Landlords

Hello all, Could someone tell me if there is a stipulated number from when a guest house is deemed to be a hotel, I’m thinking in terms of the required fire alarm needed, when say a simple guest house with no more than 3 floors, it would be acceptable to have a grade D or even grade F but at what number of rooms would you need a more sophisticated system with call points etc.? Thanks for any advice.

I live in a flat of a building that has 14 flats. The building is the result of the conversion of two combined terraced houses, where one of the terrace entrances provides access to 11 flats (see entrance in middle of photo). The service road in front of the terraces is private, and each terrace houses owns the section of the road in front of it. Thus, parking partially on the (private) pavement cannot be subject to any Council regulations. We recently purchased the freehold of the building. Sometimes, the cars (which have car permits from the building) are parked so close to the entrance of the building that it is difficult to enter or exit the building (e.g. see gr…

Hello, I have been asked by the management company of the block to provide a BM Trada Certificate for my front door which leads onto a communal door. As the front door is the original one (1960s ex LA flat) I do not have such a certificate, which I understand are provided for replacement doors only, although the existing door may still be adequate as it has smoke seals, closer etc. What would be the typical cost for a fire inspector to initially assess a single door and provide me with a report (with necessary recommendations)? I am based in Nottingham and the nearest inspector I could see online is based in Leicester. I have tried to find this out by look…

Hi, I live in a flat which is on the top floor of 4 storey block. There is a wrap-around balcony (facing out onto a canal) and at one end there is a door that opens out into a stairwell which is marked as this fire exit. The door itself is not marked as a fire exit but has a push bar entry from the stairwell onto my balcony. There was previously a lock on the door, but after a recent fire assessment, the lock was removed. The management company has said this is because the door is a fire exit. It is not clear to me how this is the case as the door leads from the stairwell onto my balcony (which under the terms of my lease is clearly part of my property and not a shar…

Hi I am a owner of an apartment which I rent out. I have returned to live in the apartment for the past 6 months. There is one other apartment on the first floor which is rented out to 4 other tenants and has a landlady. There are two doors into the communal entrance. The main door is off the street and the second door to enter the rear of the building is on the 1st floor accessed via an outside metal staircase. This rear door has a thumb turn lock and is always left unlocked. I have spoken to the tenants downstairs regarding my concerns that the access to our property is unsecured. This had no effect the door remains unlocked, I decided to speak to the landlady of t…

Hi, I have received a number of FRA actions to install smoke ventilation in a number of our properties. When I have reviewed these, they are all converted properties; houses into flats, with a full evacuation policy. It was my understanding that these fall under LACORS guidance which has no stipulation for smoke vents. The FRA surveyors just keep quoting Approved Document B, which I don't think is relevant in this type of building. Any thoughts of smoke ventilation in converted buildings? Thanks, Mike

I am leasholder and I been sent letter to pay £226 for my share (total £426) of Fire health and safety service. 1) this is converted house to 3 flats. Is this price £426 too high? 2) should freeholder send me a quotes first? Is he in right just to carry this ? 3) in there letter they stated that this has been carried out - do I have right to ask for the result?

5 Blocks of 2 storey flats built in 1965, with a mixture of 2 & 4 flats/block, have front doors and entrance hallways complying with Building Regulations then in force. QUESTION: Must these front doors be updated to FD30s fire doors, or will hallway smoke alarms provide adequate fire safety?

Dear Mr Sutton / any other experts I would be very grateful for your thoughts on an issue that does not seem to be covered by LACORS or other published guidance - whether the fire detectors in a separate basement flat should be connected to the fire alarm system in the main house above it so that people in each part of the building are alerted if there is a fire in the other part. I am the landlord for a large Victorian house that I have recently bought which is split into seven self-contained flats. Six of the flats are accessed from the main external door via a common stairwell serving three storeys. The stairwell has a Grade A alarm system with detectors, sou…

Hello, I am currently refurbishing a house after the previous tenants left, and I am looking for some advice regarding fire doors. It is a 3 story Georgian townhouse and will be let as a family house therefore NOT an HMO. There is an enclosed staircase running from the entrance all the way up the house. We will have smoke detectors on every landing as well as a heat detector in the kitchen (i'd rather not fit detectors in bedrooms as it just annoys everyone and leads to them being tampered with). From a purely legal point of view, my understanding of Part B is that were this a new build it would be required to have a protected stair as it is 3 stories high, and …

Hi there, I am trying to work out who is responsible for installing and maintaining fire alarms in the flats and common areas in the flats above my office. There used to be two separate entrances for the flats (extending 4 floors above the office) and the office, but my company added a porch on to the front of the building making it one exit and entrance. Fire alarms now need to be added so that residents are warned of a fire in the office and vice versa. Who is the responsible person here? The freeholder of the flats or the business in the ground floor office.

