Landlords are you smoking away your legal duties

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Regulations) 2015 have been in force for nearly a year yet some landlords are still non compliant.

Landlords are required by law:

• to fit a smoke alarm on every storey

• to fit CO alarms in every room containing a solid fuel burning appliance

• Test alarms and check they work prior to that start of each tenancy 

Penalties up to £5,000 will be enforced by local authorities for landlords who flaunt the rules.

The regulations do not state the type of alarm to be installed but strong recommendation are to fit alarms that conform to relevant British Standards. 

• CO alarms; BS EN 50292:2013

• Smoke alarms; BS 5839-6:2013

The latter standard identified the type of alarm to use and level of protection. Your typical domestic dwelling would require Grade D. These alarms should be mains powered with a suitable battery back up. The vast majority of households have one alarm or two interlinked at the top and bottom of the stairs. You should consider installing interconnected heat detectors in kitchens and smoke alarm main loving areas.

Confused on what type and how many? Don't worry Durham Electrics is on the AICO expert installers scheme. This means we have received training on the correct installation and testing of smoke and CO alarms. We are provided guidance on how to advice our clients to make sure you are complying.

We have worked with a number of letting agents in the region who now only stipulate the installation of AICO products. Newer alarms (with the updated software) allow for approved installers to utilise AICOs unique testing system. This testing system uses approved software that shows when alarms where last tested, status of alarm, last activation, whether the alarms have been tampered with. All this information is then provided to the landlord.