Posted By Al Beevers I've just been told that around 1/3 of the extinguishers on site should be replaced as they don't have the Kitemark. The only standard I knew of before was BS EN 3, which doesn't seem to mention the Kitemark. Does anyone know what the situation is? I want to comply if necessary, but I'd rather not have to buy a lot more extinguishers if it can be avoided.

Posted By James Goodstadt Al, Who has told you? If it was a supplier, you can be a bit sceptical, as they will want to supply new extinguishers for you. The legislation says you have to have means of tackling a fire. There are British standard regarding the supply of extinguishers (BS 5306 parts 3 and 8, I think). I haven't got them to hand, but if your extinguishers are in good working order and are regularly maintained in line with the requirements of the standards (every year, from memory) I would argue against changing them. I would imagine that only extinguishers produced after the introduction of the kite mark need to have them (BSEN extinguisher would probably have to be CE marked as it is a European standard) If you have been told by the local fire officer or your insurance company, it may be a bit harder to challenge, but I would ask them to justify why you need to change them. IF their justification seems sensible, you may just have to do it, but I'd be surprised that you would be required to remove working extinguishers that are well maintained, just because they have no stamp on them. Regards James Goodstadt