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Compliance · Fire and life safety

How often should a gas fire suppression system be serviced and the room integrity tested?

  • 3tasks
  • 6sources
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  • Englandscope
The short answer

Have the system serviced by a specialist at least every six months and repeat the room integrity test every 12 months. Systems that use F-gas extinguishing agents must also be inspected often enough to meet the F-gas leak check rules.

Medium confidence: treat these intervals with care

Service interval rests on FIA guidance from 2012 and 2019, not a direct statement of the current BS EN 15004 text.

The tasks

What to do, and how often

Task How often Who Basis
Service visit by a suppression specialist, including a check that pressure relief vents are free to operate Every 6 months Competent gaseous suppression contractor Guidance Fire Industry Association guidance refers to servicing and maintenance procedures at least every six months. SourcesS1
Room integrity test and hold time calculation Every year Competent room integrity tester British Standard The Fire Industry Association says BS EN 15004 and ISO 14520 call for the room integrity test and hold time calculation to be repeated annually unless there is documentary evidence that the enclosure has not changed. SourcesS2S3
F-gas leak checks on systems that contain fluorinated extinguishing agents Applies to: Systems containing 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent or more of F-gas No fixed intervalEvery 12, 6 or 3 months depending on the charge: see the F-gas leak checks entry F-gas certified technician Law Article 4 of the assimilated F-gas Regulation requires leak checks at intervals set by the charge. For fire protection equipment the duty is treated as met if the system is inspected to ISO 14520 or EN 15004 at least that often. SourcesS4S5

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

The law

Article 17 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires suppression systems provided for fire safety to be kept under a suitable system of maintenance and in efficient working order. It sets no service interval. Where the extinguishing agent is a fluorinated gas, article 4 of the assimilated F-gas Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 also requires leak checks.

The standard

BS EN 15004 and ISO 14520, the standards for gaseous fire extinguishing systems that the Fire Industry Association and the F-gas Regulation both refer to.

Records to keep

  • Service report for each visit
  • Annual room integrity test certificate with the calculated hold time
  • F-gas leak check records where applicable
  • Records of any changes to the protected room since the last integrity test

Notes

The six-monthly service figure comes from Fire Industry Association guidance rather than a direct public quotation of BS EN 15004, and both FIA documents are several years old (2012 and 2019). The room integrity test matters because, if the gas leaks out of the room too quickly, the fire can reignite.

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Quick answers

Questions people ask

Gaseous fire suppression systems (including room integrity testing): which tasks are legal requirements?

1 task on this page rests on legislation: F-gas leak checks on systems that contain fluorinated extinguishing agents (every 12, 6 or 3 months depending on the charge: see the F-gas leak checks entry; systems containing 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent or more of F-gas). The other 2 tasks are recommended by a British Standard or by guidance, and are not legal requirements in themselves.

Gaseous fire suppression systems (including room integrity testing): who should carry out each task?

Competent gaseous suppression contractor: service visit by a suppression specialist, including a check that pressure relief vents are free to operate. Competent room integrity tester: room integrity test and hold time calculation. F-gas certified technician: F-gas leak checks on systems that contain fluorinated extinguishing agents.

Gaseous fire suppression systems (including room integrity testing): what records should you keep?

Keep these records: service report for each visit; annual room integrity test certificate with the calculated hold time; F-gas leak check records where applicable; records of any changes to the protected room since the last integrity test.

Gaseous fire suppression systems (including room integrity testing): which tasks have no fixed interval?

F-gas leak checks on systems that contain fluorinated extinguishing agents: every 12, 6 or 3 months depending on the charge: see the F-gas leak checks entry.

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. Guidance on the pressure relief and post discharge venting of enclosures protected by gaseous fire fighting systems ↗

    Fire Industry Association · Issue 2, March 2012 · read on

    “During servicing and maintenance procedures (at least every six months) the following should be checked”

    Guidance on the pressure relief and post discharge venting of enclosures protected by gaseous fire fighting systems, Fire Industry Association

    Supports: FIA guidance refers to servicing at least every six months

  2. Guidance for Gas Fire Protection Systems: the room integrity test ↗

    Fire Industry Association · Published 15 March 2019 · read on

    “The test needs to be carried out every 12 months as part of a maintenance schedule.”

    Guidance for Gas Fire Protection Systems: the room integrity test, Fire Industry Association

    Supports: Room integrity test every 12 months

  3. Guidance for Gas Fire Protection Systems: the room integrity test ↗

    Fire Industry Association · Published 15 March 2019 · read on

    “the room integrity test and the hold time calculation is repeated annually”

    Guidance for Gas Fire Protection Systems: the room integrity test, Fire Industry Association

    Supports: Annual repeat is required by ISO 14520 and EN 15004 unless the enclosure is documented as unchanged

  4. Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases (assimilated law), article 4: Leak checks ↗

    legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) · UK version as shown on 5 October 2026 · read on

    “the existing inspection regime meets ISO 14520 or EN 15004 standards”

    Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases (assimilated law), article 4: Leak checks, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)

    Supports: F-gas leak check duty is met for fire protection equipment inspected to ISO 14520 or EN 15004 at the required frequency

  5. Checking F gas equipment for leaks ↗

    Environment Agency and Defra (GOV.UK) · Published 21 August 2019 · read on

    “stationary fire protection equipment”

    Checking F gas equipment for leaks, Environment Agency and Defra (GOV.UK)

    Supports: F-gas leak check rules apply to stationary fire protection equipment

  6. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 17: Maintenance ↗

    legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) · Revised text as shown on 5 October 2026 · read on

    “are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair”

    Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 17: Maintenance, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)

    Supports: The general legal duty to maintain fire safety equipment

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