Fire Extinguisher Checks and Refill Intervals

Why does fire extinguisher maintenance consist of three separate jobs?

A single service label on an extinguisher is not enough to be sure it will work in a fire. The legislation separates three jobs: the visual check done by the workplace itself, maintenance and refilling done by an authorised service, and the periodic inspection done by an authorised person registered on EKİPNET (the Ministry's register of authorised inspectors). The fire extinguisher refill interval is one link in this chain: under Art. 99/7 of the Regulation on the Protection of Buildings from Fire (BYKHY), extinguishers undergo a general on-site check once a year and at the end of the fourth year the extinguishing agent inside is renewed and a hydrostatic test is carried out.

The table below summarises who does what, and how often, for portable extinguishers. We explained separately which extinguisher is suitable for which fire in our article on types of fire extinguisher.

Job	Who does it?	Frequency	Basis
Visual check	Employee designated in the workplace	Our recommendation: monthly	Employer's general obligation, internal arrangement
General on-site check (maintenance)	Company holding a refilling and service competence certificate	Once a year	BYKHY Art. 99/7, TS ISO 11602-2
Periodic inspection	Authorised person registered on EKİPNET	Once a year unless the standard sets a period	Work Equipment Regulation Annex III
Agent renewal and hydrostatic test	Service with a competence certificate	At the end of the fourth year	BYKHY Art. 99/7
Refilling	Service with a competence certificate	After every use, including partial discharge	Required in practice

Monthly visual checklist

The legislation does not set a fixed frequency for the visual check. However, problems such as an extinguisher being removed from its place, blocked or having its pin pulled do not wait for the annual maintenance; so we recommend a check walk of a few minutes once a month. On the walk, look at the following:

Is the device in place? The extinguisher should be where it is shown on the layout plan and in the inventory. The regulation requires the travel distance to an extinguisher to be at most 25 m (Art. 99/4).
Is it unobstructed and visible? Extinguishers are not placed behind doors, in closed cabinets other than fire hose cabinets, in deep wall recesses, or on or near heaters. If it cannot be seen directly, its location is indicated with a photoluminescent sign.
Is the mounting height suitable? Devices heavier than 4 kg and lighter than 12 kg are hung so that they do not exceed approximately 90 cm above the floor and can be easily taken off the wall (Art. 99/5).
Are the pin and seal intact? A broken seal shows that the device has been used or tampered with; the device is reported to the service.
Is the gauge needle in the green zone? A needle in the red zone means loss of pressure or overpressure.
Are the hose and nozzle sound? A cracked, crushed, blocked or detached hose cannot be used.
Are the body and label clean? Dents, rust, blistered paint and illegible instructions for use are reported to the service.
Is the tag up to date? Check whether the next inspection date has passed.

Annual maintenance: what should you ask of the service company?

BYKHY Art. 99/7 requires fire extinguisher maintenance and checks to be carried out according to the TS ISO 11602-2 standard, and requires the manufacturer or service company carrying out the maintenance to hold a refilling and service competence certificate. The service company must show its certificate on request.

The same paragraph also regulates a detail that is often overlooked: when devices are taken away for refilling, the service company must temporarily leave the same number of ready-to-use devices with the same specifications as those it takes. A refilling practice that leaves a production hall without extinguishers for a few days breaches this rule.

Look for the following in the maintenance contract and the handover record:

A copy of the company's competence certificate and its validity details.
Devices listed one by one with serial number, type and capacity.
The work done on each device: general check, refill, agent renewal, hydrostatic test.
Devices taken out of service and the reason.
The list of devices left temporarily and their return date.

Newly purchased portable extinguishers must hold a TS 862-EN 3 quality certificate, and wheeled extinguishers a TS EN 1866 quality certificate (Art. 99/6). Add these certificates to the extinguisher file when purchasing.

The Annex III periodic inspection is different from maintenance

Portable extinguishers also appear in the Annex III table of the Regulation on Health and Safety Requirements for the Use of Work Equipment, renewed on 23 December 2025. Here, the fire extinguisher periodic inspection interval is 1 year unless the standard sets a shorter period; the inspection is carried out in accordance with the BYKHY and according to the TSE ISO/TS 11602-2 criteria.

This inspection is carried out by authorised persons registered on EKİPNET. Under Annex III, the authorised professions for installations other than electrical installations are mechanical, metallurgical and materials, mechatronics and manufacturing engineers, technical teachers who graduated from mechanical and metal education departments, and mechanical technicians and senior technicians. The contract is mutually approved on İSG-KATİP (the Ministry's online OHS registration system) at least 1 day before the inspection; a report issued without a contract is invalid. For details, see our articles on periodic inspection intervals and İSG-KATİP contract approval.

