Posted By John Lewis I have always believed that this is a British Standard and compliance with it gives you a certain level of protection should anything go wrong. In my experience the Fire Brigade have quite a few views amongst themselves even within one brigade area. In the past I have always endeavoured to go by the BS and found that with a well prepared systems approach the time taken to do the checks need not be too onerous. Whether an external contractor needs to be involved depends on the competency and experience of the person doing the maintenance. External contractors' will inevitably try to get you to take out a contract with him, it is easy money regularly earned. Best regards John

Posted By Allen Higginson Under BS 5839 :part1 (2002) the frequency of visits must not exceed 6 months but all cases should be assessed to determine if increased visits are necessary.I would recommend still quarterly visits,not as someone involved in the industry,but as someone who thinks it wise not to let a system sit too long without proper maintenance.Section 6 (44 - 46.3) covers the issue of maintenance but you must make sure that if you are using in-house people then they must be of the same competency as a specialist organization (it also indicates impartiallity in my opinion).

Posted By Allen Higginson In fairness,they will insist on it being to 5838 recommendations but they may insist on documented weekly tests - just pick a different MCP each week as there is no time limit as to how ong it takes to get round them.