Fire Extinguisher Inspection Cost: What U.S. Public Agencies Were Bid and Paid, 2021 to 2026

Fire extinguisher inspection cost by service line in 21 public price sheets

Inspection is the cheapest line per visit but the one billed every year. The once-a-cycle lines (6-year teardown, hydrostatic test, recharge) each cost roughly four to five times an annual tag.

We coded every unit price in 20 procurement documents published by U.S. cities, counties, school districts, a university, a park district and state agencies between March 2021 and July 2026. The documents hold 355 price lines from 36 bidder price sheets. Each bidder counts once per service line, so a long price list does not outweigh a short one.

The median annual inspection bid was $5.00 per extinguisher (27 bids). Six-year maintenance on a dry chemical unit had a median of $21.25 (18 bids), a dry chemical hydrostatic test $24.00 (21 bids) and a CO2 hydrostatic test $40.00 (12 bids). A new 5 lb ABC extinguisher had a median price of $63.00 (17 bids).

Awarded or sole bidder: A price that the document marks as awarded, or the only price received for that line. A sole bid is not proof of award, but it is the price the agency had in hand. Prices from multi-bidder tabulations with no award shown are counted as bids.

Awarded and sole-bidder prices ran below the all-bid median for annual inspection ($4.88 against $5.00); the all-bid figure includes every quote from multi-bidder tabulations, most of which show no award. For 6-year maintenance and hydrostatic tests the two medians were close ($22.25 and $21.50).

The service intervals behind these lines come from federal workplace rules: an annual maintenance check (29 CFR 1910.157(e)(3)), emptying and maintenance every 6 years for stored-pressure dry chemical units that need a 12-year hydrostatic test (e)(4), and hydrostatic test intervals of 5 years for CO2 and 12 years for stored-pressure dry chemical in Table L-1 (29 CFR 1910.157). Local fire codes adopt NFPA 10, and editions vary, as adopted by your state. The fire extinguisher inspection page summarizes the schedule.

Annual inspection: $1.50 to $22.00 per extinguisher

Most public documents priced annual inspection between $4 and $8 per unit. A Hampton, Virginia bid that looked far higher turned out to bundle the whole service cycle into its unit price.

Half of the 16 documents that priced annual inspection landed between $4.38 and $7.63 per extinguisher, counting each document once. Statewide contracts sat near the low end: Indiana's 2024 quantity purchase agreement lists $4.65, and Vermont's 2026 contract lists $4.00 for every extinguisher type and size.

The highest annual inspection price is a Hampton, Virginia single-bidder tab from May 2023 that priced 48 extinguishers at $1,056.00 ($22.00 each); it does not state its scope beyond the annual inspection. A second Hampton bid from August 2023 (ITB 24-13JAB, 561 extinguishers, six bidders, $14.90 to $65.48 per unit) is not counted here: Addendum No. 2 says the unit price must cover scheduled 6-year maintenance and hydrostatic testing, recharges, service calls, replacement parts, signs and all labor. We report it as bundled service (median $20.59 across the six bids).

Trip and minimum charges sit on top of the unit price in some contracts. Erie County, New York lists a $60.00 minimum service charge for small sites, Indiana a $75.00 minimum billing, and Weslaco ISD in Texas a $25.00 fee each time a technician enters a building.

Six-year teardown and hydrostatic test: size and recharge inclusion move the price

Larger cylinders and bundled recharges explain much of the spread in the once-a-cycle lines. Median 6-year maintenance was $19.50 for a 5 lb ABC unit and $27.50 for a 10 lb unit.

Six-year maintenance on a 5 lb ABC unit had a median bid of $19.50 (14 bids), against $27.50 for a 10 lb unit (10 bids). A hydrostatic test showed the same step: $30.00 for 5 lb and $38.00 for 10 lb units.

Price sheets do not treat the recharge the same way. Some write that the 6-year or hydrostatic price includes refilling the agent, others price the recharge as a separate line. Where the document said the recharge was included, the median 6-year price was $27.00 (3 bids); where it did not, $18.00 (15 bids).

Same solicitation, different bidders: how far apart the quotes landed

When two or more firms priced the same annual inspection, the highest bid was a median 1.86 times the lowest. Spreads on 6-year and hydrostatic lines reached more than four to one.

Six solicitations in the dataset show at least two bidders pricing annual inspection under identical terms. The narrowest was Lubbock County, Texas in 2021 ($4.75 and $5.00); the widest was Lynchburg, Virginia in 2024, where five bidders ranged from $2.15 to $10.00.

The spread widens on the less frequent lines. In the 2024 Connecticut Judicial Branch bid, one firm quoted $15 for 6-year maintenance and $20 for a hydrostatic test on a 5 lb ABC unit, while the other quoted $71 and $89 with the recharge included. In the Park District of Highland Park, Illinois (2025), the two bids for a 5 lb unit's 6-year service were $25.50 and $70.00.

