Safelincs

Hi Tom Sounds like you really could do with interlinked smoke alarms, considering that you might not hear an alarm being set off in the kitchen at night. I would suggest battery operated radio-interlinked smoke alarms in your case. Kitchen: heat alarm hallway, bedrooms, living rooms: optical smoke alarm landing: ionisation smoke alarm The self-adhesive stickers work a treat but you have to remember that you need to take the alarm off after 10 years, so some painting might be needed then. There is a radio-interlinked smoke alarm family available with Strobe/vibration pad units One thing intrigues me, you mention a loft conversion. Normally, when converting lofts you will have to install interlinked smoke alarms in the now converted loft and along the escape route. That does not seem to have happened. Harry

No, you cannot fit these items as per your email. In order to satisfy insurers requirements for a 5 lever lock the security of an item of hardware must be equal both sides of the door i.e. when the door is secure it cannot be opened from either side without a key. Harry

Hi Ted HMO House in multiple occupation, as defined in section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 Meaning of “house in multiple occupation” (please check at legilation.gov.uk for the latest version) (1) For the purposes of this Act a building or a part of a building is a “house in multiple occupation” if— (a) it meets the conditions in subsection (2) (“the standard test”); (b ) it meets the conditions in subsection (3) (“the self-contained flat test”); (c ) it meets the conditions in subsection (4) (“the converted building test”); (d) an HMO declaration is in force in respect of it under section 255; or (e) it is a converted block of flats to which section 257 applies. (2) A building or a part of a building meets the standard test if— (a) it consists of one or more units of living accommodation not consisting of a self-contained flat or flats; (b ) the living accommodation is occupied by persons who do not form a single household (see section 258); (c ) the living accommodation is occupied by those persons as their only or main residence or they are to be treated as so occupying it (see section 259); (d) their occupation of the living accommodation constitutes the only use of that accommodation; (e) rents are payable or other consideration is to be provided in respect of at least one of those persons' occupation of the living accommodation; and (f) two or more of the households who occupy the living accommodation share one or more basic amenities or the living accommodation is lacking in one or more basic amenities. (3) A part of a building meets the self-contained flat test if— (a) it consists of a self-contained flat; and ( b ) paragraphs ( b ) to (f) of subsection (2) apply (reading references to the living accommodation concerned as references to the flat). (4) A building or a part of a building meets the converted building test if— (a) it is a converted building; ( b ) it contains one or more units of living accommodation that do not consist of a self-contained flat or flats (whether or not it also contains any such flat or flats); (c ) the living accommodation is occupied by persons who do not form a single household (see section 258); (d) the living accommodation is occupied by those persons as their only or main residence or they are to be treated as so occupying it (see section 259); (e) their occupation of the living accommodation constitutes the only use of that accommodation; and (f) rents are payable or other consideration is to be provided in respect of at least one of those persons' occupation of the living accommodation. (5) But for any purposes of this Act (other than those of Part 1) a building or part of a building within subsection (1) is not a house in multiple occupation if it is listed in Schedule 14. (6) The appropriate national authority may by regulations— (a) make such amendments of this section and sections 255 to 259 as the authority considers appropriate with a view to securing that any building or part of a building of a description specified in the regulations is or is not to be a house in multiple occupation for any specified purposes of this Act; ( b ) provide for such amendments to have effect also for the purposes of definitions in other enactments that operate by reference to this Act; (c ) make such consequential amendments of any provision of this Act, or any other enactment, as the authority considers appropriate.

