Have you tried watching them from a distance? Our MD caught our previous contractor taking the extinguishers off the wall shaking them and charging us for a full service - needless to say we do not use them now.

I occasionally ensure i wander round when ours are on the site i am based at to ensure the engineer is actually doing something but never once had a problem. Mind i keep any partially used ones for fire marshal training as well. Medium to long term, we're thinking of getting at least two people trained to cover our group as it'll work out cheaper hopefully (plus ensures we're always covered as having a few issues with current bunch not turning up when they should do etc) and can be arranged within depot visits by the staff concerned.

I once trained as a fire consultant alongside the extinguisher engineers. They were told to always service extinguishers in the van, that way the client could'nt see them hitting the pressure gauge with a hammer. True. When I was responsible for a factory fire safety I had a member of the works fire brigade trained up and it worked very well. Do it in house if you can.

We trained our Fire Safety Officer and his two technicians to do this job in house. Now saves loads of dosh and is done competently. The whole procedure is monitored by our Health and Safety Manager. Rich