> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.logbook.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How Long to Keep Fire Safety Records: UK Retention Guide by Record Type - URL: https://www.logbook.co.uk/fire-safety-records-retention-how-long-to-keep-uk/ - Published: 2026-09-07T18:42:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-07T18:42:27.000Z - Description: The Fire Safety Order sets no retention periods, so how long should you keep alarm test logs, drill records, extinguisher certificates, fire door checks and risk assessments? A record-by-record answer. - Author: Jamie Dawson - Tags: Fire Safety Logbooks **Quick answer:** No UK fire safety law sets a retention period for fire safety records. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires records to be kept, and the fire and rescue authority can ask to see them, but it is silent on how long. The defensible approach is: keep routine test and inspection logs (alarm, emergency lighting, fire doors, drills) for **at least three years and ideally five**; keep equipment records for the **life of the equipment** (fire alarm, emergency lighting and sprinkler installation and service certificates, extinguisher service history through the full 5- or 10-year cycle); keep **every version of the fire risk assessment**, not just the current one; and keep **training records for the length of employment plus three years**. For higher-risk residential buildings, the Building Safety Act's golden thread means the information is kept for the life of the building. This guide gives a record-by-record answer, explains where each recommendation comes from, and covers the practical questions: paper or electronic, on site or off, and what to do when you inherit a building with no records at all. ## What the law actually says The Fire Safety Order requires the responsible person to record the significant findings of the fire risk assessment and the arrangements made under it where there are five or more employees, the premises is licensed, or an alterations notice applies (article 9). Article 17 requires fire safety equipment to be maintained in efficient working order, and article 21 requires staff training. Inspecting officers have powers under article 27 to require the production of records. None of this fixes a retention period. Two other regimes do impose periods that touch fire safety. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require responsible persons in multi-occupied residential buildings to keep certain information (fire door check records, fire safety instructions, building plans and external wall information for taller buildings) and to make it available; they do not set an expiry. The Building Safety Act 2022 requires accountable persons for higher-risk buildings (at least 18 metres or seven storeys with two or more residential units) to maintain the "golden thread" of building safety information for the life of the building. Outside those, the periods below are good practice drawn from the British Standards, insurers' expectations and the limitation periods for legal claims. ## Retention by record type ### Fire risk assessment Keep the current assessment and **every previous version**, with the date of each review. The history shows the fire officer that the assessment is a living document and shows a court that risks were identified and managed over time. Never discard a superseded FRA; if you must archive, archive intact. Practical minimum: five years of versions, and longer where the building or its use is unchanged. ### Fire alarm logbook (weekly tests, faults, false alarms, service visits) BS 5839-1 expects a logbook to be kept and does not set a discard date. Keep the logbook for the life of the fire alarm system, and at least the previous three years readily available on the premises. The false alarm record in particular is analysed at each six-monthly service against the system's history, so gaps undermine the analysis. ### Fire alarm installation, commissioning and modification certificates For the life of the system. These are the baseline every later inspection is measured against, and they are required when the system is extended or replaced. ### Emergency lighting test records (monthly function tests, annual duration tests) BS 5266-1 expects a logbook with test results and certificates. Keep the monthly and annual test records for at least three years, and the completion, periodic inspection and annual test certificates for the life of the installation. ### Fire extinguisher records BS 5306-3 sets an annual basic service, an extended service at five years for water, foam and powder extinguishers, and at ten years for CO2\. Keep the service record through the full extended-service cycle: at least ten years, so the history of every extinguisher on site is complete. Keep commissioning records for as long as the extinguisher is in service. ### Fire door inspection records In residential buildings over 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require quarterly checks of communal fire doors and annual checks of flat entrance doors, with a record of the checks and of the steps taken. No period is set; keep them for at least three years and until any defect found has been resolved and re-checked. In other premises, fire doors are inspected as part of the fire risk assessment and routine maintenance; keep those records on the same basis. ### Sprinkler and fixed suppression records BS EN 12845 and the LPC Rules set weekly user tests, quarterly, half-yearly, annual and longer-cycle inspections up to the 25-year pipework overhaul. Keep the records for the life of the system; insurers who give sprinkler discounts will expect to see the complete inspection history. ### Fire drill records Keep for at least three years, and until any problem a drill identified has been resolved and reviewed. Drill records feed the FRA review, so they should be available for at least the current and previous review cycles. ### Staff fire safety training and fire marshal records Keep