Hi there, I am looking to convert a semi detached house into two separate flats, ground floor would be flat 1 and the first floor and attick flat 2. Not decided yet on the access to Fl2. I'm very new to this and not to mention safety laws.One option that I am considering is that both flats will be accessible through the front entrance. The staircase to the first floor is located in the centre of the property. Ground floor also benefits from the door on the back of the house (to the backyard). Will the front entrance of the house that shares only a corridor of 2-3 metres length be sufficient as a fire exit? I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning but the stairs in the house …

I have inherited a 3-storey building, split in the 1950's into 2 flats, 1 ground floor and the other on 1st & 2nd floors. At some time in the past the top flat was let with multiple occupancy, but for the previous 10 years just let to 2 separate families. Each flat has its own front door and there are no common areas. The old fire alarm system had been left in place, switched on, but not checked for several years and the previous owner had fitted independent smoke alarms. The old alarm system has recently stated giving false alarms. Am I required to maintain/replace this system, or can it be removed/switched off? Any advice gratefully received!

Apologies if this comes through twice - had some problems with registration so wasn't sure of this posted. I was wondering if anyone could help with a predicament we're in please. We recently bought a house which was being rented out and included the furniture in the sale. We have since found out that several items of furniture (bed bases, mattresses and chairs) don't have fire safety labels visible although they don't look very old. Do you know where we stand with this please? We want to continue renting the house out (it's a house we bought for our retirement as we live in tied accommodation so we're renting in the meantime rather than being a business ven…

New to the site - sorry if posting in the wrong place/way. I own a flat and have a lodger (well, a flatmate who pays me rent). The flat is furnished by me. All my furniture to date is new from John Lewis/Homebase/Ikea so will comply with fire regs. A close relative makes a lot of their own furniture and is making me a footstall/ottoman as a present. To what extent does this have to comply with fire regs? They aren’t supplying it to me in the course of business, so I hope there are no obligations on them, and I assume I am the first supplier. They have their eye on safety and always ask the shops they buy materials from if they are fire safe, but realistical…

Please can you clarify whether a flat owner or the freeholder of the communal areas is responsible to pay/ensure all of the flats front doors are fd30 with self closers? thankyou

Hi - I am trying to establish whether one of our landlords needs to do weekly testing and also the frequency of testing for the alarm panel and emergency lighting. They own a 2 storey Victorian property which has been converted into 3 separate dwellings (bedsits) the tenants only share the communal corridor. Many thanks. Helen

I am wondering if an existing block of 4 self contained and a shop on ground floor, can be legally sold off as separate leasehold apartments, in the event they don't have fire separation between the units. The flats are in good order and lease individually and looks suitable for being split up and sold without further works. They may well have fire separation, I don't know. Is there any way or clues for determining if they have fire separation i.e. if the conversion was done not earlier than a certain date to meet building control requirements? Many thanks.

Hello, I am intending to rent rooms in an HMO type A (2 floors) and have been told by the council that the fire doors must be compliant with BS8214:2008 There is some confusion as far as I am concerned because originally I was emailed by the manager of the council's enforcement section who stated that the door frames should also be fire proof. The BS8214:2008 does not mention door frames. Do you know whether such fire doors should be installed as a doorset so that the frame is also fire proof and should each door bear a certification number on the top of the door? When I looked up the said BS8214:2008 it only mentioned FD30's with specific gaps and threshold requ…

Hi, I own a leasehold property. The landlord is under the impression that the buildings fire alarms need to legally be checked every 6 months by a professional. Is this the law? Many thanks, Adam Crofts

Good evening, I have just inherited a Victorian house, which has been converted into two self contained flats (converted circa 1996 and signed off by buildings control). The top floor flat has been sold (Leasehold) and the ground floor flat is occupied by a sitting tenant (it is not a HMO). I now own the freehold of the house and the ground floor flat. There is no management company. I would be very grateful for your advice on the following:- - there is a small entrance hallway in common to both flats. I understand that I need to undertake a fire risk assessment for this as per the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005. Looking at guidance on line it …

Hello, I'm a leaseholder who rents my first floor maisonette to a couple. The front door to the property is to the side of the property and is not a communal area and leads to a few concrete steps that go onto my private garden. The property is no higher than 4.5m and was built in the 50s. Each room has fire exit windows. The council who are freeholders, have sent me a letter informing me the front door needs to be a fire door. I'm hoping and presuming it is a generic letter to all flat owners and they don't realise the layout of my maisonette. Am I right in thinking my front door doesn't need to be a fire door? Could someone please advise. Thanks.

Good morning. I'm wondering if you could give me some advice. I rent a shop off a landlord. He recently put a coded gate up the alleyway where my fire alarm control panel is situated and is refusing to give me the code to access it. (We've had access to the alleyway for 38yrs and been able to access the control panel until recently) Is this against the law? Would you know if I can contest this. If it's not something you can advise on, would you be able to point me in the right direction? Many thanks in advance.

Can anyone advise - I live in on 7th floor and my neighbour has redecorated the hallway outside our flats. He has put up a wallpaper and a new carpet. Are there any fire regulations he should have complied with when he chose the materials? He has also put a table with flowers on it which looks lovely but could be a tripping hazard surely? He got agreement from the Leaseholder before he did the decorating works but I have asked and they are not prepared to discuss the matter with me.

Please could someone help me with this one. Mum currently working on this conversion from an old registery office to 5 self contained flats over 3 stories with a basement too(bike stores) thers is also a new extension on the side of 2 stories with a further 4 self contained flats but this also shares the same roof space as the previous building. my question is this: what fire alarm system do I need to have ? I have had various conversations with different people and still not come to any conclusion. your expertise would be greatly appreciated thanks gavin