Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers used in commercial locations within the United States use the requirements within NFPA® to govern the installation, inspection, use, maintenance, disposal, and specification of fire extinguishers. Most manufacturers also have specific requirements, or instructions when using their brands’ fire extinguishers.

Adoption of NFPA®, and other standards.

Each state has to adopt the use of a particular NFPA® edition to enforce their requirements. For example, Florida uses NFPA 10 Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers 2013 Edition, NFPA 1 The Fire Code 2015 edition, NFPA 101 The Life Safety Code® 2015 edition, and Florida Fire Prevention Code, 6th Edition 2017 edition. All of these have specific codes that pertain to Fire Extinguishers, and are referenced in each others’ editions.

If you are interested in the other NFPA editions that have been adopted by Florida, They can be found in 69A-3.012 Standards of the National Fire Protection Association and Other Standards Adopted.

Additional note: A recent proposal, made on 10/24/2019 will require the state of Florida to update the Florida Fire Prevention Code to include the most recent edition of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA®) standards and will include the Florida-specific amendments to NFPA 1, the Fire Code, and the Florida-specific amendments to NFPA 101, the Life Safety Code®.

Obsolete Extinguishers.

Fire extinguishers have been becoming more efficient, and less dangerous since the first fire extinguisher of which there is any record was patented in England in 1723 by Ambrose Godfrey, and consisted of a cask of fire-extinguishing liquid containing a pewter chamber of gunpowder. Since then, many extinguisher types have become obsolete, and have to be removed from commercial service. NFPA 10 (2013) chapter 4, subsection 4 written as 10:4.4 lists them as:

  • Soda Acid

  • Chemical Foam (excluding film-forming agents)

  • Vaporizing liquid (e.g. Carbon Tetrachloride)

  • Cartridge-operated water

  • Cartridge-operated loaded stream

  • Copper or brass shell (excluding pump tanks) joined by soft solder or rivets

  • Solid charge-type AFFF extinguishers (paper cartridge)

  • Pressurized water fire extinguishers manufactured prior to 1971

  • Any extinguisher that needs to be inverted to operate

  • Any extinguishers with 4B, 6B, 8B, 12B, or 16B fire ratings

  • Stored-pressure water extinguishers with fiberglass shells (pre-1976) (10:4.4)

  • Dry chemical stored-pressure extinguishers manufactured prior to Oct. 1984 that are not wheeled-type. (10:4.4.1-2)


Disclaimer: All uses of NFPA®, the NFPA® editions, and particular statutes within the NFPA®, or any other trademarks are trademarks of NFPA® or their respective partners. The information given is not to circumvent the purchasing of editions of the NFPA® from their website, or other retailers. The information is only intended to be used for knowledge.