for the duration of employment plus three years, which covers the limitation period for personal injury claims. Where a claim in contract is conceivable, six years is safer. Records of who was trained, on what, when and by whom are what an inspecting officer asks for when checking article 21 compliance. ### Fire incident and false alarm reports Keep indefinitely for real fires, and for the life of the alarm system for false alarms. Real fires may be the subject of investigation or litigation years later; false alarm records are the basis of the rate calculation used to manage unwanted fire signals. ### Personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) Keep while the person is on the premises and for three years after, as a training and duty-of-care record. Under the Residential Evacuation Plans regulations that apply to certain residential buildings, person-centred fire risk assessment records must be kept current and available to the fire and rescue service. ### Contractor competence evidence Keep third-party certification details, insurance and competence evidence for every fire safety contractor for as long as their work remains in service, so that the maintenance chain can be shown to be competent end to end. ## Paper or electronic, on site or off Either format is acceptable. What matters is that the records are complete, legible, attributable to the person who made them, and available to an inspecting officer on request. In practice the fire alarm logbook, the emergency lighting logbook and the current FRA should be on the premises, typically at the panel or in a fire safety file at reception, because that is where the officer will ask for them. Archived years can be held electronically or off site if they can be retrieved quickly. If you use software, make sure the export is not dependent on a subscription you might cancel, and back it up. ## When you take over premises with no records Do not backfill. Start a new logbook on the date you assume responsibility, note in it that no previous records were handed over, and commission a fresh fire risk assessment, a fire alarm service visit and an emergency lighting test so that you have a documented baseline. Ask the outgoing occupier, landlord or managing agent in writing for whatever they hold; a written request is itself useful evidence. Going forward, hand records over when you leave: the incoming responsible person needs them, and for higher-risk buildings the golden thread requires it. ## A simple retention schedule - **Life of the building:** golden thread information for higher-risk residential buildings; real fire incident reports. - **Life of the system or equipment:** installation, commissioning and modification certificates for alarms, emergency lighting and sprinklers; alarm logbook; false alarm records; contractor competence evidence. - **Ten years:** extinguisher service history (full extended-service cycle). - **Five years:** FRA versions; anything relating to an enforcement notice or insurer condition. - **Three years minimum:** weekly and monthly test logs readily available; drill records; fire door check records; PEEPs after the person leaves; training records after employment ends. ## FAQs ### Is there a legal retention period for fire safety records in the UK? No. The Fire Safety Order requires records to be kept and produced on request but sets no period. The periods in this guide come from the British Standards, limitation periods and inspecting officers' expectations. ### Can the fire brigade demand to see old records? An inspecting officer can require the production of any records the responsible person is obliged to keep under the Order. In practice they ask for the current FRA and the last year or so of test, drill and maintenance records, and may go further if they find problems. ### Do I need to keep the old fire risk assessment when I have a new one? Yes. Superseded assessments show the history of review and are the best evidence that risks were being managed. Keep every version. ### Can I keep everything electronically? Yes, provided it is complete, backed up and can be produced when an officer visits. Keep the live logbooks physically available at the panel or reception, or be able to display them there. ### What about records for a building I have sold or vacated? Hand the originals to the incoming responsible person and keep copies for at least three years, longer if there was any incident or enforcement action during your tenure. ## Sources and further reading - [The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents/made?ref=logbook.co.uk), articles 9, 17, 21 and 27 - [The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/547/contents/made?ref=logbook.co.uk) - [Building Safety Act 2022](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/30/contents?ref=logbook.co.uk) and the golden thread requirements for higher-risk buildings - [GOV.UK: Fire safety in the workplace, your responsibilities](https://www.gov.uk/workplace-fire-safety-your-responsibilities?ref=logbook.co.uk) - [BS 5839-1, BS 5266-1, BS 5306-3 and BS EN 12845 (BSI)](https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/?ref=logbook.co.uk) *Reviewed by Jamie Dawson, Editor of Logbook.* **⬇ Free download:** our [fire safety logbook template with retention schedule (PDF & Excel)](https://www.logbook.co.uk/fire-safety-logbook-template/) gives you the record sheets from this guide, ready to print or fill in. ## Related guides - [Is a fire safety logbook a legal requirement in the UK?](https://www.logbook.co.uk/fire-safety-logbook-legal-requirement-uk/) - [Fire risk assessment record-keeping](https://www.logbook.co.uk/fire-risk-assessment-record-keeping-uk/) - [Fire extinguisher servicing records (BS 5306)](https://www.logbook.co.uk/fire-extinguisher-servicing-records-bs-5306-uk-guide/) - [Fire door inspection logbook](https://www.logbook.co.uk/fire-door-inspection-logbook-uk/) - [Emergency lighting logbook: monthly and annual test records](https://www.logbook.co.uk/emergency-lighting-logbook-uk/)