EN3 Explained

EN3 is the new standard for portable fire extinguishers in the EEC. It released BS 5423 in 1997. One of the major changes it brought was in colour coding of extinguishers.

All extinguishers must now be painted red and subject to national regulations (BSEN3) an area of up to 5% of the body, usually above the operating instructions, can be colour coded to help identify the extinguisher:

• Blue for Powder
• Cream for AFFF Foam
• Black for C02

All fire extinguishers sold in the EEC should conform to EN3.