Fire alarm testing and servicing to BS 5839, with the inspection certificate your insurer, HMO licensing officer or fire authority will ask to see — call points, detection, sounders, panel and batteries checked, and faults put right.
Why it matters
Detection systems fail quietly: a detector head gets painted over, a battery ages, a zone is left isolated after building work and nobody notices. BS 5839 — the British Standard for fire detection and alarm systems — answers that with a layered testing regime: a short weekly test by the user, plus periodic inspection and servicing by a competent engineer, normally at intervals of no more than six months.
The service visit is the thorough one. We operate manual call points, test detectors with real smoke or heat stimulus, check sounder audibility through the building, exercise the panel's fault and fire functions, and confirm standby batteries will still carry the system through a power cut. Whatever fails is repaired or replaced, and the certificate records the system, the results and any variations from the standard.
Without that paper trail, an insurer can question a claim, an HMO licence inspection can stall, and a fire authority audit becomes uncomfortable. With it, the conversation is short.
Grades and categories
The grade describes the hardware. Grade A is the full system: a control panel with wired detection, manual call points and sounders — what larger HMOs, blocks and commercial buildings need. Grade D is mains-powered interlinked domestic alarms with battery back-up, the usual fit inside dwellings. Many HMOs run both: Grade A through the common parts, Grade D alarms inside each let, working together.
The category describes coverage. In dwellings, LD1 covers virtually every room, LD2 covers escape routes plus high-risk rooms such as kitchens, and LD3 covers escape routes only. Commercial buildings use L categories (life protection, L1 down to L5) and P categories (property protection). The right category comes from the fire risk assessment, not guesswork.
System not up to standard — or not there at all? Where testing shows the installation can't meet its required category, we design and install the fix, from extra detection to a complete new fire panel system, and we certificate emergency lighting in the same visit. For licensed HMOs, our HMO certificate service keeps alarm, lighting and gas paperwork on one renewal calendar.
Common questions
It depends on the size of the system — the number of devices, zones and panels determines how long testing takes. Tell us the building type, roughly how many detectors and call points it has, and the postcode, and we'll reply with a fixed quote, usually the same working day.
BS 5839 recommends servicing by a competent person at intervals of no more than six months for most systems, with the schedule based on the building's risk. That sits alongside the weekly user test — the two together are what an auditor expects to see recorded.
The user — in practice the Responsible Person or someone they appoint, such as a manager or managing agent. The weekly test means operating a manual call point, checking the alarm sounds and the panel responds, then resetting and logging it, using a different call point in rotation each week. We show you the routine at handover.
Grade A is a full panel-based system — control panel, wired detectors, call points and sounders — used in larger HMOs, blocks and commercial buildings. Grade D covers mains-powered interlinked domestic alarms with battery back-up, standard inside dwellings and smaller shared houses. Many HMOs combine the two: Grade A in common parts, Grade D in the lets.
That is exactly what it is for. The certificate records the system, the standard tested to, the results and any variations — the document insurers request at renewal or after a claim, licensing officers expect in an HMO file, and fire authority inspectors ask for during an audit. We email it as a PDF so it is always to hand.
Tell us the property type and postcode — we'll come back with a fixed quote and the earliest available date.