Classes and Regulations

CLASSES:

There are five classes of fire extinguishers, as standardized by Underwriters Laboratories and Underwriters Laboratories of Canada:

Class A rating: Carbon based fires: paper, wood, etc.
Class B rating: Oil, liquid or grease fires
Class C rating: Electrical fires
Class D rating: Metal fires
Class K rating: cooking fires: animal or vegetable oils and fats.

It is not unusual for fire extinguishers to have more than one class classification. An extinguisher may also have labels crossed out to indicate which types of fires it is unsafe to use on.

(Ferguson & Janicak, 2005, 210-11; Choosing and using fire extinguishers, 2012, 2A; Safety First International, 2013; Windsor Fire and Rescue Services, 2013)


REGULATIONS:

There are many different regulations under Ontario Regulations 213/07, under the Fire and Prevention Act (1997) (Service Ontario); the following is a summary of those regulations pertaining to portable fire extinguishers:

MAINTENANCE:

• Working listed portable extinguishers must be installed when replacing, fixing, or adding new extinguishers, and portable extinguishers must ALWAYS be fully operational and charged.

• Extinguishers must be checked/inspected on a monthly basis

• Once inspected, extinguishers must be tagged with its last maintenance date or recharge date and the servicing agency or person who made the inspection. This tag must also be kept on permanent record.

LOCATION:

• Portable extinguishers must be in a location where they are easily SEEN and easily ACCESSIBLE at all times. Additionally, they must be located in (or adjacent) to aisles that are used to access exits. 

• They must be encased in a lockable, break-front glazed cabinet (mainly for security purposes), OR in a fire hose cabinet (which must have an approved lock and scored glass break-front.

• When located near a fire hazard, extinguishers must be located in an area where they are still accessible, but wont be exposing the operator to any risk.

• Extinguishers must be located in an environment that is somewhere between 4° C-49° C (unless otherwise stated on the extinguisher itself.)

• Extinguishers must be provided to protect every building, every hazardous occupancy inside the building, and every hazardous occupancy outside.

• Extinguishers with a weight GREATER than 18 kg must be put in place so the top of the extinguisher is 1.1 m above the floor, whereas extinguishers with a weight LESS or equal to 18 kg must be put in installed 1.5 m above the floor.

SIGNAGE:

• All portable extinguishers must be indicated by very visible signage.

• The extinguishers themselves must have a label on them showing the rating and identification (or, if applicable, whether they are acceptable for fighting more than one class of fire.) 

• Operating instructions must be located on extinguishers where they will be visible to users.

• The different hazard occupancy rating must be shown on the extinguisher (Light, Ordinary, or Extra hazard occupancy depending on the size of area it is present in.)