Landlord Fire Safety and Compliance

Landlord Fire Safety

In order to gain a licence, the mandatory conditions are:

• A valid gas safety certificate, if gas is supplied to the house

• Electrical appliances and furniture (supplied under the tenancy) must be in safe condition

• Smoke alarms must be in proper working order

• The tenant must be supplied with a written statement of the terms of occupation

• References must be demanded from persons wishing to occupy the house

Private let landlords should be aware that EICR's became a legal requirement for all new tenancies in England from July 1st 2020.

All existing tenancies will have to comply with the new legislation on or before April 1st 2021.

For HMO licencing the following need to be met:

• The house is suitable for the number of occupants (eg size and facilities)

• The manager of the house - you or an agent - is considered to be ‘fit and proper’, eg no criminal record, or breach of landlord laws or code of practice

• Send the council an updated gas safety certificate every year

• Install and maintain smoke alarms

• Provide safety certificates for all electrical appliances when requested

Each local authority will normally have their own minimum requirements of what they expect from you in relation to licencing.

England

It is a legal requirement that all rental properties in England adhere to the Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Regulations.

The regulations require that you should install at least one smoke alarm on every floor of the property where a room is used wholly or partly as living accommodation and a carbon monoxide alarms must be installed in any room containing a solid fuel-burning appliance such as a wood burner or coal fire.

On the first day of a new tenancy, you or your letting agent must make sure that each alarm is in proper working order it is then up to the tenant to maintain unless you offer this as part of your service.

Wales

In Wales, properties built after 1992 must be fitted with mains-powered, interlinked smoke alarms on each floor of the property. In older properties, landlords are advised to provide at least battery-operated alarms.

It would also be best practice for you to provide a carbon monoxide alarm in all rooms where a gas, oil or solid fuel appliance is present.

Scotland

Landlords in Scotland must ensure that all properties let to tenants have a carbon monoxide detector fitted regardless of when the tenancy started.

Northern Ireland

Since 31st October 2012 Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarms should be installed when a new gas appliance is fitted.

Gas Safety Checks for your property

• Maintain any pipework, appliances and flues.

• Any gas appliances and flues/chimneys must be maintained and kept in a safe condition by using them inline with the manufacturer’s instructions.

• You must arrange an annual safety check on all gas appliances and flues with a qualified Gas Safe registered engineer.

• Keep a Gas Safety Record.

A record of the annual safety check should be issued by the engineer and you must give a copy of the record to your tenants within 28 days of the check being completed, or to a new tenant at the start of their tenancy.

You will need to keep copies for at least two years.

Electrical Safety

As a landlord, you have a legal duty to ensure that your rental property, and any electrical equipment that you have provided, is safe before a tenancy begins and throughout its duration.

You must ensure that:

• all electrical systems are safe.

• all appliances they supply are safe.

Top Tip: Register all electrical appliances with Electrical Safety First to receive product recall notifications and news.

The regulations state that landlords must do the following:

• All fixed electrical installations are inspected and tested at least every five years, by a qualified person, with a report obtained from the inspection.

A copy of the report is retained by you until the next inspection.

Legionella

Legionnaires’ disease is a pneumonia-like infection caused by Legionella bacteria, commonly through the inhalation of small droplets of contaminated water.

Landlords should assess and control the risk of exposure of tenants to Legionella.

Measures include:

• Flushing out the water system before letting the property.

• Ensuring cold water tanks have a tight lid to stop debris from getting into the system.

• Setting control parameters to ensure water is stored at the correct temperature.

Furniture & Furnishings

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 set levels of fire resistance for domestic upholstered furniture, furnishings and other products containing upholstery.

It is generally accepted that all new furniture bought from a reputable supplier is sold in a safe condition therefore should meet the fire safety regulations.

These are all checks you can carry out or services you can arrange yourself but if you feel this is something you would like to outsource we can take control of this management for you through the following:

Landlord Certification Packages

As well as stand alone services at White Rose Fire Safety we offer separate packages that cover the entire compliance side of your properties ensuring all legally required certification is met.

What is included?

Included in the overall landlord package is:

• Fire Risk Assessment  (Reviewed Annually)

• Annual Emergency Lighting Test

• Fire / Smoke Alarm Maintenance

• Fire Door Survey

• Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) up to 25 items

• Fire Policy Review

• Liaise with Fire Service on your behalf if required.

• Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) up to 10 circuits

• Gas Safety Certificate & Boiler Service

• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

• Legionella Risk Assessment

• Regular newsletter keeping you up to date with any changes in legislation and more

• Telephone and Email Support

We make this both affordable and easy to by by offering the following payment methods:

• You can either pay the cost outright

• Arrange a monthly payment plan through us over a 12 month period or

• We can even arrange finance for you to cover the costs of your selected package

For more information on the various packages we offer and to get an instant online quotation please visit our Landlord Fire Safety page.

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