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Compliance · Fire and life safety

How often should an evacuation alert system be checked?

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  • 6sources
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The short answer

In high-rise residential buildings, the responsible person must check the evacuation alert system every month and keep a record that residents can see. Servicing by a competent contractor should follow BS 8629 and the manufacturer's instructions.

Medium confidence: treat these intervals with care

The legal monthly check is certain, but the BS 8629 servicing interval could not be verified: the only public summaries found are not authoritative and disagree.

Confirm the interval against the current edition of the standard, or with the specialist who maintains the system, before you fix it in a contract or a calendar.

The tasks

What to do, and how often

Task How often Who Basis
Monthly routine check of the evacuation alert system, recorded and made available to residents Applies to: High-rise residential buildings only: at least 18 metres or 7 storeys, with 2 or more homes Every month Responsible person Law Regulation 7 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires monthly routine checks of essential fire-fighting equipment, which includes evacuation alert systems in the common parts. SourcesS1S2S3
Report any fault that cannot be fixed within 24 hours to the local fire and rescue service, and report again when it is fixed Applies to: High-rise residential buildings only: at least 18 metres or 7 storeys, with 2 or more homes No fixed intervalEvent-driven: as soon as reasonably practicable, where a fault cannot be fixed within 24 hours of being found Responsible person Law Regulation 7(3) of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. SourcesS4
Inspection and servicing by a competent contractor No fixed intervalFollow BS 8629 and the manufacturer's instructions; interval not verified Competent evacuation alert system contractor British Standard BS 8629:2019+A1:2023 gives the maintenance recommendations. The servicing interval is not stated here because it could not be confirmed from an authoritative public source. SourcesS6

Where a row says who or what it applies to, the task is for that case only.

The law

Regulation 7 of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires the responsible person for a high-rise residential building (at least 18 metres or seven storeys) to carry out monthly routine checks of evacuation alert systems in the common parts, to record them, and to report faults that cannot be fixed within 24 hours to the fire and rescue service. Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 also requires the system to be maintained in efficient working order.

The standard

BS 8629:2019+A1:2023, the code of practice for evacuation alert systems for use by fire and rescue services in buildings containing flats.

Records to keep

  • Record of monthly checks, kept available to residents
  • Service reports from the maintenance contractor
  • Fault and rectification reports sent to the fire and rescue service

Notes

An evacuation alert system is provided for use by the fire and rescue service. The routine check means confirming the equipment is in efficient working order and good repair, in line with the industry standard or the manufacturer's instructions.

This entry is incomplete: public summaries of the BS 8629 servicing interval disagree (six-monthly in one manufacturer's guide, annual in a contractor's summary of the 2023 amendment), so no servicing interval is given.

Who delivers this in the group

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Quick answers

Questions people ask

Evacuation alert systems (BS 8629): which tasks are legal requirements?

2 tasks on this page rest on legislation: monthly routine check of the evacuation alert system, recorded and made available to residents (every month; high-rise residential buildings only: at least 18 metres or 7 storeys, with 2 or more homes); report any fault that cannot be fixed within 24 hours to the local fire and rescue service, and report again when it is fixed (event-driven: as soon as reasonably practicable, where a fault cannot be fixed within 24 hours of being found; high-rise residential buildings only: at least 18 metres or 7 storeys, with 2 or more homes). The other 1 task is recommended by a British Standard, and is not a legal requirement in itself.

Evacuation alert systems (BS 8629): who should carry out each task?

Responsible person: monthly routine check of the evacuation alert system, recorded and made available to residents; report any fault that cannot be fixed within 24 hours to the local fire and rescue service, and report again when it is fixed. Competent evacuation alert system contractor: inspection and servicing by a competent contractor.

Evacuation alert systems (BS 8629): what records should you keep?

Keep these records: record of monthly checks, kept available to residents; service reports from the maintenance contractor; fault and rectification reports sent to the fire and rescue service.

Evacuation alert systems (BS 8629): which tasks have no fixed interval?

Report any fault that cannot be fixed within 24 hours to the local fire and rescue service, and report again when it is fixed: event-driven: as soon as reasonably practicable, where a fault cannot be fixed within 24 hours of being found. Inspection and servicing by a competent contractor: follow BS 8629 and the manufacturer's instructions; interval not verified.

Checked on

Sources

Every task and legal statement is supported by at least one source fetched over HTTPS and read on the date shown. Quotes are verbatim and 25 words or fewer. A second, independent verification pass re-fetched every source and re-read the legislation on 5 October 2026. Intervals taken from British Standards were checked against published summaries of those standards by trade bodies and government guidance, because the standards themselves are paid publications.

  1. Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7: Lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment ↗

    legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) · In force 23 January 2023 · read on

    “must undertake monthly routine checks of lifts for use by firefighters, evacuation lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment within the building”

    Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7: Lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)

    Supports: Monthly routine checks of essential fire-fighting equipment in high-rise residential buildings

  2. Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7: Lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment ↗

    legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) · In force 23 January 2023 · read on

    “evacuation alert systems, (c) automatic door release mechanisms linked to fire alarm systems”

    Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7: Lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)

    Supports: Essential fire-fighting equipment includes evacuation alert systems in the common parts

  3. Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7: Lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment ↗

    legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) · In force 23 January 2023 · read on

    “must make a record of the monthly checks undertaken pursuant to this regulation and make that record accessible to the residents of the building”

    Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7: Lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)

    Supports: Monthly checks must be recorded and the record made accessible to residents

  4. Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7: Lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment ↗

    legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) · In force 23 January 2023 · read on

    “report the fault to the local fire and rescue authority by electronic means”

    Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 7: Lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)

    Supports: Faults not fixed within 24 hours must be reported to the fire and rescue service

  5. Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 3: Meaning of high-rise residential building ↗

    legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) · In force 23 January 2023 · read on

    “is at least 18 metres above ground level; or (b) has at least seven storeys”

    Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 3: Meaning of high-rise residential building, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)

    Supports: Definition of a high-rise residential building

  6. BS 8629:2019+A1:2023 product page ↗

    British Standards Institution (BSI Knowledge) · Standard published 31 March 2023 · read on

    “BS 8629 gives recommendations for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of evacuation alert systems”

    BS 8629:2019+A1:2023 product page, British Standards Institution (BSI Knowledge)

    Supports: BS 8629 covers maintenance of evacuation alert systems; current edition is BS 8629:2019+A1:2023

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