During a monthly quick check of portable fire extinguishers, the coordinator identifies an extinguisher with a broken tamper seal. What is the appropriate response?

Remove the unit from service and have a company on the FDNY’s list service it

Note the minor cosmetic damage in the log book and leave the extinguisher in its place

Replace the broken tamper seal with a standard plastic zip tie from the maintenance kit

Weigh the extinguisher and return it to service if it feels heavy

During a monthly extinguisher inspection, you observe superficial scratches on one cylinder and a significant structural dent on another, though both have intact seals. What is the appropriate determination?

Tag the dented cylinder out of service right away for servicing

Keep both extinguishers in service as the seals remain unbroken

Remove the scratched cylinder while retaining the dented cylinder

Document cosmetic damage but retain both units in active service

During a quick check, an extinguisher’s safety seal is intact, but the gauge needle is just outside the green range. What must you do?

Tag it out of service and have an approved company recharge it

Manually repressurize the cylinder using an air compressor

Document the gauge reading but leave it on the wall

Keep it in service since the safety seal is intact

On patrol, you find an extinguisher whose tag has no monthly check entry for the past 45 days. Annual service is in two weeks. What should you do?

Document the deficiency, perform the inspection, and record the corrective action

Leave it in service and let the annual visit in two weeks catch up on the missing monthly entries

Ask building management to request a temporary FDNY variance until the annual service visit

Pull it from service, tag it out, and report the impairment to the local firehouse

During a monthly check, an extinguisher is fully charged and undamaged but has no service tag. What must be done with it right away?

Remove it from service and place a conspicuous out of service tag

Create a handwritten replacement tag using the previous inspection date

Discharge the extinguisher completely before returning it to the vendor

Keep the unit in service but document the missing tag in the log book

Who must check a shelter’s portable fire extinguishers at least once a year and then put a new tag on each unit?

A W-96 Certificate of Fitness holder

The F-80 coordinator on the shelter staff

Any staff member the owner selects

An S-12 Certificate of Fitness holder

Concept · Zone I · Extinguishers

Extinguisher tags: the monthly quick check and the annual service

Every installed extinguisher carries an FDNY standard tag, and two checks are recorded on it: a quick check every month and a full inspection at least once a year. The Study Material spells out who does each one and what each one looks for. The units themselves are on the Zone I page (Extinguishers).

Plan ref I3Updated October 25, 2026

Two checks, one tag

The monthly check is short on purpose. The Study Material calls it a quick check, and the owner of the business selects the person who does it (Source: Study Material §15.3).

The yearly check is a service visit by a Certificate of Fitness holder from a company on the FDNY’s list. It ends with a new tag on the unit, and the annual record is written on that new tag.

So the two checks differ in three ways: how often, who does them, and where the record goes. A practice question can change one of the three and keep the other two the same.

The quick check, four points

The extinguisher is fully charged.
It is in its designated place.
It has not been actuated or tampered with.
There is no obvious physical damage or condition that would keep it from working.

Is the tag genuine?

The FDNY gives two ways to check. The hologram strip is 3 inches long and ¼ inch wide, and it changes color as you tilt it. The QR code opens the current FDNY list of approved extinguisher companies. If a tag fails both, tell your supervisor; if you suspect a counterfeit, the Study Material says to contact the FDNY (Source: Study Material §15.4).

The back of the tag

Monthly quick check record (sample values)

Date	Name or initials
Jan 6	J.R.
Feb 3	J.R.
Mar 4	A.M.

The record needs the date and the name or initials of the person who checked (Source: Study Material §15.3). It goes on the back of the tag, or in an approved electronic method that keeps a permanent record. The values here are made up.

Options first, then the tag

Checkpoint round

0 of 6 checked · 0 cleared

Practice questions written for study, not taken from the test. The real F-80 is a multiple-choice test on a touch-screen computer at FDNY Headquarters.

Read the options first: they are usually four different things to do with the unit. Then match what the stem describes to one of the four quick-check points.

How the checkpoint round works

Read the options first and rule out the ones that break a rule, then pick from what is left. After you answer, the debrief explains every option and scores your strikes. Keys: 1–5 or A–E answer, Shift with a number rules that option out, the arrow keys move.

