Frequently asked questions

The whole of the United Kingdom — England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Delivery is through a combination of directly managed engineers and a vetted subcontractor network in regions where we do not hold an in-house team. The accountability does not change with the postcode: you instruct Guardian Edge, and Guardian Edge owns the outcome.

Yes. A single boiler repair and a national compliance programme both come through the same process. The difference is scale, not the standard of the work or the evidence you get at the end of it.

Genuine emergencies — escape of water, loss of power or heating, a security breach, or a fire safety hazard — are attended 24 hours a day. Everything else is triaged against agreed priority levels. We set attendance targets that reflect the actual geography rather than quoting a single national figure we could not keep in every region.

Yes. Certification is issued for every piece of work that carries one — electrical certificates, gas records, fire alarm service certificates, emergency lighting test records and so on. For work that does not produce a formal certificate, we supply photographic evidence and a job record. Completion should be something you can show someone else, not something you have to take on trust.

Yes, and most of the systems we maintain were installed by another company. The first visit is a takeover inspection that records what is actually installed and its true condition, so the service history starts from a position we can stand behind rather than inheriting someone else's paperwork.

Yes. Send us the fire risk assessment, EICR, condition survey or inspection report and we will price the actions in it. You do not need to re-commission the assessment with us to use us for the works.

BS 5839-1 recommends at least two service visits in any twelve-month period for non-domestic systems, with the interval between visits not exceeding six months. Larger or higher-risk systems are often serviced quarterly. The standard is a recommendation rather than a statute, but it is the recognised means of showing that the system has been properly maintained under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

They are BS 5839-1 categories describing how much of a building is covered by automatic detection. L1 covers all areas of the building. L2 covers escape routes, rooms opening onto them, and specified high-risk rooms. L3 covers escape routes and rooms opening onto them, giving warning before escape routes become impassable. L4 covers escape routes only. L5 is a custom category designed around a specific risk. P1 and P2 are property protection categories, driven by insurance rather than life safety. The correct category comes from the fire risk assessment, not from a price list.

BS 5839-1 recommends at least two service visits in any twelve-month period, with no more than six months between them. Many larger or higher-risk systems are serviced quarterly. Separately, the standard expects a weekly user test carried out by someone on site, operating a different manual call point each week and recording the result in the logbook.

BS 5266-1 recommends a short function test every month — long enough to confirm each luminaire illuminates — and a full rated duration test annually, which for most systems means three hours. Both should be recorded in the emergency lighting logbook. The monthly test can be done by your own staff; the annual duration test is usually carried out by a contractor because failures need to be identified and corrected.

In England, yes. Since 1 October 2023, section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requires all responsible persons to record their fire risk assessment in full, whatever the size of the premises. Before that date, only premises with five or more employees, licensed premises and those subject to an alterations notice had to record the significant findings.

BS 5306-3 recommends a basic service every twelve months for all extinguisher types. On top of that, water, foam and powder extinguishers normally receive an extended service at five years, and CO₂ extinguishers an overhaul at ten years — though manufacturer instructions take precedence where they differ.

In England, for multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres in height, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require quarterly checks of all communal fire doors and annual checks of flat entrance doors. In other premises there is no fixed statutory interval, but the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires fire safety equipment to be maintained in efficient working order, and a periodic recorded inspection is the usual way of demonstrating that.

Active fire protection acts when a fire starts — detection, alarms, sprinklers, extinguishers, smoke control. Passive fire protection is built into the structure and works without doing anything: fire-resisting walls and floors, fire doors, fire stopping around services, and protection to structural steel. Both are needed, and a building's fire strategy usually assumes both are intact.

At least one on every storey used as living accommodation. Government guidance recommends fixing them to the ceiling in a circulation space such as a hall or landing, following the manufacturer's instructions. A carbon monoxide alarm is also required in every room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, other than a gas cooker.

There is no statute that names a zone plan directly. BS 5839-1 recommends one wherever a system has more than one zone, and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to provide appropriate information and equipment for firefighting. In practice, fire and rescue services and fire risk assessors expect to find one at the panel, and its absence is a common finding.

In most workplaces it is the employer. In other premises it is whoever has control — the owner, the occupier, or the managing agent, depending on the arrangements. In multi-occupied residential buildings the responsible person is usually the freeholder or managing agent for the common parts. More than one person can hold the duty at the same time, in which case they must co-operate.

Sometimes. It depends on the age, type and condition of the field devices and whether they are compatible with a current panel. We survey before we commit to it, and we will tell you if a partial replacement would leave you with a system that is harder to maintain than a full one.

Yes. Most of the systems we maintain were installed by someone else. Our first visit is a takeover inspection that records what is actually there and its true condition, so the service history starts from a position we can stand behind.