Hi Ron I am assuming you mean fire door seals. Please send an email with a photo of your current seal and the main dimensions to service@safelincs.co.uk and we will quote you the necessary fire door seal. Harry

Hi Tom Yes, there are battery operated, radio-interlinked alamrs: 1) Ei3100RF smoke and heat alarms with alkaline battery 2) Ei600RF smoke and heat alarms with sealed-in 10 year lithium battery the second style is commonly accepted by Building Inspectors or fire safety specialists as a BS5839 part 6 grade D replacement Harry

Hi Gertrud The amber light indicates that the rechargeable backup battery of the radio-base (Ei168) is running low or not re-charging properly. First thing to check is that the internal 'Battery on' switch is properly triggered. Remove the smoke alarm with the help of a screw driver and press the 'on' switch on the base plate. (see picture of switch in manual) If that does not resolve the issue, check that the power supply is not switched. This can happen if the wiring coming from the nearest light fitting to the alarm has been installed incorrectly. Switch the light, from which the smoke alarm is fed with power, on and leave it on for 24 hours; if the amber light stops, call out the elctrician to check wiring. If the amber light continues, it could be a battery damage. In this case contact your retailer. Harry

Hi Tom You might be right about self-contained flats. In this case it depends on the number of floors. The LACoRS guide asks for emergency lighting for self-contained flats from five floors upwards.

The LACoRS guide to fire safety in housing states that emergency lighting will be required in HMOs/Shared houses of this size. I would also assume that the fire risk assessment will demand emergency lighting. See our emergency lighting guide for helpful tips

Hi Dorgards are programmed to release every 7 days to avoid warping. In addition you might want to consider setting them for night time release. In that case they will close every night. This also helps to prevent any warping of the fire door. If you have fire door prone to warping you might want to consider a free swing door closer that doe not apply any force on the door during normal operation. Harry

Hi Has You can always register the tenant's email address or mobile on our free smoke alarm test reminder service and put a clause in the contract requiring them to test the alarms at a set frequency and supported by the reminder. Harry

Hi Tom Just checked with our manufacturer who supplies our CO2 refurbs. Their answer was: It is not possible to Kitemark a refurbished CO2 extinguishers as BSI will not permit the use of their mark for refurbs. This is linked to the fact that they cannot certify the origin of the cylinder (issue of traceability). However, BAFE is approving the refurbs we are selling and there is a 21 step process involved to stress test and pressure test the cylinders to ensure the integrity of the cylinder. The cylinders are also sand-blasted, re-painted and labeled and then fitted with brand new head valve assemblies. Whilst they can be used in new installations, they are mainly used to replace existing CO2 extinguishers when an extinguisher reaches 10 years. Harry

Factory refurbs (eg all CO2 extinguisher refurbs) lose their kitemark, they will however be CE marked, which I believe is sufficient.

Hi Our supplier of emergency lights, Ringtail, recommends that lamps in maintained bulkheads are changed every six months. The longevity of emergency lights is better if lamps are changed before they are fully failing. However, this recomendation probably only applies if your organisation has a contractor for the maintenance of your emergency lighting and the costs of a call-out were to be substantial. In such a case pre-emptive maintenance (changing while the light is still working) makes sense. Harry

Hi Usually you would choose from a range of sizes when purchasing a new fire door. Typical glazed window sizes (in mm) are 457 x 457 150 x 1410 229 x 914 two panes (top 150 x 760 and bottom 150 x 450) to ensure wheelchair users can see through the glazing. As I say these would normally be ordered at the time of fire door purchase (see http://www.safelincs.co.uk/Fire-Doors-with-30-minutes-protection-FD30/ as an example) If you consider retro-fitting fire door glazing you must use an approved installer. Harry

Hi Pam Tom is entirely right about stating that you can lock fire doors over night etc if premises are empty at this point. However, there always remains the residual risk of forgetting to open up a fire door which is also a fire exit at the start of business (of course only if the fire door is not the main entry point of the building). You could have a panic bar or panic latch on the inside of the fire door and something like a keypad on the outside to achieve secure and safe fire exits.

Hi Chris I am assuming we are talking here about mains powered emergency lights with backup battery. The regular maintenance tests should identify battery failures. Eg if the emergency light does fail the annual 3 hour test, it would be time to replace the battery. In general it can be stated that emergency lighting batteries are required to last 4 years. As EN60598 2 - 22 states: 'Self Contained Luminaires shall incorporate batteries which are designed for at least 4 years of normal operation. These batteries should only be used for emergency related functions within the luminaire or its satellite.' That does not mean that you have to replace before then or after.

