Guide · Fire extinguishers

Choosing fire extinguishers for a commercial or industrial site

The right extinguisher is chosen from what could burn, who will use it and where it hangs — not from a catalogue. This guide sets out how that choice is made for a site in the United Kingdom, and what to send us for a quotation.

1. Start with the fire risk assessment

In England and Wales the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 puts the duty to provide suitable firefighting equipment on the responsible person for the premises. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own equivalent legislation. The fire risk assessment decides what is needed and where; the supplier does not. The UK code of practice for selecting and siting portable extinguishers is BS 5306-8, and it is the document your assessor or fire engineer will work from.

We supply the equipment. We do not carry out the assessment, so bring us the result and we will help you match it to the range.

2. Match the extinguisher to the fire

Fires are grouped by what is burning. The group decides which extinguishing agent works and which does not.

Fire class	What is burning	Dry powder (ABC)	Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
A	Solids such as wood, paper, textiles, packaging	Suitable	Limited: no cooling, so deep-seated embers can reignite
B	Flammable liquids such as fuels, solvents, paints	Suitable	Suitable for small liquid fires
C	Flammable gases	Suitable, but isolating the gas supply comes first	Not the usual choice
Live electrical equipment	Switchgear, panels, office and IT equipment	Works, but leaves residue that can damage equipment	Suitable: no residue, does not conduct

Electrical equipment is not a fire class of its own. It is a reason to choose an agent that is safe to use on equipment that may still be live.

• Dry powder covers solids, liquids and gases in one unit, which is why it is the common general-purpose choice for vehicles, workshops, plant and stores. It leaves a fine residue and, discharged in a small closed room, reduces visibility and is unpleasant to breathe.
• Carbon dioxide is clean: no residue, no damage to equipment. It suits server and switch rooms, control rooms and laboratories. The horn becomes very cold in use, so it must not be held by hand, and in a small confined space the gas displaces air.

Metal fires (class D) and cooking oil and fat fires (class F) need agents designed for them. If either is your hazard, tell us and we will say plainly what we can and cannot supply.

3. Choose the size for the person and the hazard

Type	Sizes we supply	Suits
Dry powder, portable	1 kg to 9 kg	Offices, retail, vehicles and plant, workshops, factory floors
Dry powder, trolley	25 kg to 100 kg	Large open hazards: loading areas, fuel stores, plant yards
Carbon dioxide, portable	1.3 kg to 7 kg	Server and switch rooms, control rooms, laboratories

A bigger extinguisher is not automatically a better one. Whoever is expected to use it must be able to lift and aim it, so a smaller unit that people can actually handle often serves a staffed area better than a heavy one. Reserve trolley units for hazards that need the extra discharge and have room to wheel them.

4. Position and number

Extinguishers belong where people will pass on the way out: on escape routes, near exits and close to the hazard they cover, visible, signed and not blocked. How many are needed, and which type at each point, follows from the floor area, the hazard in each space and the travel distance to the nearest unit. That is the assessor’s figure, not ours, and the BS 5306-8 tables are where it comes from.

5. Training and maintenance

An extinguisher helps only if someone knows how to use it. People who may be called on to use one should be shown how. Extinguishers also need regular inspection and servicing by a competent person; the British Standard for maintenance is BS 5306-3. Maintenance is a separate job from supplying the equipment.

What to send us

• The type of site and what it holds: stock, fuels, electrical equipment, vehicles.
• The fire classes your risk assessment identifies, if you have it.
• The types and sizes you want, and the quantity of each.
• Where in the UK the equipment is to be delivered, and your deadline.

Our UK office in Milton Keynes handles the enquiry, and equipment is supplied through our Asia partner. If you only know the application, tell us that and we will come back with options.