How long does a life jacket last? Inspection and replacement

Post · 3 October 2026 · Figures reviewed 6 October 2026

A crew lined up on a floating platform in MM life jackets — Festival crew on a floating platform. MM’s photograph and caption.

People search for a life jacket’s expiry date, but a foam life jacket has none in the SOLAS rules: it lasts as long as it passes inspection. What does run out is the light’s battery, and for an inflatable jacket, the service interval. This post sets out the rules and a check you can run on each jacket.

What SOLAS asks of a ship

Every life-saving appliance on board is inspected monthly against the ship’s maintenance checklist, to make sure it is complete and in good order, and the inspection is entered in the log-book (SOLAS regulation III/20.7).
Inflatable life jackets are serviced at intervals of no more than 12 months, at an approved servicing station; the administration may extend that to 17 months where 12 is impracticable (SOLAS regulation III/20.8).

Boats outside SOLAS follow their own authority’s rules, but the same monthly habit is a good one anywhere jackets live in sun, salt and heat.

A checklist for each jacket

Cover: no tears, holes or open seams; colour not faded to pale or chalky by the sun.
Buoyancy: press the panels. Foam that is hard, shrunken, crumbling or waterlogged has lost lift.
Webbing and stitching: no fraying, cuts or pulled stitches at the load points.
Buckles: each one closes with a click and releases cleanly, with no cracks.
Reflective tape: present and not peeling.
Whistle: present, tied on, and it sounds.
Light: fitted, the battery inside its date, and it works when tested as its instructions say.
Label: legible, so the model, size and approval can still be shown to an inspector.

When to take a jacket out of service

It fails any check above and cannot be put right with a spare part.
It has been soaked in fuel or oil, which attacks foam and fabric.
Its label can no longer be read, so no one can show what it is approved to.

Storage that adds years

Keep jackets dry, ventilated and out of direct sun, hung or loosely stacked rather than crushed under heavy gear, and away from fuel. After use in salt water, rinse with fresh water and let them dry before stowing.