Hi Ryan the systems I have seen approved for otherwise classical part 1 situations were categorized BS5839 part 6 grade D (mostly radio-interlinked), although they had call points and sometimes control switches for silencing and identification which takes them closer to panelled systems. These can be well suited for small business premises of low risk. The size of the building is important in this consideration, as one part of the role of a central control panel is to provide directions to fire fighters, which of course is pointless in small office buildings. The other advantages of panels of course are system monitoring and call facilities. Harry

Hi Ryan I agree with you for larger businesses and obviously in this case we do not know how big exactly the premises are etc. However, I think that it is important to point out that it is ultimately the decision of the business and its responsible person how to cover the fire risks identified in their Fire Risk Assessment. Many small to medium businesses have installed BS5839 part 6 systems with full approval of their local fire brigades etc. British Standards are mostly recommendations and whilst they reflect best practice, business owners do not have to follow them unless there is additional governmental guidance or insurance requirements stating so. For small businesses without special risks, where the fire brigade does not benefit from pin-pointing the source of a fire, a panelled system is a bit of an overkill in my eyes. Harry

I would say that from a practical point of view, a normal caretaker would be able to use a test key to remove power from emergency lights and ensure that the emergency lights stay on the required period. When it comes to repair of failing emergency lights then I guess an electrician would be needed unless the caretaker has sufficient qualifications to replace batteries and lamps. It is important, though, that all tests are recorded and the fire safety log book. Harry

Hi Dinesh I believe there is a general agreement that within a building the emergency lights and exit signs should all follow the same standard, independent from which standard it is. Harry

Hi Naz Yes, definitely, unless you have commercial premises with special or high fire risks, you can carry out the fire risk assessment your self. There are official guides you should use and you can download free fire risk assessment templates. Harry

Hi Ken to 1.11: You do not have to choose any of the proposed corrective actions. You can either devise your own fire safety measure or you can explain in the text section at the end of chapter 1 why you think that no further action is needed. to 2.3: If you cannot get hold of a manual for your kitchen units and you have different people working in the kitchen, you should write a short instruction yourself. Explain the 'oddities' of your equipment and point out the fire safety risks (eg leaving towels on the cooker or leaving towels unsupervised on the handle of the oven) to 2.13 The vacuum is only in use under supervision and for short periods, so there is little risk of a fire as a result of overheating of a cable reel. However, make sure that there is no permanent load on any cable reels. I hope this helps Harry

Hi Tom Their main concern was that the CO patches did not have an audible alarm. So, if the patch detects any dangerous concentration of CO the people in the building would still be exposed to carbon monoxide, as they are very unlikely to check the colour of the patch turning from brown to black at that moment. Many deaths occur when people are sleeping or dozing, so there is no way these patches could help to prevent those deaths in these situations. The patches also only lasted 6 months, so that people seeing a discolourisation would be unsure if this was due to CO or age. What did not help either was the fact that in a test none of the patches detected concentrations of 50ppm and even at 350ppm not every model changed colour! Harry

Hi Garry You are of course right, the rungs or their standoffs will push against the window. I have tried a few of the ladders in a similar situation myself and the rungs did not cause the glass of the windows to break. If you are very concerned about this you could choose a semi-rigid fire escape ladder where the ladder does not sway as much and the rungs will not press against the window. Harry

Hi You might have an older model with alkaline backup batteries which must be replaced regularly (eg once a year). Open the alarm cover and replace the battery. If the alarm continues bleeping your mains power might be interrupted. If the green light is off, you have no mains power and the smoke alarm now consumes the backup battery. Check your fuses, circuit breakers and wiring. If the green light is on, however, try to reset the alarm by pressing the test button for more than 10 seconds to reset the alarm. If nothing else helps, replace the smoke alarm (All smoke alarms should be repalced after ten years!) How to remove a Ei151 alarm Replacement alarms for Ei151 Harry