Only one multi-bidder document in the set names the winner, so it is a single example rather than a pattern: Lubbock County awarded its 2021 contract to the bidder with the lower annual inspection price ($4.75 against $5.00). The other tabulations were posted before or without an award, so this report does not compare awarded with losing bids beyond that one case. Hampton's August 2023 bundled-service bid shows a 4.39-to-1 spread across six bidders.

One buyer five years apart: Tulsa's 2021 and 2026 bids

Tulsa bid the same extinguisher scope in March 2021 and July 2026. The annual inspection price fell, while the 6-year maintenance and hydrostatic test prices for a 5 lb unit doubled or more.

The City of Tulsa's bid TAC 181G (March 4, 2021) and TAC 181H (July 30, 2026) use the same line items and the same estimated quantities for stored-pressure extinguishers up to 30 lb. A different firm priced the extinguisher lines in each year.

• Annual inspection: $6.00 in 2021, $5.00 in 2026 (-16.7%).
• 6-year maintenance, 5 lb ABC: $6.00 to $23.00 (+283.3%).
• Hydrostatic test, 5 lb ABC: $12.00 to $25.00 (+108.3%).
• Recharge, 5 lb ABC: $15.00 to $16.00 (+6.7%).
• New 5 lb ABC extinguisher: $40.00 to $52.25 (+30.6%).

CPI-U rose 26.1% between March 2021 and July 2026. In July 2026 dollars the 2021 annual inspection price equals $7.56, so the 2026 bid is lower in real terms, while the 2026 6-year price is about three times the inflation-adjusted 2021 price ($7.56).

Region and year: what the sample can and cannot show

Northeast and Midwest documents priced annual inspection near $4.50 to $4.83; Southern documents ran a little higher and the single Western document higher still. The year-by-year medians are too thin to read as a trend.

Grouped by Census region, the median document price for annual inspection was $4.50 in the Northeast (5 documents), $4.83 in the Midwest (2), $5.50 in the South (8) and $8.50 in the West, where the sample holds a single California document.

Each year holds two to four documents, and the 2023 median rests on three documents, one of them the $22.00 Hampton tab. We restated each document price in September 2026 dollars with CPI-U, but with this few records per year the inflation-adjusted series is a check on the Tulsa comparison, not a national trend line.

Twelve years of compliance for one extinguisher

At median public prices, keeping one stored-pressure dry chemical extinguisher in service for 12 years costs $105.25 in inspection, 6-year maintenance and a hydrostatic test, before any recharges after use, parts or trip charges.

Formula: 12 x annual inspection + 1 x 6-year maintenance + 1 x 12-year hydrostatic test. At the median prices that is 12 x $5.00 + $21.25 + $24.00 = $105.25, or $8.77 a year. The 25th percentile prices give $80.99 and the 75th percentile prices $154.63.

Annual inspections account for 57.0% of the median 12-year total. Using size-matched 5 lb ABC prices for the 6-year and hydrostatic lines gives $109.50. The median 12-year cost equals 1.67 times the median bid for a new 5 lb ABC extinguisher ($63.00).

Class K, CO2 and the charges around the visit

Kitchen Class K and CO2 units carried the highest per-unit service prices in the dataset, and several contracts add trip, minimum or hourly charges.

A Class K wet chemical extinguisher had a median recharge bid of $125.00 (10 bids), a median hydrostatic test of $131.50 (8 bids) and a median new-unit price of $250.00 (8 bids). Restaurant and school kitchens that keep these units are covered on the restaurant fire safety page.

CO2 hydrostatic tests had a median bid of $40.00, and a new 10 lb CO2 unit $288.00. Hourly labor for repairs or extra work ranged from $20.00 to $165.00 in five bids (median $95.00).

Recalled extinguisher models are tracked separately in our extinguisher and smoke alarm recall report. Firms that perform this work can be found through the provider directory.

Ratios behind the comparison

Download the calculations (CSV)

