Planned Maintenance for Fire and Security Systems
Every fire and security system in a building needs regular, competent maintenance to remain compliant and functional. A fire alarm that was perfectly commissioned on day one will gradually lose effectiveness as detectors accumulate dust, batteries weaken, components corrode and software configurations drift from their original settings. The system may appear to be working normally on the surface, but when it is called upon during a real incident, an insurance audit or an enforcement inspection, the deficiencies become apparent in ways that could have been prevented.
This is not limited to fire alarms. CCTV systems that are not regularly checked can fail silently, recording nothing for weeks before anyone notices. Intruder alarms without proper servicing generate false activations that erode police response capability over time. Access control on escape routes can lose its fire alarm override without anyone realising until an evacuation drill exposes the failure. Maintenance is the ongoing discipline that keeps these systems performing the way they were designed to, and it is a core part of what Electrifire does.
Electrifire provides planned preventative maintenance for fire and security systems across London, Kent and the M25 corridor. Whether you need us to look after a single fire alarm panel or maintain several systems across the same building, the approach is the same: scheduled visits carried out by competent engineers, thorough inspection and testing to the relevant British Standards, documented service reports, and clear recommendations when something needs attention.
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Fire alarm servicing to BS 5839-1:2025
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Fire extinguisher servicing to BS 5306-3
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Intruder alarm servicing to BS 9263
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CCTV, access control and intercom maintenance
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Passive fire servicing - shutters, curtains, door hold-open devices
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Multi-site service delivery across London, Kent and the South East
Discuss maintenance for your fire or security systems >>
What We Maintain
You do not need to use Electrifire for every system in your building to benefit from our maintenance service. We maintain individual systems on their own and we maintain multiple systems together - whatever suits your situation. Here is what a planned maintenance contract can cover.
Six-monthly inspection and testing to BS 5839-1:2025. Full functional test of every device, panel health check, battery test, cause-and-effect verification. For Honeywell Gent Vigilon systems, Self-Test technology enables functional testing of up to 250 detectors in under an hour. Service certificate and fire logbook entry issued. Read more.
Annual basic service to BS 5306-3. Inspection of every extinguisher, pressure and weight verification, commissioning check, service label and certificate. Extended servicing at five-year intervals and ten-year overhaul for CO2. Read more.
Twice-yearly servicing to BS 9263 for police response systems. Functional testing of all detectors, control panel, signalling equipment, sounders, power supplies and battery backups. ARC communication verified. False alarm log reviewed. Read more.
Annual servicing including camera cleaning, recording verification, playback testing, hard drive health checks, network connectivity and cybersecurity review. For monitored CCTV, ARC communication is verified. Read more.
Annual servicing including functional testing of all readers, lock mechanisms, power supplies, battery backups, software status. For access-controlled escape routes, fire alarm override integration is tested to BS 7273-4. Read more.
Six-monthly servicing of fire shutters and fire curtains including controlled drop tests, motor checks, battery backup verification and fire alarm interface testing. Fire door hold-open device testing coordinated with fire alarm maintenance visits. Arranged through specialist passive fire partners within the New Path Group. Visit the Fire Shutters and Fire Doors pages.
What Each Maintenance Visit Includes
Every planned maintenance visit follows the same structured process regardless of which systems are being serviced.
- Scheduled attendance at a time agreed with your site team - we do not arrive unannounced
- Thorough inspection and functional testing of every component in the system
- Testing to the relevant British Standard for each system
- Where you have multiple Electrifire-maintained systems, verification that the integration between them is working correctly
- A documented service report covering what was inspected, what passed, what failed, and what action is recommended
- Service certificate for insurance and compliance records
- Fire logbook entry where applicable
- Clear, prioritised recommendations for any remedial works identified
If a visit identifies a fault or a component that needs replacing, we tell you immediately with a clear recommendation and a quote for the remedial work. We do not bury it in a report and hope you read it. See our reactive and remedial page.
SFG20 is the UK industry standard maintenance specification for building assets, published by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). It provides a library of maintenance schedules covering the specific tasks, frequencies and competency levels required for each asset type. Our planned maintenance schedules align with the SFG20 fire and security tasks, which means if your building operates to SFG20, our maintenance programme fits into your existing framework.
Every maintenance visit produces documented evidence of what was done, when, by whom, and what condition the system was found in. For buildings subject to the Building Safety Act 2022 golden thread requirements, this documentation contributes to the continuous compliance record that duty holders are required to maintain. For all other buildings, it provides the evidence that enforcement authorities, fire risk assessors and insurers expect to see.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fire alarm systems should be inspected and tested every six months by a competent person in accordance with BS 5839-1:2025. Weekly testing of manual call points should also be carried out by site staff. See our fire alarms page.
Yes. We regularly take over maintenance from other providers regardless of who installed the system or what manufacturer's equipment was used. We carry out a baseline inspection to understand what you have and transition the maintenance into a planned schedule.
No. You can come to us for maintenance on a single system - just your fire alarm, just your intruder alarm, just your CCTV - and nothing else. If you do use us for multiple systems, we can coordinate the visits and the reporting, but that is a practical convenience rather than a requirement.
A six-monthly visit includes functional testing of every device on the system (detectors, call points, sounders, interfaces), panel health and configuration checks, battery testing, cause-and-effect verification, and a documented service report with fire logbook entry. Any faults identified are reported immediately with recommendations.
SFG20 is the UK industry standard maintenance specification for building assets, published by the Building Engineering Services Association. It provides maintenance schedules covering the specific tasks and frequencies required for each asset type. Our maintenance schedules align with SFG20 fire and security tasks.
Typically within two to four weeks. We carry out a baseline inspection, agree the maintenance schedule and frequencies with you, and issue the first service report. If the baseline inspection identifies urgent issues that need addressing before the regular schedule begins, we flag those immediately.
Our core coverage is London, Kent and the M25 corridor. For multi-site portfolios that extend beyond this area, we can discuss coverage on a case-by-case basis through the wider New Path Fire and Security Group.
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