If you are a homeowner, you will have legal obligations and duties regarding the fire safety and protection of your property and the people who live on it. It is important that you make yourself aware of these duties and obligations and ensure full compliance with laws and regulations, as ignorance of the law is not a defense.
The three main laws that cover this area of law are:
• The Housing Act of 2004
• Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations (England) 2015
• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (2005) (The Order)
The Law Reform (Fire Safety) Order (2005) (The Order) stipulates that owners, managers and agents are likely to be considered ‘Responsible Persons’ for the purposes of The Order. What it means is that anyone who has any level of control over their property must take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of fire to an acceptable level and to ensure that people can escape safely if there is a fire. As a landlord, you are likely the Responsible Person for purposes of the Order.
As a Responsible Person, it is up to you:
1. Make sure you get a fire risk assessment for each property you rent.
The aim of the Fire Risk Assessment is to identify and assess all fire risks to which ‘relevant people’ are exposed and to eliminate or reduce those risks and to ensure that in the event of a fire, people can escape safely . This can be achieved by conducting a fire risk assessment.
Relevant persons are those persons who are legally permitted on the premises, for example staff, visitors, residents and contractors, etc.
If you are the responsible person, you must ensure that you carry out a fire risk assessment. This task can be performed by a fire safety professional. However, you will still be responsible, by law, for complying with the order.
As a landlord, if you own or manage a block of flats, the legislation will require you to carry out a fire risk assessment of all the common areas of your properties.
If you own or manage HMO’s, you must also conduct a fire risk assessment of the property.
The Fire Risk Assessment must:
• Identify fire hazards
• Identify people at risk
• Assess, eliminate or reduce and protect from risk
• Record, plan, report, instruct and train
• Check.
2. Ensure the Fire Risk Assessment is reviewed.
Any such assessment should be periodically reviewed by the responsible person to keep it up to date, especially if there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the matters to which it refers, even when premises, measures special, technical and organisational, or the organization of work undergo significant modifications, extensions or transformations. When changes to an assessment are required as a result of such a review, they must be made by the responsible person as soon as possible after conducting or reviewing the assessment. The responsible person should record the significant findings of the assessment, including actions the responsible person has taken or will take and any groups of people identified by the assessment as being especially at risk.
Good practice and best advice is to review each fire risk assessment annually.
3. Provide Information: Keep tenants and visitors informed.
Signage is extremely important. In the event of a fire, all relevant persons must know what measures must be taken and where the nearest fire assembly point is located. Clear fire action signs in the relevant language should be posted conspicuously. You may also want to consider the following:
• Alert each resident to fire safety measures.
• Post fire action signs inside each tenant’s front door.
• Hold regular fire safety meetings.
4. Provide fire detection and extinguishing equipment.
When necessary, the responsible person must:
• Make sure facilities are equipped with proper fire fighting equipment and fire detectors.
• Register, repair and maintain fire safety equipment and any problems within the premises
• Make sure alarms and any non-automatic fire fighting equipment are easily accessible, simple to use and indicated by signs.
• Take measures to fight fires in the facilities and designate responsible persons to implement such measures.
• Ensure that the number of such people, their equipment and their training available are adequate, taking into account the size and specific hazards involved in the facility.
• Arrange the necessary contacts with external emergency services, especially with regard to firefighting, rescue work and first aid and emergency medical care.
5. Keep all emergency exits clear.
All escape routes must be kept clear at all times and any blockages must be removed immediately.
Nothing should be allowed to obstruct escape routes.
Mobility scooters are worth mentioning here, as they are often stored or left to be charged in areas such as hallways or near stairs. They can form an obstruction to escape routes and access when needed. Numerous serious fires across the country have involved mobility scooters.
Owners who own/manage blocks of flats
In addition to your legislative obligations and duties as mentioned above, you may want to consider the following:
• Installation of smoke detectors in all properties
• Ensure that all exterior doors can be easily opened at all times from the inside
• Introduce a no-smoking policy on the property
• Carry out periodic safety checks of the electrical installation.
• Ensure all escape routes are kept clear at all times
• Make sure fire doors are installed
• Hire a fire safety professional to carry out all relevant checks and fire risk assessments and reviews.
Private sector owners
As of October 1, 2015, private sector owners will be required to have:
• At least one smoke alarm installed on each floor of your properties
• A carbon monoxide alarm in any room that contains an appliance that burns solid fuel (eg, wood stove, coal stove).
• The landlord must ensure that the alarms are working properly at the beginning of each new tenancy. Also;
• Gas appliances must be checked annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Electrical appliances must bear the British Safety Standard placard.
• Any furniture you provide in your property must be fire resistant and meet safety standards
• You must give security certificates to your residents, so they can see that the electrical and gas appliances have been checked.
• Under the Housing Act of 2004, as a landlord, you must ensure that there are adequate escape routes on the property.
Homes in multiple occupancy (HMO)
A home in multiple occupancy (HMO) is defined as a dwelling that is occupied by two or more people who do not live as a single family but who share certain facilities, such as bathrooms, toilets, and kitchens. Leases, use of common areas, relationship between residents, locks on bedroom doors, etc. will be used to determine whether a group of residents forms a single household or an HMO.
In addition to the legislative obligations and duties detailed above, the HMO Regulations impose duties on the manager of an HMO to maintain the structure, fixtures and fittings in good repair, ensure that occupants are protected from injury, and supply and maintain gas. , electricity and other services. .
It should also be noted that the Housing Act 2004 empowers councils to take action when a variety of housing-related hazards occur, including the risk of fire. The Board may take control of an HMO if the health, safety and welfare of the occupants or persons living in the locality are threatened.