Where the numbers diverge

1. The median annual fire extinguisher inspection bid in 20 U.S. public procurement documents dated 2021 to 2026 was $5.00 per extinguisher (27 bids).^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][8][9][10][12][15][16][17][18][19][20]}
2. Counting each document once, the median annual inspection price was $5.00 (16 documents, 2021 to 2026), or $5.63 in September 2026 dollars.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][8][9][10][12][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]}
3. Annual inspection bids ranged from $1.50 (Greenwich, Connecticut, 2025) to $22.00 (Hampton, Virginia, May 2023, a 48-unit lump sum).^[15][6]
4. Hampton, Virginia's August 2023 bid priced extinguisher service at $14.90 to $65.48 per unit, but Addendum No. 2 folds 6-year maintenance, hydrostatic testing, recharges, service calls and parts into that price, so it is reported as bundled service, not annual inspection.^[7][23]
5. Six-year maintenance on a dry chemical extinguisher had a median bid of $21.25 across 18 bids in 13 documents (2021 to 2026, 14-state sample).^{[1][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][2][20][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}
6. The median dry chemical hydrostatic test bid was $24.00 (21 bids); the median CO2 hydrostatic test bid was $40.00 (12 bids).^{[1][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][2][20][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}
7. A 5 lb ABC recharge had a median bid of $21.00 and a 10 lb ABC recharge $25.00 (2021 to 2026).^{[1][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][2][20][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}
8. A new 5 lb ABC extinguisher had a median bid of $63.00 and a new 10 lb ABC unit $90.00 in public price sheets dated 2021 to 2026.^{[1][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][2][20][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}
9. Class K wet chemical extinguishers cost more to service: a median $125.00 to recharge and $250.00 to buy new (2021 to 2026).^{[1][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][2][20][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}
10. Where a price sheet stated that 6-year maintenance included the recharge, the median was $27.00, against $18.00 where it did not say so.^{[1][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][2][20][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}
11. In the 2024 Connecticut Judicial Branch bid, 6-year maintenance on a 5 lb ABC unit was quoted at $15 and $71, a 4.73-to-1 gap for the same line.^[8]
12. In Lynchburg, Virginia (bid opened April 17, 2024), five bidders quoted annual inspection from $2.15 to $10.00 per extinguisher, a 4.65-to-1 spread.^[9]
13. Lubbock County, Texas awarded its 2021 contract to the bidder at $4.75 per annual inspection; the other bid was $5.00.^[2]
14. Tulsa's 5 lb ABC hydrostatic test price rose from $12.00 (2021) to $25.00 (2026), up 108.3%, while CPI-U rose 26.1% over the same span.^[1][20][21]
15. Trip, service-call and minimum charges in five documents ranged from $10.00 to $79.95, with a median of $47.50.^{[4][11][12][10][3]}

Summary

• Across 27 annual inspection bids in 16 documents, the median was $5.00 per extinguisher; the middle half ran $4.00 to $7.75.
• Awarded and sole-bidder prices sat lower: a median $4.88 for annual inspection (10 prices).
• Six-year maintenance on a dry chemical unit had a median of $21.25 and a dry chemical hydrostatic test $24.00; CO2 hydrostatic tests ran a median $40.00.
• Cylinder size moves the cycle prices: 6-year maintenance was a median $19.50 for 5 lb ABC units and $27.50 for 10 lb units.
• In the 6 solicitations with two or more annual inspection bids, the highest bid was a median 1.86 times the lowest.
• At median prices, one extinguisher costs $105.25 over 12 years in inspection and required maintenance, 1.67 times the median price of a new 5 lb ABC unit ($63.00).
• Annual inspections make up 57.0% of that 12-year total, so the per-unit tag price drives most of the bill.

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Methodology

Selection: we searched for primary public procurement documents (bid tabulations, awarded contract price sheets, statewide contract price schedules) that list per-extinguisher prices for annual inspection, 6-year maintenance, hydrostatic testing, recharge, new extinguishers, Class K service or trip charges, dated 2021 to 2026. Contractor marketing pages and cost-guide sites were excluded as data and appear only in the pages-to-beat comparison.

Inclusion: 20 documents from 14 states met the criteria and could be opened and saved. Every price line was coded by hand into scripts/rows.csv with the bidder, the bid status shown in the document (awarded, sole bidder, bid with no award shown, or losing), the service line, agent, cylinder size, whether the line states that the recharge is included, and the price as written. Documents dated before 2021, blank bid forms, lump-sum totals without unit counts and hourly-only documents (apart from the Maine DOT labor rate) were excluded; excluded.md lists them.

Normalization: each bidder contributes one value per service line per document. For 6-year maintenance and hydrostatic testing the reference item is a 5 lb ABC unit, else 10 lb, else the unsized line. Quartiles use the inclusive method. Region uses Census regions. Inflation adjustment uses CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0) for the document month, restated to September 2026; October 2025 was not published, so the prior month is used.

Conflicts and limits: documents differ in scope, inclusions and quantities, so a low unit price may come with a minimum charge or exclude parts. The sample is what agencies post online and is not random; the West and Midwest hold few documents. The brief targeted 40 or more documents; the session's web search budget ran out at 20 usable documents, and several further tabulations (Boone County MO, Westchester County NY, Garrett County MD, Escambia and St. Lucie FL school districts, TCNJ, Scott County IA) could not be opened directly from our location or were behind bot checks. Boone County's October 2025 tab was dropped because it could only be read through a third-party text proxy and has no Internet Archive capture. Hampton, Virginia's August 2023 bid is coded as bundled service because its Addendum No. 2 requires the per-extinguisher price to include 6-year maintenance, hydrostatic tests, recharges, service calls, parts and labor.

