AnthonyB

Ideally yes

A 2kg CO2 shouldn't be a problem in a typical house room, but it is limited in scope to electrical fires. In the home you really want to have just one extinguisher that does everything which would usually be Water Mist.

You aren't going to get it in the legislation as it's functional and doesn't list individual requirements for compliance. The Housing Act governs fire safety as well and isn't limited to common areas. Article 14(2)(b) is the functional requirement in the Fire Safety Order that a fire door wedged on a protected route would breach. It would also be a hazard under the HHSRS scheme and thus enforceable under Part 1 of the Housing Act. If in doubt invite a multiple agency inspection team to visit and see what they come up with!

The Fire Safety Order is grey in it's ability to enforce issues in this area. Government Guidance is that the Housing Act (which covers all parts of houses and flats, owner occupied or rented) is used for enforcement. I've used Enforcement Notices under the Housing Act issued by local council EHO's for fire safety matters inside flats (doors, vents, floors, walls) that would affect the rest of the premises in the past where the Fire Safety Order is too weak.

Ideally there should only be one fastening, however thumb turns are commonly used in housing. The yale type lock is more of a problem as it looks like the type that can be key locked from the inside.

Here is the guidance: https://www.cieh.org/media/1244/guidance-on-fire-safety-provisions-for-certain-types-of-existing-housing.pdf Depending on the type and thickness and number of layers of board the existing plasterboard may be sufficient.

Yes - extra areas must be included - see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-act-addendum/fire-safety-act-addendum

Depends what the detectors were there for - if part of a common system for full evacuate then heats is the normal provision because of the resultant false alarm risk which leads to vandalism and apathy to the alarm sounding - it would also be a Part 1 system. After all the system is not the for life safety of the flat of origin, that's what the local Part 6 systems to each flat are for. If It's a weird system where one system is trying to be both the common system and local system (not unheard of and common in HMO's and some conversions) then smokes are a must and hush buttons or Cause & Effect programming be used to prevent site wide false alarms.

It depends on what premises you are looking at, there is a lot of training and CPD needed to be a competent risk assessor, the NEBOSH Fire qualification is a basic entry level course.

If the house has been converted into commercial premises it won't be stay put (an individual flat or house isn't stay out anyway!) and should have a suitable fire alarm system and evacuation strategy. If the conversion went through the correct planning permission & building control process then you would have been required to install emergency lighting. You should also have a Fire Risk Assessment which would address all this.

ADB is a design guide not a risk assessment guide for existing premises. Risk assessment guidance contains what you are looking for regarding Perkos For flats use: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-in-purpose-built-blocks-of-flats For sheltered housing use: https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/NFCC Guidance publications/NFCC_Specialised_Housing_Guidance_-_Copy.pdf

Part 6 - but for Grade A systems it simply refers you to the Part 1 service regime (as it's the same kit)

No, it means they have to be assessed as part of a Fire Risk Assessment. Doors and windows wouldn't automatically need to be fire resistant except in the situations they already would have needed to be (usually certain external balcony access situations). The walls will depend on their make up, building height and what other protective measures are present in the block (e.g. sprinklers, full evacuate alarms, etc),

I'd say both - one door is the boundary between the flat (flat front door) and the protected lift lobby and the other is to protect the stair from the lobby, it's the normal set up in this scenario be it flats or commercial premises.

If you feel there is a serious risk to people in the flats you should contact the fire safety enforcement department of the local fire service, who will audit the situation & if required take steps to ensure the situation is remedied. Since 2006 your agent should have been having Fire Risk Assessments carried out of the premises which would have addressed this issue well before now. If an alarm system is needed (flats don't routinely need common systems) it needs to be specified correctly - a common system only to the stairway and landings may not activate until it is too late to safely leave your flat (as there already needs to be smoke/fire there to activate it) and wouldn't be loud enough in the flats to wake deeply sleeping occupants. Usually a common fire detection & alarm system needs to include heat detectors & alarm sounders inside the flats so it will wake people and will go off before the fire breaks out of the flat of origin. Individual smoke & heat alarms to flats for the protection of each individual flat alone are outside the scope of the fire regulations, but if a flat is rented housing legislation does have minimum requirements. The guidance to be followed for a conversion, particularly of the age of yours, is here: https://www.cieh.org/media/1244/guidance-on-fire-safety-provisions-for-certain-types-of-existing-housing.pdf

Which make of alarm, it sounds bizarre! You don't have smoke detectors where they could be affected by cooking, e.g. open plan to landing or doors open.

They are unlikely to require replacement based on age of install, third party certification & the related marking of fire doors isn't mandatory however many organisations are insisting on replacement in any case because they can't prove the history of the door (despite lack of self closers being the bigger fire door issue in Grenfell which kicked off all the current mania on doors). You can get several different visual styles of fire door so as to suit aesthetics of different locations (& also of different security grades) however it sounds like the HA is going for the simplest, plainest and cheapest doorsets it can get away with!

It depends on the paint, some normal water based paints don't lend themselves to surface spread of flame, others do hence the existence of fire retardant versions. The designer and their incumbent fire engineer will have produced a design fire strategy which will identify the requirements for that area and the principle contractor needs to select a suitable product to meet that. If it's an escape corridor there may be a need to meet BS Class 0/Euro Class B performance - the fire strategy should dictate this. Paint becomes more of an issue the more layers there were, if you were redecorating by painting over existing painted walls then this would be more of an issue than a couple of new layers on a plaster skim.

They are for temporary/site use. Systems in buildings are required by the Health & Safety (Safety Signs & Signals) Regulations 1996 to have two sources of power and a fire alarm system to BS5839-1 is required where the control panel, connected to the mains, powers the system on 24V and has batteries to back up the system if the power fails. Small single storey premises where a shout could be clearly heard throughout do not need an electrical fire alarm system unless their layout presents a need (e.g. inner room situation) and you could in theory use a stand alone here as more effective than a shout with verbal warning being a back up if it fails. You can link some standby alarms, but the installation would be non compliant in many ways if not a temporary site.

Agreed, sounds like the batteries!

No, the listed status of a building does not allow occupiers to be put at increased risk. If it's had electricity and light fittings added already then it will usually be possible to put emergency lighting in with ease, especially if you use conversion kits in existing fittings. Also check the listing at English Heritage - often it's the exterior of the building that is listed, not always the interior (& not always all aspects either)

Use FB Marketplace, far less strict!

DCLG Sleeping Risk Guide is currently for commercial premises such as hotels. For residential blocks it has been superseded by the below LACORS is for shared houses, ***'s and houses converted to flats not in according with the modern building regulations for purpose built flats. The Government (former LGA) Guide for Fire Safety in Purpose Built Flats is for purpose built flats of all ages The NFCC Guide for Specialised Housing is for Sheltered Housing and Supported Living The order of publication of the guides was DCLG in 2008, LACORS in 2008, LGA 2011 (republished 2021), NFCC 2017

Q1. Even if every flat has it's own entrance if deemed part of the same building then in theory based on how you read it yes, the FSA would apply - however as this would potentially pull in semi detached houses I think the guidance that is to be released may well clarify that it only applies to buildings with internal common parts as well. Q2. Yes

The FB range consists of only mortice and padlock keys and a drop key - that sellers description is misleading as it's not for the 'Yale' style of Spring cylinder lock used in most dry risers, but a rim lock taking a mortice style key. Best bet is asking whoever tests your dry riser as they will need the keys to do so, last resort is a lock smith