Firavia / Three-year Fire Certificate records
Guide for servicing contractorsThree-year Fire Certificates: keeping three years of servicing records together
Direct answerSCDF sets the validity of a Fire Certificate starting on or after 1 April 2026 at 36 months, unless otherwise stated, and every building still has to be inspected annually. For a servicing contractor, that puts three annual inspections, and the routine servicing between them, behind one certificate. This guide is about keeping that record in one piece.
What SCDF says
These are SCDF's own words from its Fire Certificate page. Read the page itself, and the circular it points to, for the full rules.
"The FC is valid for a period of 12 months, unless otherwise stated."
"For FCs with validity start date from 1 April 2026 and after, the validity is for a period of 36 months unless otherwise stated"
"Every building has to be inspected annually to maintain the integrity of its fire protection systems."
"The owner or occupier must engage a Professional Engineer and contractor to inspect the fire safety systems"
"For premises renewing their FC, applications must be submitted at least two months before the existing FC expires."
"SCDF will select premises for auditing and notify the owner or occupier to submit the inspection schedule."
Source: SCDF, Fire Certificate. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
What changes for the contractor
The inspection behind the certificate does not change. The renewal does. The certificate is now renewed every three years, the inspection still happens every year, and SCDF's page also describes an annual FC Form for premises in the years between renewals. SCDF can also select premises for audit and ask for the inspection schedule.
Read together, that is not a new rule for the contractor, but it changes how long a record has to stay findable: each year's inspection still feeds that year's filing or an audit, and the renewal looks back across all three.
A practical checklist for the record
These are working habits, not SCDF requirements. Your contract and the codes of practice that apply to each system decide what each record must contain.
- One place per building. Every report for a site, filed against that site, not in a technician's chat thread.
- Each annual inspection, signed and dated, with who did it and what was covered.
- The routine servicing between inspections, so the three years have no gaps a reader has to explain.
- Defects linked to their rectification. A fault found in year one should show where and when it was fixed.
- Photos with the report they belong to, not in a separate folder.
- Certificates with the work behind them, so anyone can trace a certificate back to the reports that support it.
- The renewal date, and the two-month mark before it, on a calendar someone actually reads.
Where Firavia fits
A certificate register
Every certificate your company issues has a defined scope and is chained to the service reports and work orders that back it. The building's Fire Certificate is SCDF's; Firavia keeps the inspection record behind it.
Signed evidence stays put
A signed report's photo set closes at signing, so the evidence from year one is still the evidence in year three.
A portal for the building owner
Your customer's portal shows when each planned visit is due, and which have passed and since when.
One record, every year
Service reports, work orders and invoices link to each other, so a year's work can be traced from the certificate back to the job.
Common questions
Did the annual inspection change with the three-year Fire Certificate?
SCDF's Fire Certificate page still states that every building has to be inspected annually to maintain the integrity of its fire protection systems. The change is to the certificate's validity, which is 36 months for a validity start date from 1 April 2026 and after, unless otherwise stated.
When must a Fire Certificate renewal be submitted?
SCDF states that for premises renewing their FC, applications must be submitted at least two months before the existing FC expires. Check SCDF's own page for how to apply.
Is this guide legal advice?
No. It quotes SCDF's own page and adds practical record-keeping habits. For what applies to a particular building, read SCDF's page and the circular it points to.
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