Ultimate responsibility for the inspection, maintenance, and testing of all fire extinguishing systems lies with the employer. Your company may choose to use outside contractors to perform the actual inspection, maintenance, and testing of your extinguishing systems, either portable or standpipe.

When contracting for such work, you must ensure that the contractor is capable of performing the work. If the company decides to perform the inspection, maintenance, and testing requirements in-house, you must ensure that those persons doing the work have been appropriately trained and will recognize problem areas that could cause an extinguisher or system to be inoperable.

It is advisable to check with state/local fire codes for any specific qualification requirements.