A fire extinguisher inspection checklist has two layers: the quick monthly visual check OSHA requires for extinguishers provided for employee use, and the deeper items NFPA 10 adds to the annual maintenance visit.
This page lays out both layers as a working checklist for a route, the log format that records each check, and where an electronic-monitoring exception changes the schedule for some units.
The monthly inspection checklist items
The first layer is the quick check: OSHA’s general-industry rule for portable extinguishers, 29 CFR 1910.157(e)(2), requires units provided for employee use to be visually inspected monthly.
NFPA 10’s 2026-cycle draft sets the same cadence in the standard itself — an inspection at least once per calendar month, at intervals not exceeding 31 days, done manually or by an electronic monitoring device or system.
NFPA 10 (2013 edition, as North Carolina’s Office of State Fire Marshal quoted it) defines an inspection as a quick check that the unit is in place, not actuated or tampered with, and free of obvious damage.
Maintenance, by contrast, is the thorough examination — and it is the second layer of the checklist.
The monthly list the draft lays out is short enough to run on foot:
- Location — the extinguisher sits in its designated place
- Visibility — the unit, or some means of indicating its location, can be seen
- Access — access to the extinguisher itself
- Gauge — the pressure gauge reading or indicator sits in the operable range or position
- Fullness — self-expelling, cartridge-operated and pump-tank units are confirmed full by weighing or hefting
- Wheeled units — tires, hose and nozzle are checked
- Nonrechargeable units — push-to-test indicators are checked
The draft adds a second tier of items where its enhanced conditions apply — severe hazards, past fires, or damage-prone or corrosive locations: a nameplate legible and facing outward, seals and tamper indicators intact, and no damage, corrosion or clogged nozzle.
Under the same draft text, the person doing the monthly check is not required to be certified; the certification requirement attaches to maintenance and recharging.
That split is what lets the monthly sheet be assigned to an employee who is not required to be certified, while the annual sheet belongs to a certified fire extinguisher technician.
The annual maintenance checklist items
The second layer is the annual maintenance check OSHA requires of workplace extinguishers under 29 CFR 1910.157(e)(3).
NFPA 10’s draft sets the outer limit at the same point — maintenance at intervals of not more than one year — and adds two more triggers: when the hydrostatic test is due, or when an inspection discrepancy or an electronic notification indicates a problem.
The annual external examination on the technician’s sheet looks for:
- Obvious physical damage
- Corrosion or nozzle blockage
- Operating instructions present, legible and facing forward
- HMIS information present and legible
- Whether the six-year examination or a hydrostatic test is now due
At the visit the draft also has the technician operate the pull pin and install a new listed tamper seal afterwards — nonrechargeable units keep their seals.
Certification attaches to maintenance
The inspection log and record format
Two records attach to the checklist: the tag that travels on the unit and the log that stays with the route.
OSHA’s rule sets the retention clock on the annual record — the employer records the annual maintenance date and retains it for one year after the last entry or the life of the shell, whichever is less.
NFPA 10 requires a tag or label on each extinguisher showing that maintenance was performed, identifying at minimum the month and year, the person performing the work, and the name and address of the agency.
Our research did not establish what NFPA 10 says about keeping the monthly record on paper versus electronically, so confirm the accepted record format with your authority having jurisdiction.
A working paper log gives every extinguisher one row.
The rules name the annual maintenance date and the tag fields; a usable route sheet adds practical columns around them:
- Unit identifier and its location on the site.
- Date and initials for each monthly check.
- Condition notes and any action taken.
- The annual maintenance date, plus the tag fields — the month and year maintenance was performed, the person who did the work, and the agency’s name and address.
Keep one sheet per customer site so the row order matches the walk order, and a missing set of initials shows at a glance.
A printable checklist template, block by block
A printable version of this checklist is one page for the monthly walk and one for the annual visit, built from the same blocks.
The header block carries the customer or site name, the area or floor, the month and year, and the person doing the walk.
The monthly grid runs the draft’s items across the top as column headers and gives every extinguisher a row, with date and initials columns closing each line.
Print the annual sheet with the external-examination items, a column for the six-year and hydrostatic-test due dates, and the tag fields — month and year performed, technician, agency name and address.
Shops that cover several sites print one book per site so each log stays with the building it describes.
Run the checklist against the adopted edition
Using inspection apps and electronic records instead
The draft text lets the monthly inspection itself be done manually or by an electronic monitoring device or system on the unit.
The International Fire Code goes further for some units: Exception 2 to Section 906.2 of the 2024 IFC lets electronically monitored dry-chemical and halogenated extinguishers skip the 30-day inspections where listed monitoring confirms the unit’s position, charge and access.
Under that exception, maintenance may drop to once every three years, as long as the exception’s other conditions are met.
Field software that extinguisher and inspection companies run time-stamps each entry, keeps the history with the unit, and hands the technician the same item list on a phone.
What the app does not change is the list itself — where the monthly walk is still required, the columns mirror the paper sheet and each item gets confirmed in person.
Career information, not licensing, legal, code, inspection, engineering or safety advice. The items on this page come from OSHA’s rule, NFPA 10’s published and draft text, and the International Fire Code. The edition your authority having jurisdiction adopted, the AHJ’s rules and your employer’s procedures govern the job — confirm details with the state fire marshal or licensing authority where you work.