Fire Alarm Testing

Keeping you compliant

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.

Do you know your responsibilities?

Recording your fire events

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.

Fire risk assessment review

This ensures that any changes to the building use or occupancy is taken account of. Special attention needs to be taken to buildings where occupants may be sleeping.

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.

What our clients are saying about us


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.

Paul Slater, Project Manager

Pyrotec Fire & Security


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!

Lyn Ware, Interim Project Manager

Silva Homes


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

Get a fire alarm testing and maintenance quote

We offer comprehensive fire alarm testing services to meet even the most specific requirements – going above and beyond to keep your fire alarm systems operating, and your building safe.


Get a quote

Our Clients

Knowing what level of fire safety your buildings need to be compliant with 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.

View our design services

Once your system is designed, we develop your individual solution using market-leading products. Our specialist fire alarm services engineers then install your new equipment carefully – with little disruption to your day to day activities. Your dedicated fire alarm services account manager is also on hand to answer any queries, and keep the installation running smoothly.

View our supply and installation services

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, our fire alarm services make this task easier. 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.

View our maintenance and servicing offering

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. As part of our fire alarm services, we can also advise on BS5839 recommended weekly testing – so you can be sure your systems are always up to speed.

View our testing services

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.

View our verification and end of life services

Accreditations