Tenant question about mains smoke alarm battery responsibility/help

ThisIsWeird

Hi Chickadee.

From what it appears - these being mains-powered but with replaceable battery back-up - it is your job to replace the battery when it expires.

Some have integral back-up batteries which are not replaceable, so the whole unit will need replacing - that is the LL's responsibility.

All will have a finite, dated, life, and these will also be the LL's responsibility to replace.

So, see if you can stand on a chair, and take photos all the way around the alarm, and the face, and check them for an 'expiry' date or similar. Also post the photos on here, and we can hopefully guide you on how to remove the unit - if it has a user-replaceable battery. Then can be awkward, so it's important to know how to do this correctly.

chickadee13

Alderbank said:

Our smoke alarms here in Scotland don't have to be mains powered. Battery powered are often the best option. Replaceable batteries are no longer permitted, battery powered units which are legal in Scotland all have long life batteries permanently built in. However whatever the power source they must all be interlinked, that is if one goes off all the others in your property must all go off together, to make sure the alarm is heard everywhere.

Also, the detectors inside the smoke alarms do not last for ever. They become more sensitive with age so sooner or later they will go off with no cause, as has happened to yours. All units have an expiry date and must be replaced at least every ten years. Yours sound very much overdue for replacement.

The alarm in your kitchen must not be a smoke alarm because smoke alarms give false alarms when you are toasting or grilling. The alarm in the kitchen must be a heat alarm.

The property owner has the legal duty to ensure alarms are compliant and working so that's the landlord in your case. All you are expected to do in order to behave in a tenant-like manner is to test them now and again (push the test button with something like a broomstick) - and to inform the landlord or their agent if there is a fault, as you have done.

If you don't trust the agent to bother telling the landlord you could tell him yourself. After all it's your landlord who is responsible and could face a fine, not the agent.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I certainly don't mind changing a battery if that's what I'm supposed to and able to do (and indeed what I tried to do with my friend's help). The letting agent 'inspects' every 3 months so I thought since they do that so often it might be helpful for them to check this out and make sure it's all fine so they have no cause for complaint with me.

chickadee13

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi Chickadee.

From what it appears - these being mains-powered but with replaceable battery back-up - it is your job to replace the battery when it expires.

Some have integral back-up batteries which are not replaceable, so the whole unit will need replacing - that is the LL's responsibility.

All will have a finite, dated, life, and these will also be the LL's responsibility to replace.

So, see if you can stand on a chair, and take photos all the way around the alarm, and the face, and check them for an 'expiry' date or similar. Also post the photos on here, and we can hopefully guide you on how to remove the unit - if it has a user-replaceable battery. Then can be awkward, so it's important to know how to do this correctly.

Thank you, I appreciate the help. I'll have another look tomorrow and see if I can get decent enough pics.

The letting agent was a month late in replacing the outdated CO detector, so probably worth checking the dates on the alarms anyway...!

kimwp

I imagine "unable to replace" probably means you have a disability that means you can't reach it or the landlord has made it so that it is inaccessible. 

I was pondering if it also could mean difficult to access eg on a tall ceiling over stairs, but I guess that as a tenant signing on, this would be something you would be taking on or request a note in the contract for this to be done by the landlord. Not that I knew this when I rented!

jrawle

I couldn't be in a flat for three minutes with a smoke alarm pipping, let alone the three months it takes the agent to do an inspection. As an aside, when I lived in a flat, I could once hear the neighbours' alarm making its low battery sound. I was thinking I was going to have to go round and ask them to change it, possibly after buying a 9V battery first to give to them. In the end, I pressed the test button on my alarm, and it did the trick! They must have heard it and realised what the pipping was, as pretty much immediately, they removed their battery...

How high are your ceilings if a chair isn't sufficient for all but the tallest person to reach the alarm? (Genuine question; I know tenement buildings in Scotland often have high ceilings.)

There are loads of videos on Youtube showing you how to change a battery in a mains wired smoke alarm. Have a look through and find once that looks like yours, then follow the instructions. Who cares if you are "supposed to". The worst that will happen is that they won't refund you the cost of the new battery.

theartfullodger

Where safety is concerned, everybody is involved and owes a duty of care:  Tenants, landlords, neighbours, someone walking past (eg a fire starting...)

pseudodox

Thinking outside the box do you have a local fire station?  Contact them to see if they will visit & advise/help you.  My late mother had a courtesy visit from them once (they were calling on all local elderly residents in a small village) & they fitted new smoke alarms (not mains wired but old ones were out of date).  They would rather help to prevent fires.  Alarms do go out of date & batteries may need to be replaced on mains wired ones before the unit itself expires but it does sound like you need complete replacement.  I changed my back up batteries last year & appreciate it can be fiddly getting the covers off & tucking the new battery in needs to be snug so the cover goes back on properly.  It is good practice to use a vacuum cleaner extension tube & dust the alarm every couple of months.

pumas

The unit should 'slide' off not 'flip'.  Insert flat screwdriver and push, at the same time making sure the unit doesn't fly off!! I'm sure there must be better designs.
I've written the expiry date on the outside of the casing where I can see it easily.

PRAISETHESUN

Regardless of who has the legal responsibility to actually do it, personally I'd just sort this out myself. It's my life that will be affected in the event that I actually need the smoke alarm to function properly. Should be easy enough to book a tradie, or get a community volunteer to come out and help if you have issues that prevent you from doing it yourself.

Wyndham

We have just replaced our own smoke alarms (own house, not rented). We had the electrics done 11 years ago, and the smoke alarms started to beep at the end of last year. They are mains powered, but have a backup battery. While replacing the battery we realised that the alarms had an expiry date on them, and that we were past it. The standard seems to be 10 years. So we've now replaced the alarms.

In terms of responsibilty for yours, I'd say that the battery is your responsibilty, but replacing the unit should fall to the landlord. And if you can't replace the battery yourself, I do understand why the agency is saying that if you need an electrician they will charge. If you're not sure, or not confident, it could be money well spent - especially if they can then confirm to the agency that the alarms need replacing.

At the end of the day, it could save your life.