Fire alarm servicing certificates to BS 5839-6, for systems already in use

What this certificate covers

Once a domestic fire detection and alarm system is installed and commissioned, it needs periodic servicing to keep it working — a competent person checks and tests the system, confirms detectors, sounders and the control equipment are still operating correctly, and records any faults or remedial work. That's a distinct duty from the one-off certificate issued when a system is first designed, installed and commissioned — see fire alarm design, installation and commissioning for that certificate. Servicing is the ongoing one: recurring, scheduled, and evidenced every time it happens.

This is domestic fire alarm work under BS 5839-6. Commercial fire alarm servicing is carried out and certified under a different standard, BS 5839-1, which NexCert does not cover.

Who issues one, and how often

A competent person — typically the same kind of fire alarm engineer who installs these systems — carries out the periodic service visit and issues the record. Guidance for domestic systems under BS 5839-6 points to servicing at least annually as the general expectation for a professionally maintained system, on top of routine checks the occupier or responsible person carries out themselves (such as a weekly test). The exact interval and scope for a given system is a decision for the competent person against the system's design and the property's circumstances, not something this page states as a fixed rule for every installation.

This section describes the standard as general information. It is not a servicing schedule for a specific system — that is a decision for the competent person maintaining it.

How NexCert issues this certificate

The engineer records the service visit on a phone or tablet, on site, with the form working offline and resuming if signal drops — what was tested, what was found, and any remedial work raised. Where a supervisor needs to check and sign off before the certificate goes out, that sign-off happens remotely, from a desktop. The finished certificate is delivered with an evidence trail: what was checked, by whom, and when it was signed off — useful on its own, and essential if a landlord, managing agent or housing provider is later asked to show a system has been properly maintained.

There are fields for your own NICEIC, NAPIT, SELECT or Gas Safe registration number, at both company and individual engineer level, on every certificate NexCert issues.

Running a service round rather than one certificate

A firm servicing fire alarms across several properties on a schedule has a different problem from a single certificate: knowing which systems are due, which have been done, and having evidence ready without digging through a filing cabinet. For a portfolio of properties — an HMO landlord, a managing agent, or a housing provider — see portfolio compliance, which is built for exactly that "what's due, what's done, what's outstanding" problem across electrical, gas and fire certification together.