NFPA 10
Portable fire extinguishers
Inspection, maintenance, recharge and testing intervals for every portable extinguisher on the property, plus how many you need and where they go.
NFPA 10 · NFPA 17A · NFPA 101 · California Title 19
Fire code compliance, in plain English.
What California actually requires of a commercial property, what a fire marshal looks at, and how often each thing comes due. Written for the person who has to pass the inspection, not for the person who wrote the code.
This page prints clean — use it as a walk-through checklist before your next inspection.
The standards
Four documents decide what you owe.
Three national standards and one California regulation. In practice they overlap, and the state one is what carries legal force here.
NFPA 17A
Wet chemical extinguishing systems
Commercial kitchen hood suppression: semi-annual service, nozzle coverage, detection, fusible links and the fuel shut-off.
NFPA 101
Life Safety Code
Egress: how people get out. Exit signage, emergency lighting, path width and door hardware.
Title 19
California Code of Regulations
The state regulation that gives the above legal force in California, and requires that annual extinguisher service be performed by a licensed concern.
Service schedule
Every interval, on one page.
Most failed inspections are not broken equipment. They are a date that passed while nobody was counting.
| Equipment | Interval | Work performed | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire extinguishers | Monthly | Visual inspection — pressure, access, seal, initialed record | NFPA 10 |
| Fire extinguishers | Annual | Full maintenance and a new dated certification tag | NFPA 10 · Title 19 |
| Fire extinguishers | 6 years | Internal examination on stored-pressure dry chemical units | NFPA 10 |
| Fire extinguishers | 12 years | Hydrostatic cylinder test | NFPA 10 |
| Exit & emergency lights | Monthly | 30-second function test | Title 19 · NFPA 101 |
| Exit & emergency lights | Annual | 90-minute load test with written record | Title 19 · NFPA 101 |
| Kitchen hood suppression | Semi-annual | System inspection, nozzle check, fusible link replacement | NFPA 17A · Title 19 |
| Kitchen hood suppression | 12 years | Agent cylinder hydrostatic test | NFPA 17A |
Your local authority having jurisdiction can require more frequent service than the state minimum. In Alameda County we confirm with the fire district before we quote.
Date checker
Find out what you owe right now.
Read the date off your tags and type it in. We count forward from the intervals in the table above and tell you what is current, what is close, and what already passed.
Your last service dates
Punched on the paper tag hanging from the handle — month and year, next to the licence number of whoever serviced it.
Usually a sticker inside the housing or on the side of the fixture, plus a line in whatever report the last technician left behind.
On the tag wired to the agent cylinder, in the cabinet beside or behind the cooking line.
Nothing is sent anywhere. The dates stay in your browser until you choose to send them.
Your status
Fire extinguishers
You also owe a monthly visual check — pressure, access, seal — initialed on the back of the tag. That one is yours to do, not ours.
Exit & emergency lights
A 30-second function test is also due every month — press the button, watch the lamp hold.
Kitchen hood suppression
Nothing monthly here, but keep the nozzles clear of grease build-up and never let anything obstruct the manual pull station.
Cylinder age
This is arithmetic on the intervals in the table above, not a substitute for a walk-through. Your local fire district can require more frequent service than the state minimum, and only the tag on the equipment settles what was actually done.
Fire classes
The right agent for the right fire.
Using the wrong extinguisher can make a fire worse. This is the whole map, and it is the same lettering printed on the label of every unit you own.
Class A
Ordinary combustibles
Paper, wood, cloth, trash, most plastics
AgentWater · ABC dry chemical
Class B
Flammable liquids
Gasoline, solvents, oil-based paint, propane
AgentABC dry chemical · CO₂
Class C
Energised electrical
Panels, motors, wiring, server racks
AgentCO₂ · ABC dry chemical
Class D
Combustible metals
Magnesium, titanium, sodium — machine shops
AgentDry powder only
Class K
Cooking oils and fats
Fryers, griddles, woks — commercial kitchens
AgentWet chemical only
The one that catches restaurants
An ABC dry chemical extinguisher discharged into a fryer can splash burning oil and spread the fire. Class K uses a wet chemical that cools the oil and forms a crust over it. If you cook with vegetable oil or animal fat, a Class K unit is required in the kitchen in addition to the hood suppression system — not instead of it.
Inspection checklist
What the fire marshal actually looks at.
In the order they usually walk it. Print this page and go through it yourself before they do.
- Extinguisher tagsCurrent date, legible, and one on every unit. Expired or missing is the most common finding of all.
- Placement and accessMounted on its bracket, unobstructed, and within the required travel distance for the hazard.
- Exit signsIlluminated, legible from the approach, unobstructed, and pointing the correct way.
- Emergency lightingPresent along the whole egress path, and backed by a documented 90-minute load test.
- Hood suppressionCurrent certification tag, nozzles aimed at the appliances actually in place, links within interval.
- Class K in kitchensA Class K portable unit in addition to the hood system, not instead of it.
- Egress pathsClear, unlocked in the direction of travel, and not narrowed by storage or new fixtures.
- RecordsDated reports for every test. If there is no record, the test did not happen as far as the inspector is concerned.
Questions
What property managers ask us.
Who enforces fire code at my business in Alameda County?
Your local fire district or city fire department is the authority having jurisdiction — the AHJ. Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward, Fremont and San Leandro each run their own inspection programme, and they can require more than the state minimum. California Title 19 sets the floor; the AHJ can raise it. We confirm with the local district before quoting.
What is the difference between NFPA 10 and California Title 19?
NFPA 10 is the national standard for portable fire extinguishers — what to inspect, how often, how to maintain them. Title 19 is California regulation, and it is what actually has legal force here. Title 19 adopts much of NFPA 10 and adds California-specific requirements, including that annual extinguisher service be done by a licensed concern. In practice you comply with both.
What records do I need to keep?
A dated tag on each extinguisher, the written test record for exit signs and emergency lights, and the certification tag on the hood suppression system. Inspectors ask for documents as often as they look at equipment. Keep them where you can find them in under a minute — we email every report and archive a copy, so forwarding an email is usually enough.
How far should someone have to walk to reach an extinguisher?
It depends on the hazard class of the space. For ordinary combustibles the maximum travel distance is commonly 75 feet; for flammable liquids it tightens considerably, and for commercial kitchens a Class K unit has to be within a short walk of the cooking appliances. The number is not something to guess at — it comes out of walking the floor plan.
What happens during a fire marshal inspection?
They walk the property looking at extinguisher tags and placement, exit signs and emergency lighting, the hood suppression certification, egress paths, and whether anything blocks access to equipment. Findings come back as a correction notice with a deadline and usually a re-inspection. Most findings are dates and obstructions, not broken equipment.
We just remodelled. Does anything change?
Usually yes, and this is where properties get caught. Moving a wall can leave a stretch of egress path without emergency lighting. Moving a fryer puts it outside its suppression nozzle coverage. Adding storage can block an extinguisher or an exit sign. Any build-out is worth a compliance walk-through before the next inspection, not after.
Get it handled
We track the dates so you do not have to.
One walk-through, a flat-rate quote before we start, and a reminder from us before every interval comes due.
If you used the checker above, press Send these dates to us and they arrive in this box already filled in. Otherwise just tell us what you have and we will work it out on the walk-through.
Serving
Berkeley · Oakland · San Leandro · Hayward · Fremont
Would rather talk it through? Call(510) 828-7434.