Annual maintenance: what we actually check

The annual service is the most thorough visit your fire alarm system gets all year. BS 5839-1:2025 sets out what has to happen at that visit — but the certificate at the end is only as good as the work behind it. Here is what a properly scoped annual service covers, in order.

Pre-arrival

Before we get to site, we review:

• The previous service certificates
• The Log Book entries since the last visit, especially faults and false alarms
• The site asset register
• Any modifications notified since the last visit
• Outstanding actions or deferred works

If anything in the file looks wrong, we raise it with you before the visit, not after.

On arrival

The engineer checks in with the Responsible Person, confirms which areas are out of bounds, and isolates the system from any monitored receiving centre to avoid generating false alarm signals during testing.

Visual inspection

We walk every room covered by the system and inspect every device. We're looking for:

• Devices that have been painted over, decorated, or obstructed
• New ceiling layouts, partitions, or cable trays that affect coverage
• Damage to devices, sounders, or call points
• Cables that have been pulled, kinked, or removed
• Areas that were not in the design but are now occupied differently

Anything we find is documented with location, and either rectified during the visit or quoted as remedial work.

Test of every detector

The annual service tests every detector. This is the big difference from quarterly service. We test:

• Smoke detectors with a calibrated test aerosol that triggers the sensing element
• Heat detectors with a controlled heat source
• CO detectors with calibrated test gas
• Multi-sensor detectors through each sensing element separately
• Beam detectors by interrupting the beam path under controlled conditions
• Aspirating detectors at each port, with response time measured against commissioning baseline

Each device's pass/fail is logged against its serial number and address. A device that fails goes on the remedials list with location and proposed replacement type.

Test of every call point

Every manual call point is tested. We use a test key, not a hammer; we verify the panel sees the activation and resets correctly afterwards.

Sounders, beacons, voice alarm

The whole evacuation signal is tested. We measure sound pressure level at representative points and check:

• That all sounders activate
• That beacons fire in synchronisation
• That voice alarm messages play correctly and intelligibly
• That cause-and-effect rules trigger the right zones

Where we find dead zones or inaudible areas, those go to remedials.

Panel and power supply

The panel itself is checked: firmware version, event log, internal time and date, battery condition under load. Standby batteries are load-tested or replaced if they're at end of life.

Interfaces

If the system controls anything else — magnetic door retainers, air handling, gas suppression release, lift homing — each interface is tested for correct cause-and-effect. The wrong cause-and-effect is more dangerous than no system at all.

Records and handover

At the end of the visit:

• Updated Log Book entries for every action taken
• Annual Inspection and Servicing Certificate, signed
• Asset register update with any device replacements
• Remedials quote, separately, with each line item priced
• Reset of monitored signal and confirmation back to ARC

The certificate is filed in your customer portal within 48 hours of the visit. If anything from the visit needs follow-up, it's on the next visit's agenda by default.

If your last annual service produced a single-page certificate and no remedials list, ask your contractor what they actually tested. The work and the paperwork should match.