Posted By Neil Koskie Dear all, We have recently had to buy some new fire extinguishers to replace some which were no longer fit for use. These are the new type which have a red body with a coloured label indicating the type of extinguishing media inside the extinguisher. We still have some of the old style full colour extinguishers as they still conform to the Regs but do not need replacing. My question is this - I have been informed that all extinguishers in a building should be of the same type, ie either all old type or all new type and you should not have a combination of the two. This is supposed to avoid confusion in the event of an emergency situation. I cannot find anywhere in the Regs which states this, can anyone help clarify the situation? To me this is a crazy rule - if just one extinguisher needs replacing we would have to go to the expense of replacing all extinguishers in the building! Your advice please.

Posted By TBC No need to replace all the extinguishers. I've been involved with many companies throughout the UK and nobody has replaced them all - no requirement. As you say replace only when past their sell by date. It would look tidier if you swapped them around though let's say nice new ones in the offices and others in the warehouse or workshop old style or mix. Obviously educate the employees as to the new provision. I'll send you something direct. Regards