No Smoke Alarm - House Inspection Soon

System

jennifernil wrote: »

I am surprised there is no smoke alarm in a relatively new property.

Our daughter has a flat built in 2001, building regs in Scotland must have required mains wired alarms at that time as they are fitted to all the flats.

Our son bough a new house back in 1993 and it came with battery operated alarms fitted, so may have been a requirement then.

Are the building regs requirements very lax in England?

As it would seem! I'm happy to buy my own but I wonder how many tenants are living in properties like mine not realising they don't have one... I'm glad I'm conscious of checking these things... went to test my fire alarm after checking all the burglar alarm sensors and couldn't find it!

System

Done some research.

Smoke Detectors Act 1991.
This act requires that all new houses that have been built since 1992 must by law have a smoke detector installed; minimum requirement being one smoke alarm on each level of the building.

If there are smoke alarms in a property, as Landlord you are liable to make sure they work.

Failure to comply with the Electrical Equipment Regulations 1994 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987 may result in:

Prosecution
A fine of up to £5,000 per item not complying
Six months imprisonment
Possible manslaughter charges in the event of death
The Tenant may sue for damages
Your property insurance may be invalidated
These regulations are enforced by the Health & Safety Executive.


So looks like it may be a legal requirement after all!

princeofpounds

Condescending comment.

Well it's a shame it looked that way to you, as it was only intended as a helpful explanation to a new poster as to why your tone was so.. distinct.

I'm not going to apologise that I called her bluff.

I didn't advocate you making an apology.

jjlandlord

princeofpounds wrote: »

Well it's a shame it looked that way to you, as it was only intended as a helpful explanation to a new poster as to why your tone was so.. distinct.

Condescending to both me and her, then.

jennifernil

sauceoclock wrote: »

Done some research.

Smoke Detectors Act 1991.
This act requires that all new houses that have been built since 1992 must by law have a smoke detector installed; minimum requirement being one smoke alarm on each level of the building.

If there are smoke alarms in a property, as Landlord you are liable to make sure they work.

Failure to comply with the Electrical Equipment Regulations 1994 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987 may result in:

Prosecution
A fine of up to £5,000 per item not complying
Six months imprisonment
Possible manslaughter charges in the event of death
The Tenant may sue for damages
Your property insurance may be invalidated
These regulations are enforced by the Health & Safety Executive.


So looks like it may be a legal requirement after all!

That certainly fits with the regulations up here, and I was not referring to requirements for rental properties, rather the requirements for any property built after a certain date.

Our daughter bought the flat in 2003, built 2001, so the requirement was already in place here.

booksurr

jjlandlord wrote: »

Condescending to both me and her, then.

- by your own admission you set out to be blunt, that is by its nature confrontational

- others reading your posts may question your fairness given which camp you sit in,

- you give the impression you enjoy putting others down rather than helping since you cannot take anyone questioning you

G_M

It's never worth feeding trolls.

jjlandlord

G_M wrote: »

It's never worth feeding trolls.

I know, but I felt like I had to reply.

Taggo

Good to see you've bought alarms, I'd advise phoning your local station for a home fire safety visit anyway, I do them, it's not a problem at all and you'll find out a lot of stuff you never thought about an most likely feel safer in your home!

System

Just an update, my Landlord actually phoned me this morning to say he was coming to creosote my fence before winter sets in, I mentioned that I had some standalone fire alarms and that I would prefer fitted ones, he was appalled and said he will be sending someone within the week to fit professional ones... Really great Landlord and it has instilled some confidence RE: my property.. He does take great care of it and clearly takes it seriously. Really impressed