Checkpoint 1 of 6

Checkpoint 01
During a monthly quick check of portable fire extinguishers, the coordinator identifies an extinguisher with a broken tamper seal. What is the appropriate response?
Rule out what you can with the ✕ buttons, then choose. The debrief for every option opens here.
1. AA broken seal is not cosmetic; it means the extinguisher may have been used or tampered with.
2. BCorrect: The monthly quick check confirms the unit has not been actuated or tampered with; a broken seal fails that, so it goes for service.
3. CA zip tie hides the problem without checking the charge; only a qualified servicer restores the seal.
4. DJudging by feel is not a charge check, and a tampered unit needs servicing either way.
Checkpoint 02
During a monthly extinguisher inspection, you observe superficial scratches on one cylinder and a significant structural dent on another, though both have intact seals. What is the appropriate determination?
Rule out what you can with the ✕ buttons, then choose. The debrief for every option opens here.
1. AAn intact seal does not cancel a dent; the quick check also looks for physical damage.
2. BThis reverses the two; scratches are cosmetic, while a structural dent can weaken a pressurized cylinder.
3. CCalling a structural dent cosmetic misses the damage the monthly check is meant to catch.
4. DCorrect: The quick check looks for obvious physical damage that could prevent operation; a structural dent fails, light scratches do not.
Checkpoint 03
During a quick check, an extinguisher’s safety seal is intact, but the gauge needle is just outside the green range. What must you do?
Rule out what you can with the ✕ buttons, then choose. The debrief for every option opens here.
1. ARecharging is service work for a qualified technician from an approved company, not an air compressor job.
2. BWriting down the reading still leaves an undercharged unit on the wall for someone to grab in a fire.
3. CAn intact seal shows the unit has not been used; it does not prove it is fully charged.
4. DCorrect: Fully charged is the first item of the monthly quick check; a needle outside the green zone fails it, so the unit comes out.
Checkpoint 04
On patrol, you find an extinguisher whose tag has no monthly check entry for the past 45 days. Annual service is in two weeks. What should you do?
Rule out what you can with the ✕ buttons, then choose. The debrief for every option opens here.
1. AThe annual visit does not cover missed monthly checks; each month needs its own date and initials on the tag.
2. BNo variance is needed to do a monthly check; you can simply do it now.
3. CA missed record is not an impairment of the extinguisher itself, so pulling it and calling the firehouse overreacts.
4. DCorrect: Monthly quick checks are required, so do the check now, record the date and your initials on the tag, and note the gap.
Checkpoint 05
During a monthly check, an extinguisher is fully charged and undamaged but has no service tag. What must be done with it right away?
Rule out what you can with the ✕ buttons, then choose. The debrief for every option opens here.
1. AOnly FDNY standard PFE tags are recognized, and a homemade tag with an old date is a false record.
2. BDischarging a working extinguisher destroys a usable unit for no reason.
3. CCorrect: Every installed extinguisher needs an FDNY standard PFE tag; without one its service cannot be shown, so tag it out and have it serviced and re-tagged.
4. DA log book note does not fix the missing tag; FDNY issues violations for extinguishers installed without a proper tag.
Checkpoint 06
Who must check a shelter’s portable fire extinguishers at least once a year and then put a new tag on each unit?
Rule out what you can with the ✕ buttons, then choose. The debrief for every option opens here.
1. AThe monthly quick check is done by a person the owner selects; the yearly check and new tag need a W-96 holder.
2. BA person picked by the owner does the monthly quick check, recorded on the back of the tag, not the yearly one.
3. CCorrect: the yearly check is done by a W-96 holder from an approved company, who then replaces the tag.
4. DS-12 is the sprinkler system certificate; it does not cover yearly extinguisher service.

One extinguisher, one year

Installed
Tagged
The unit carries an FDNY standard tag. Units without a proper tag draw violations.
Every month
Quick check
The person the owner selected checks the four points and writes the date and initials on the back of the tag.
At least yearly
Annual inspection
A W-96 Certificate of Fitness holder from a company on the FDNY’s list checks the unit (Source: Study Material §15.3).
Same visit
New tag
The W-96 holder replaces the tag and records the annual inspection on the new one.
After any use
Recharge or replace
A discharged unit is fully recharged or replaced before it is used again (Source: Study Material §15).
Every few years
New tag colors
The FDNY changes tag colors and years for security (Source: Study Material §15.4).

Where the tag fits in the records

The tag is the extinguisher’s own record. The shelter’s log book also needs an entry for portable fire extinguisher testing and servicing (Source: Study Material §16). The log books page lists the rest of what that book holds.

A current tag tells you the unit was checked. It does not tell you when to use it; that decision is on the PASS method page.

Where the rule is written

Source: Study Material §15.3Monthly quick check by a person the owner selects; annual inspection by a W-96 holder, who replaces the tag.
Source: Study Material §15.4The FDNY standard tag, its hologram and QR code.
Source: Study Material §16Log book entry for extinguisher testing and servicing (rev. January 2026, as of October 2026).

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