Fire Alarm Testing: The importance of regular testing
As is set out in BS5839, routine fire alarm testing is extremely important to the continued safety and compliance in your organisation. Ensuring that any fire event is notified and acted upon swiftly is key to minimising the impact of even the smallest of fires - which can quickly escalate and compromise a building, or worse, result in loss of life.
Weekly fire alarm testing helps mitigate this risk, ensuring that people know what to do in the event of a fire, and that any routines, including evacuation, can be practiced. It is a legal requirement for you to do this, so it’s essential that you understand what your responsibilities are, and how to perform regular alarm testing.
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Your responsibilities
Recording any fire events in a log book
This enables the responsible person to review activations and discuss necessary actions with the system maintainer, often to reduce unwanted alarms.
Conducting weekly fire alarm tests
This ensures that sounders activate and more importantly, can be heard or seen.
What you need to do
Regular fire alarm testing is absolutely essential. It keeps you compliant while giving you complete peace of mind that your buildings and its occupants are completely safe.
Fire alarm testing also helps reduce unwanted, or false alarms triggered by poorly maintained systems. Emergency services have changed the way they respond to these calls, and you could receive a large fine. Therefore, consistent, robust fire alarm testing is needed to confirm that your systems are working correctly. This ensures any activation is genuine and can be verified before calling the fire service.
Building occupiers and responsible persons need to be aware of their legal responsibilities surrounding fire alarm testing. Drax 360 can offer helpful advice on how to conduct weekly testing to meet these compliance requirements.

Our fire alarm testing service
As part of our comprehensive fire alarm services, we offer a routine service of your fire alarm and detection systems, strictly conforming to BS5839-Part 1:2017. Here’s what you can expect from one of our routine, comprehensive fire alarm system tests.
Thorough inspection
We’ll discuss any issues or concerns your responsible person may have with your fire alarm system and any changes to the building or occupancy that may have compromised the system. Our specialist engineer will inspect your fire alarm log book for all historical events since your last service, including the evaluation of all unwanted alarms.
Extensive checks
We’ll perform complete fire alarm panel checks of all functions and operations, and inspect these to ensure that all field device analog values are within parameters. Additionally, your engineer will test and inspect all control panels and any associated power supply units and standby batteries.
Specialised fire alarm testing
Your dedicated engineer will carry out visual and functional tests of all field input devices (such as smoke, heat, multi-sensors, and beam detectors) using specialist equipment to determine if all are in the correct working order. We’ll also test all auxiliaries to ensure they are operating correctly - for example, lift grounding, door holder releases, access control overrides, and plant shutdowns.
But don’t just take our word for it
We have worked with a variety of businesses in a number of sectors including healthcare, education, retail, government, and manufacturing across the UK; performing fire alarm testing, and giving them greater transparency over their fire alarm systems across all sites.
See what our customers have to say about us.
Drax helped us design and install a temporary fire alarm solution for a large, partly inhabited, residential renovation project. The outcome saved over £5k per week, as we no longer required waking watch, but more importantly, improved our residents safety. The installation was so successful, we decided to integrate it into the final construction. Thank you Drax!
We have a long and successful history of working with Drax and so felt confident in proposing their software as a solution to our client Oxford University’s complex needs, with the best opportunities for scalability and value as their site portfolio grows.
Drax offer a great piece of technology which tells you the exact location/flat number of the fire activation, meaning a reduction in false alarm calls to the fire and rescue services. They were a pleasure to work with when integrating this solution into our monitoring centres

Lisa McIntyre
Integration Manager, Centra
Our Clients








Find out more about our other fire alarm services
In addition to our bespoke fire alarm testing, we offer end-to-end fire alarm services, with complete life cycle management of your fire alarm systems.
Alarm specification and design
Knowing what level of fire safety your buildings need to be compliant is tricky. That’s why we work with you to develop a fire alarm system tailored to your requirements and recommendations as detailed in your fire risk assessment.
Alarm supply and installation
Once your system is designed, we develop your individual solution using market-leading products. Our specialist fire alarm service engineers then install your new equipment carefully, efficiently and with little disruption to your day to day activities. Your dedicated account manager is also on hand to answer any queries, and keep the installation running smoothly.
Alarm maintenance and servicing
Now you’ve invested in fire protection and prevention, it’s your legal responsibility to ensure your fire alarms are regularly serviced by specialists. At Drax 360, we make this task easier. If there’s a problem, we can solve it, and our specialist engineers aim to replace parts and fix faults on their first visit. Your systems are serviced and certified, with all details stored centrally to access at any time - giving you peace of mind that your buildings are compliant, always.
Alarm testing
Regular fire alarm testing is an integral part of fire safety and compliance, and you need complete assurance that when needed, your systems will work. With Drax 360’s state of the art technology, testing is no longer a hassle. Check the status of critical equipment in real time, and view concise reports in one central location. We can also advise on BS5839 recommended weekly testing, so you can be sure your systems are always up to speed.
Alarm verification and end of life
Professional evaluation is needed throughout the lifecycle of your equipment to determine age, condition and suitability. Using diagnostic software, we generate detailed reports that will inform decisions regarding end of life replacement or enhancement. We help you decide where your budget is best spent, to keep your systems both cost effective and compliant.
Compliance and safety management
Keeping your business safe and compliant is our aim. Our dedicated account managers will work closely with you to assess your current compliance level, and propose technical solutions where your business is lacking. With extensive knowledge of the applicable regulatory standards, we can help you make the right decisions, and provide tech-driven solutions that keep you safe from prosecution.
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