Derived metrics: the 12-year cost is 12 x annual inspection + 1 x 6-year maintenance + 1 x 12-year hydrostatic test, computed at the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of each line. All calculations are in scripts/analyze.py and derived_metrics.csv and can be rerun from the saved documents.

Not advice: this report describes prices that public agencies were quoted or paid. It is not a recommendation on what any building owner should pay, nor legal guidance on inspection requirements; requirements depend on the fire code edition adopted where you are. Last updated 2026-10-27.

This report presents published data with its limitations. It is not legal, engineering, financial or investment advice. Requirements depend on the code edition your state and local fire marshal have adopted; confirm with your authority having jurisdiction.

Sources, ranked by quality

Tier 1: primary and official sources (24)

• [1] City of Tulsa. TAC 181G Fire Extinguisher & Fire Suppression Systems Maintenance and Repair: Bid Summary. 2021-03-04. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [2] Lubbock County. ITB 210502 Fire Extinguisher Service Bid Tab (awarded to DACO Fire Equipment). 2021-06-25. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [3] Cosumnes Community Services District. Bid Pricing: Fire Extinguisher Testing Repairs Replacement and Certification. 2021-12-17. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [4] Weslaco ISD. RFP 22-03-12 Fire Extinguisher Supplies Sales Inspections: Extension Award Tabulation (term 3/28/2023 to 3/27/2024). 2023-03-28. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [5] Toms River Township. 2023 Fire Systems Testing: Unofficial Bid Results (bid opening 3/30/2023). 2023-03-30. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [6] City of Hampton. ITB 23-58AB Fire System Inspection and Service: Bid Tab. 2023-05-09. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [7] City of Hampton. ITB 24-13JAB Fire Inspection Services Bid Tab (closing August 24 2023); scope per Addendum No. 2. 2023-08-24. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [8] State of Connecticut Judicial Branch. Bid Opening Summary RFQ 02-2323 Fire Extinguisher and Kitchen Hood Fire Suppression System (with bid price sheets). 2024-04-12. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [9] City of Lynchburg. Bid 2023-074 Fire Extinguisher Services Lot 3 Bid Tabulation (opened 4/17/2024). 2024-04-17. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [10] State of Indiana (Department of Administration). Quantity Purchase Agreement 86301 Fire Extinguishers and Maint. (Jacob-Dietz Inc; effective 9/1/2024 to 10/1/2028). 2024-09-01. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [11] Montgomery County Public Schools. Bid 9679 Summary of Contracts: Portable Fire Extinguisher and Kitchen Hood Fire (term 4/26/2024 to 4/25/2025). 2024-09-18. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [12] County of Erie. Memo: Fire Extinguisher & Kitchen Hood Inspection and Service Contract Bid #240340-004 (12/1/2024 to 11/30/2026). 2024-11-29. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [13] University of Wisconsin-Madison. Contract 21-5105 Pricing: Fire Extinguishers Accessories and Repair (Summit Fire Protection; catalog dated 2025). 2025-02-25. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [14] Maine Department of Transportation (Ferry Service). Contract PH20250129FES Bid Tab: Service Inspection Testing and Maintenance of Fire Extinguishers (letting April 2 2025). 2025-04-02. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [15] Town of Greenwich. Bid Tabulation RFB #7918 Fire Extinguisher and Suppression System Services. 2025-06-30. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [16] City of San Antonio (Fire Department). IFB 6100018598 Draft Bid Tabulation: Annual Contract for On-Site Repair Testing Inspection Maintenance & Recharging of Fire Extinguishers. 2025-07-10. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [17] Park District of Highland Park. RFP Tabulation: 2025 Fire Suppression/Fire Alarm Testing & Maintenance. 2025-07-23. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [18] Chatham County. Price Sheet 25-0153-3 Annual Contract for Fire Extinguisher Services (Rebid; bid due 12/18/2025). 2025-12-18. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [19] State of Vermont (Buildings and General Services). Contract #CTR008709 Encore Fire Protection (price schedule revised February 13 2026). 2026-02-13. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [20] City of Tulsa. TAC 181H Fire Extinguisher & Fire Suppression Systems Maintenance & Repair Project: Bid Summary. 2026-07-30. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [21] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, all items (CUUR0000SA0), flat file cu.data.1.AllItems. January 2021 to September 2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [22] Occupational Safety and Health Administration (eCFR). 29 CFR 1910.157 Portable fire extinguishers. as of 2026-10-01. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [23] City of Hampton. ITB 24-13JAB Fire Inspection Services, Addendum No. 2 (August 14, 2023). 2023-08-14. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [24] U.S. Census Bureau. Census Regions and Divisions of the United States. current. Accessed 2026-10-27.