Fire Alarm Problem - need advice on making the landlord take action

Savy_3

I was woken at 4am this morning by the fire alarm going off.

It was a false alarm and although I managed to get the main alarm noise off, the unit is reporting a fault with a very load beeping noise and flashing lights.

I reported the problem to the landlord and he said he would contact someone to look at it. I have placed a follow up call with him now and he tells me that he left a message for the repairman but hasn't been able to get hold of him.

I have told the landlord that the beeping of the unit is loud enough to stop me from being able to sleep at night and so he needs to get someone to look at it.

He tells me that he only trusts the one repairman because the others will cause more damage to the unit.

Where do I stand legally here? It doesn't bother me who fixes the alarm providing the nosie is shut off so I can sleep tonight. How long does the landlord have to make the repairs in a case like this?

clutton_2

i know how annoying this is, but, it is Sunday and your landlord has acted immediately to contact the only person who he knows can fix this properly. You would not want a bodge repair which might mean that it wont go off at all in the event of a fire

there are no time limits on "repairs" - only that the LL acts reasonably - which he seems to have done.

can you cover it in cushions, cloths, etc to muffle the sound just for tonight ?

Savy_3

Thanks Clutton.

Does it make any difference that this particular 'repair' will impact on my ability to enjoy the property?

I'm not sure that we will be able to cover the unit because it is located high up on the wall and doesn't look like it protrudes far enough to hang something off it
(Obviously I will fully investigate this option before the evening).

roses

Can't you turn it off? Adjust the volume? Disconnect it from the mains? Pull out the battery?

clutton_2

savy - any repair will impact on your ability to enjoy - but your landlord is looking to protect your health and safety in the longer term by making sure expert repairs are done - to ensure the fire alarm system is working properly a little inconvenience is not too much surely ?

sacred_2

If this an alarm system with a control panel, then the system should be under contract to a fire alarm maintenance company, your LL is breaching the Reglatory Reform Order by not having it maintained, make them aware of this.

Do not disconnect the system in anyway, doing so will make it harder for the engineer who does look at it find the problem.

Remember this is life saving equipment so its pretty important to get a qualified engineer to look at it, OP if you can post a picture of the alarm i may be able to tell you how to stop the beeping. ( i maintain these for a living)

Savy_3

The good news is my landlord has managed to get someone out to take a look at this evening meaning the beeping noise has stopped.

In answer to some queries I wasn't game to get out a screwdriver and open the front cover as I figure I am just as likely to do harm as good.

Clutton, I appreciate the point you are making. I suspect my landlord's motivation is as much the cost as it is 'expert repairs'.

Sacred, I have uploaded the image to image shack but it won't let me post the imagehere. I have tried to pm you the link so I hope that worked. Whilst it has stopped beeping now we have once previously had a similar issue. I would love to be able to silence the fault warning until the repairman gets here as its quite loud and a couple of hours of constant beeping is enough to drive you to distraction.