Safelincs

I cannot judge if BS5839-pt6 Grade D is adequate( see http://www.safelincs.co.uk/pages/bs5839-6.html ), however, if from your assessment you have concluded that this is Grade D then yes, you can use interlinked mains powered smoke detectors. The power can come from the central power board or you can feed each unit from the nearest light fitting. The connection between the alarms can be with wire or with radio-interlink (see http://www.safelincs.co.uk/Radio-Interlinked-Smoke-Alarms/ ) You still need to work out if you need LD1 etc I hope this helps Harry

Hi If your doors are fire doors, then they need to be kept closed at all times (unless being used, of course) to stop the spread of fire. This is achieved with door closers which can be a bit of a pain as you want to move freely through your apartment without having to open heavy fire doors. You can use fire door retainers to keep the fire doors open, though. A fire door retainer will release the fire door and allow the door to close when there is a fire alarm going off. You do not have to install visible overhead door closers; especially in apartments you would want to install concealed door closers like the Perko or the Astra concealed door closers. Harry

Yes, there is a legal requirement to carry out fire risk assessments for landlords. Insurances, however, do not have to enforce the legal obligations. I guess most insurances will have blanket clauses that you have to adhere to all legal requirements and best practice without having to mention any specifics.

The main risk is the electrical risk. Please ensure that the power socket used for the dryer are connected to the correct circuit and is properly fused. The 'fluffy stuff' from the dryer is highly flammable. Just remind him/her to dispose of the matter regularly. The landing should have smoke alarms anyway; if you want to play a little safer you can also have an (interlinked) smoke alarm in the bedroom. Harry

Dear Josie Your care home ought to carry out a fire risk assessment, preferably with a professional fire risk assessor, as the legislations re care homes can be quite complicated. Only recently a court decided that all bedroom doors must be fire doors and have 1) door closers 2) fire door retainers (to hold the doors open legally). In the case of a fire, these doors close automatically Kind Regards Harry

Hi Tom Thanks for clarifying this. Not quite sure what happened. Thanks again Harry

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the relevant legislation and "Article 14 (h) emergency routes and exits requiring illumination must be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting", is the requirement for emergency lighting. The word requiring is the crunch word and it will be the fire risk assessor who will decide if emergency lighting is required. The DCLG guidance used is Sleeping accommodation and Section 5 Further guidance on emergency escape lighting, is the relevant section. The word borrowed lighting refers to artificial lighting outside and independent of the premises like street lighting. If there is sufficient illumination ( 1 to 2 Lux ) in the room with the curtains closed then emergency lighting may not be required.

We normally allow a max of 10mm gap – meaning that this would be 5mm on each side of the door.

I am assuming the exit door opens outwards. If it does the latch can be simply overcome in an emergency by having a panic bar installed (I would recommend panic bar rather than panic latch, as there are clients in the building). See http://www.safelincs.co.uk/Fire-Exit-Door-Equipment/ for examples