers, gas suppression, kitchen hood suppression, fire pumps and water tanks); fire detection and alarm systems; and escape route pressurisation and smoke extraction. All four sit in the same building, but they are not the same inspection.
What is checked on an extinguisher
Pressure gauge, seal and pin, hose and trigger, weight, accessibility and the visibility of its position. A box left in front of the cabinet causes trouble more often than the cylinder itself.
What is checked on the systems
Pump performance testing, sprinkler heads unpainted and unobstructed, cylinder pressure and a clear discharge path in gas systems, grease build-up in hood systems. On the detection side, detector testing and the panel's fault log are read.
Together with the drill
What shows a system works is not the report but its working in a drill. The inspection report and the drill record complete one another.
In Optifora
The periodic inspection module records the equipment, sets its interval by family, reminds you as the date approaches, and attaches the report to the equipment's record. Equipment past its date appears separately in the list and counts as high risk in the assessment.