Fire extinguisher refill interval and hydrostatic test

The fourth-year rule applies even if the extinguisher has never been used. Dry chemical powder caking over time, the propellant gas slowly leaking or corrosion starting on the inner surface of the body may not be noticeable from outside; that is why agent renewal and the hydrostatic test are tied to a schedule.

An example: a 6 kg dry chemical powder device filled in March 2023 undergoes a general on-site check in March 2024, March 2025 and March 2026. In March 2027, i.e. at the end of the fourth year, the powder inside is renewed and the device undergoes a hydrostatic test. If, in the meantime, half of it was used on a small waste bin fire in November 2025, it is refilled immediately without waiting for the fourth year.

Do not hang a used device back in place because "it's still partly full". A partially discharged extinguisher has lost pressure and can run out in a few seconds at the next fire. Immediately after use, remove the device from its place, put a spare extinguisher in its place, record the incident and the serial number of the device used, and report it to the service for refilling. This record will also be useful when investigating the incident as a near miss or occupational accident.

When should a fire extinguisher be replaced? The legislation does not set a general service life for extinguishers; the decision to replace is based on the findings of servicing and periodic inspection. Plan to replace the device with a new one in the following situations:

Devices that fail the hydrostatic test or are taken out of service by the service company.
Devices with deep corrosion, dents or cracks on the body.
Devices whose serial number and manufacturing details cannot be read and whose traceability has been lost.
Devices that do not match the fire class where they are located. For example, BYKHY Art. 99/1 primarily requires dry metal powder extinguishers in places where class D fires may occur.

How is a fire extinguisher service tag read?

The format of the fire extinguisher service tag or service label is not standardised in the legislation; it varies from company to company. The tag usually contains the following information, and each item answers a different question:

The service company's name and competence certificate number: Was the maintenance done by an authorised company?
Type and capacity of the device (e.g. 6 kg ABC powder, 5 kg CO2): Is the right device in the right place?
Serial number and year of manufacture: Does the tag belong to this device, and does it match the service list?
Fill date: The starting point for the fourth-year calculation.
Last check and next check date: Is the annual maintenance overdue?
Hydrostatic test date: When was the last test carried out?
Name and signature of the person who checked it.

Typical mistakes when reading the tag are: looking at the old label where labels have been stuck on top of each other, not noticing that devices have swapped places because there is no serial number on the tag, and confusing the fill date with the check date. A device whose tag shows a fill date of 2022 is due for agent renewal and testing in 2026; an up-to-date annual check label does not change this.

Records, schedule and training

Keep the extinguisher inventory in a single table: location, type, capacity, serial number, fill date, last maintenance, last periodic inspection and hydrostatic test date. By entering these dates in the OHS calendar tool, you can plan the annual maintenance and periodic inspection for the same period but with different people. At multi-building sites in Bursa and the surrounding provinces, keeping a separate list for each building prevents confusion caused by devices being moved between buildings.

A device being well maintained does not mean that the person who will use it can do so. Employees need to try out in practice pulling the pin, aiming the hose at the base of the fire and standing at a safe distance; we do this in theory and in practice as part of fire training. We plan the periodic inspection of extinguishers together with other work equipment as part of our periodic inspection service, carried out via our solution partners.

The 2026 base administrative fine for failing to have the required checks and measurements carried out is 33,326 TL. For breaches of emergency obligations, a fine of 22,194 TL is applied for each obligation and is repeated every month the breach continues. You can see how the amounts increase according to hazard class and number of employees in the administrative fine calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often is a fire extinguisher refilled?

Under BYKHY Art. 99/7, the extinguishing agent of an unused extinguisher is renewed at the end of the fourth year and a hydrostatic test is carried out. In between, a general on-site check is carried out every year. A device that has been used, even partially, is refilled without waiting.

Who can check a fire extinguisher?

Annual maintenance and refilling are carried out by companies holding a refilling and service competence certificate. The annual periodic inspection under Annex III is carried out by authorised persons registered on EKİPNET; the person who maintains a device cannot carry out the periodic inspection of the same device.

Can the workplace be left without extinguishers during refilling?

No. The service company must temporarily leave the same number of ready-to-use extinguishers with the same specifications in place of the devices it takes for maintenance.

How can you tell whether a carbon dioxide extinguisher is full?

CO2 extinguishers have no pressure gauge. Whether it is full is checked by the service weighing the device and comparing it with the full weight on the label. In the monthly visual check, it is enough to check that the pin, seal, hose and horn are intact.