Almost always it is the battery rather than the fitting. We record which units failed, quote for battery or luminaire replacement, and retest afterwards. Widespread failure across a site usually means the luminaires were all installed at the same time and have reached end of life together — which is worth planning for rather than discovering.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires it to be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid — for example after a change of use, a change in occupancy, a significant alteration, or a fire. Many organisations work to an annual review with a full re-assessment every one to three years depending on risk, but the interval should be justified by the building rather than adopted by default.

It depends on the floor area, the layout and the classes of fire risk present, and it is set out in BS 5306-8. As a general position, water-based extinguishers are provided on the basis of floor area with a maximum travel distance of about 30 metres to reach one, with additional extinguishers sited at specific risks such as kitchens, plant and electrical equipment. We survey rather than estimate.

Most commonly: gaps outside tolerance around the leaf, damaged or painted-over intumescent seals, a closer that no longer closes the door onto the latch, missing or non-fire-rated hinges and ironmongery, damage to the leaf, unsuitable glazing, and holes drilled through the door or frame for cables. Any one of these can prevent the doorset performing as tested.

If your fire risk assessment recommends one, or the building relies on compartmentation for a stay-put strategy, then almost certainly yes. Non-intrusive surveys can only report on what is visible, and the significant breaches are nearly always above ceilings, inside risers or within voids.

The landlord must make sure the alarms work on the day a new tenancy begins. After that, the tenant is generally expected to test them and replace batteries where they are user-replaceable. If an alarm is reported as faulty, the duty to repair or replace it falls back to the landlord.

Yes, and we do not require you to commission a new assessment first. Send us the report and we will price the actions in it, tell you which are statutory shortfalls and which are recommendations, and complete the works with certification supplied.

A small conventional system in a single unit is usually a day or two. An addressable system across a multi-storey occupied building is typically phased over several weeks so that detection is never wholly absent. We give a programme with the quotation rather than an estimate on the day.

It goes on the service certificate with an explanation of what it means for the system, and a price to put it right. Minor items are often completed on the visit. Anything larger is quoted for your approval, and we track it until it is closed.

Yes, and we price them when the report is issued so you are not left holding an action list with no route to closing it. We will also complete actions from an assessment produced by someone else — you do not need to re-commission the assessment to use us for the works.

Yes. Extinguishers that have reached end of life are removed and disposed of properly, and the asset register is updated so the compliance record matches what is actually on the wall.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires fire safety equipment to be maintained in efficient working order and good repair — that duty is statutory. BS 5839-1 is a British Standard rather than a statute, but it is the recognised way of demonstrating that the duty has been met, and enforcing authorities and insurers treat it accordingly.

Yes. Guardian Edge delivers nationwide through a combination of directly employed engineers and a vetted subcontractor network in regions where we do not hold an in-house team. The accountability does not change: you instruct Guardian Edge, we manage the delivery, and we hold the responsibility for the outcome.

In England, at least every five years, or more frequently if the report itself specifies a shorter interval. The report must be given to existing tenants within 28 days, to new tenants before they occupy, and to the local authority within seven days of a request.

Two years. A copy must also be given to existing tenants within 28 days of the check being completed, and to any new tenant before they move in.

Not by that name. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require electrical systems, including portable equipment, to be maintained so as to prevent danger. Inspection and testing is the recognised way of demonstrating that, but the HSE is explicit that frequency should follow a risk assessment rather than a blanket annual rule. Some insurers and licensing regimes impose their own testing conditions, which is a contractual matter rather than a statutory one.

Yes, and it does not have to happen all at once. Most portfolios transfer in stages — often starting with reactive works or with a single region — so you can see the reporting and the response before committing the whole estate.

C1 means danger is present and immediate action is required — it should be made safe before the engineer leaves. C2 means potentially dangerous and requires urgent remedial action. C3 means improvement is recommended; it does not make a report unsatisfactory and does not have to be actioned. FI means further investigation is required without delay. A report is unsatisfactory if it contains any C1, C2 or FI.

The duty remains on the landlord, and 'the tenant would not let us in' is not on its own a defence. You are expected to take reasonable steps and to be able to evidence them — repeated attempts, written notice, and a record of what happened. Because a check can be carried out up to two months before the deadline without losing the anniversary date, starting early gives you room to work the access problem.

Anything that makes a property unsafe, insecure or uninhabitable: escape of water, total loss of power or heating, a security breach, a blocked drain causing flooding, or a structural or fire safety hazard. Those are attended 24 hours a day. Everything else is triaged against agreed priority levels so genuine emergencies do not queue behind routine work.

In England, within 28 days of the report, or sooner if the report specifies a shorter period. Written confirmation that the work has been completed must then be supplied to the tenant, and to the local authority where it has requested the report.