Share this post
Do you ever have this conversation with yourself at your workplace?
“Hmmm … one or two of these Fire Extinguishers are looking a bit tired. Let’s check the labels. Yes – as I guessed … some are well-past their use-by date. For the life of me, I can’t recall when we last had someone in to check them over. It’s time to get some new ones in. Right, let’s look online. There’s no way I’m going to pay over the odds from a local supplier.”
Sure enough, a quick Google search throws up plenty of tempting low-price extinguishers. And it goes without saying – you’ll save a fortune by going online. But will you? Are you sure? Let’s look again … at the real cost of buying Fire Extinguishers online.
Here’s a fictitious but typical online example –
That looks great value – as little as £37.75 delivered to our door. Can’t be bad!
But let’s look again … at the real cost
What about extras? We already know about the shipping charge of £10.00, regardless of how many we buy. If we want our shiny new Fire Extinguishers to be installed, labelled and certified on-site, it’s an initial call-out charge of £23.75 and then £9.95 per extinguisher. So we’re now looking at £47.70 per extinguisher. Let’s say we order 10. Then we have to spread that call-out charge across all 10, and our cost is now £50.08. Not quite such great value as we’d assumed! In fact, nearly double the £27.75 we’d originally thought we’d be paying.
But cost has to be measured, in more than just financial terms. What about the hidden, sometimes intangible costs?
When you buy your Fire Extinguishers from whatever source, here a few questions you should be asking of your supplier –
Do you have liability insurance? Who do I claim from if it all goes wrong?
Do you have efficacy (failure to perform) insurance cover?
Is installation/commissioning done by sub-contract? (In 95% of cases, the answer is yes)
Have you seen the sub-contractor’s liability insurance?
Is the installation/commissioning company ISO registered?
Is the installation/commissioning company BAFE approved?
Have you got any proof of competency?
Have you got any proof of competency for the sub-contractor?
Do you have Health & Safety Policy, Risk Assessments and Method Statements?
Do you provide a five-year product guarantee?
And questions to your supplier about disposal – something you are ultimately liable for (failure to do so properly can result in fines of up to £1000 per cylinder).
Who will take our old Fire Extinguishers away and dispose of them?
Do you have a waste carrier’s licence?
And there’s more potential cost
You will only find the true cost of buying from a non-proven source when you find yourself needing to use your equipment in a real fire situation. How will your Fire Extinguishers perform?
If you have a fire, then the Fire authorities will investigate and will prosecute if they find out you’ve breached the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. You’ll need to show proof of competency on your part and on the part of the company supplying and maintaining your fire-fighting equipment.
Failure to prove such competency will make it difficult for you to receive a full insurance payment. Those Fire Extinguishers bought cheaply online might prove to be more costly than you’d ever imagined.
Your next purchase of Fire Extinguishers – what to look out for
You need to make sure your provider is third party accredited and BAFE approved. You must ensure they have relevant liability and efficacy insurances and employ trained and qualified technicians with appropriate competency, ongoing training and audited for quality of service delivery.
Only in this way will you be compliant under the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Here at Tec Fire and Security, you’ll find that we satisfy every single one of these criteria. We never cut corners. We value our clients’ businesses, but most of all, we value the health, the safety and the lives of those who work in and visit their places of work.
Find out more about our safe, specialist and accredited provision and maintenance of Fire Extinguishers. We’d love to hear from you.
