Smoke and heat alarms for landlords
Landlord smoke and heat alarms, mains wired, fitted by David across Dartford, Gravesham and Bexley. The England rules stated exactly, and mains-wired alarms for landlords who want more than the legal minimum.
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An Aico mains heat alarm David fitted.
The England duty
Landlords in England must have a working smoke alarm on every storey used as living space, a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance such as a boiler or wood burner (gas cookers are excluded), check the alarms on the first day of a new tenancy, and repair or replace any alarm a tenant reports as faulty.
Source: legislation.gov.uk, SI 2015/1693 reg 4; GOV.UK, Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: landlords and tenants
Mains wired, and why
The law does not say the alarms must be mains-wired, but government guidance points landlords to BS 5839-6, the British Standard for fire detection in homes, and there are practical reasons most landlords end up there. A battery alarm depends on the battery, and a battery alarm that chirps at three in the morning is the one a tenant takes down and forgets to put back, which leaves the landlord with a storey that has no working alarm and a duty that is theirs, not the tenant’s. A mains-wired alarm runs from the mains with a backup battery of its own, so it keeps working through a power cut and does not rely on anyone remembering to change anything. Where the alarms go matters as much as the type. A smoke alarm in a kitchen goes off every time the toast catches, so the usual answer in a kitchen is a heat alarm, which reacts to a rise in temperature rather than to smoke; the smoke alarms go on the hall and landing, where a fire in any room would reach them first. Mains-wired alarms can also be interlinked so that one sounding sets off the rest, which is the rule in Scotland and a choice in England.
What David fits
Mains-wired alarms, like the Aico heat alarm at the top of this page and the Aico smoke alarm below.
Source: GOV.UK, Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: landlords and tenants; gov.scot, Fire and smoke alarms in Scottish homes
Alarm questions
Do landlords in England have to fit mains-wired alarms?
No. The law does not say the alarms must be mains-wired. Government guidance points landlords to BS 5839-6, and mains-wired interlinked alarms are a legal requirement in Scotland, not England.
Does a bathroom count as living accommodation?
Yes. The regulations treat a bathroom or lavatory as a room used as living accommodation.
What is the fine?
Up to £5,000 for failing to comply with each remedial notice a council serves.
What about HMOs?
Licensed HMOs are exempt from the main parts of these regulations only because HMO licensing imposes similar requirements of its own.