Fire Protection

Fire Alarm Servicing & Maintenance

Guardian Edge services fire detection and alarm systems to BS 5839-1 across the UK. Non-domestic systems should receive at least two service visits in any twelve-month period, and we run that schedule for you — booking each visit before it falls due and issuing the service certificate and updated logbook entry after every attendance.

Serviced on schedule, certificated every visit, chased by us and not by you.

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Who this is for

Responsible persons who need to evidence a maintained system
Managing agents servicing systems across a block portfolio
Facilities managers consolidating multiple servicing contracts
Businesses whose current provider has become unreliable
Anyone who has inherited a system with no service history

Problems it solves

The last service certificate cannot be found, or does not exist
Service intervals have quietly slipped past six months
The current provider services the panel but never completes the remedial works
Faults are logged on the panel and left standing between visits
Different sites are on different contracts with different renewal dates
False alarms are frequent and nobody has investigated the cause

What Guardian Edge provides

Our fire alarm servicing scope

What we provide

Scheduled service visits at BS 5839-1 intervals — six-monthly as a minimum, quarterly where the risk warrants it
Testing of a proportion of detectors and all manual call points across the service cycle, so every device is tested annually
Control panel inspection, fault log review and event history analysis
Standby power supply testing and battery replacement
Sounder and visual alarm device verification
Interface and cause-and-effect verification where the system controls plant, doors or lifts
Written service certificate, logbook entry and a clear list of any defects found

Typical scope

Conventional, addressable, networked and wireless systems
Any manufacturer — we are not restricted to systems we installed
Single sites through to national portfolios on one schedule
Takeover of systems with incomplete or missing service history

Before we price anything

Inspection & survey process

01
Takeover inspection
On the first visit we record what is actually installed and its condition — rather than inheriting the previous provider's paperwork.
02
Asset register built
Every device, its location and its age, so the system can be maintained on evidence rather than memory.
03
Schedule set
Visit dates fixed for the year ahead, with the interval matched to the category and risk.

On site

How the work is delivered

01
Visit confirmed in advance
You know who is attending and when, so access and isolations can be arranged.
02
System isolated where required
Monitoring centres and connected plant notified before testing so a service visit does not become an incident.
03
Testing carried out
Devices, call points, sounders, panel, batteries and interfaces, following the BS 5839-1 schedule.
04
Defects reported
Anything found is written down, explained, and quoted — not mentioned verbally and forgotten.
05
Certificate issued
Service certificate and logbook entry sent the same week, into your compliance register.

Compliance

What the rules actually require

BS 5839-1 recommends at least two service visits in any twelve-month period for non-domestic systems, with no more than six months between visits.
The standard also expects a competent person to test the system weekly — usually a member of your own staff operating a different call point each week. We will set that up and show your team how to record it.
Servicing is not the same as the weekly user test, and neither replaces the other.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that fire safety equipment is subject to a suitable system of maintenance and kept in efficient working order. Servicing to BS 5839-1 is the recognised way of showing that.

Standards & legislation

These are not all the same kind of obligation, and we do not present them as if they were. A statutory duty is law. A British Standard is the recognised way of demonstrating you have met one. Guidance and our own recommendations are neither.

British StandardBS 5839-1
Fire detection and fire alarm systems — code of practice for maintenance
Recommends at least two service visits per twelve-month period, a weekly user test, and annual testing of every device across the service cycle.
Legal requirementRRO 2005 Article 17
Maintenance of facilities, equipment and devices
Requires fire safety equipment to be maintained in efficient working order and in good repair.
Read the primary source →

Ongoing support

Planned, reactive and multi-site.

Most providers do one of these well. The value of a single provider is that the schedule, the emergency and the portfolio all sit in the same place.

Planned maintenance

Fixed service calendar issued at the start of each contract year
Reminders before each visit falls due
Certificates filed to your compliance register automatically
Remedial works quoted from the service visit, not a separate survey

Reactive support

24-hour attendance for faults and unwanted activations
Investigation of repeat false alarms with a written cause and remedy
Emergency battery and device replacement

Multi-site & national portfolios

One servicing contract across every site regardless of system manufacturer
Consolidated renewal date instead of a dozen staggered contracts
Portfolio-level compliance reporting showing what is due and what has lapsed

Most fire alarm servicing contracts fail in the same way. The engineer attends, tests the system, finds three defects, mentions them to whoever happens to be on reception, and leaves. Six months later the same three defects are still there and the certificate says the system was serviced.

We close that loop. Defects are written down, priced, and either completed under the contract or quoted for approval. The compliance register shows what is outstanding, and we chase it — because chasing it is our job, not yours.

Procurement, simplified

What happens next?

01
Tell us what you need
One form, one call or one email. A photograph or an existing report is enough to start.
02
We assess the requirement
We confirm scope, access, and whether a site survey is needed before anything is priced.
03
You receive a clear quotation
Itemised, with what is included and what is not. No provisional sums that move later.
04
We arrange attendance
A confirmed date and window, with the engineer or trade named in advance.
05
Works are completed
Carried out by directly managed engineers or vetted specialist subcontractors.
06
Evidence is supplied
Certification, test records and photographic evidence where the work calls for it.

Answers

Fire Alarm Servicingquestions.

How often should commercial fire alarms be serviced?

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.

Do you service systems you did not install?

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.

What happens if a defect is found during a service?

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.

Is fire alarm servicing a legal requirement?

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.

Get a quotation for fire alarm servicing.

One form, one call or one email. A photograph or an existing report is enough for us to start — and we will tell you plainly whether a site survey is needed before anything is priced.

Request a Quote Arrange an Inspection Or call 0800 634 3475