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Periodic inspection and maintenance for fire extinguishers and fire blanket
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#1 Posted : 19 March 2008 17:29:00(UTC)
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Posted By Rommel Is it the responsibility of the landlord to maintain and inspect the extinguisher in house of multiple occupancy HMO? The building is made of 64 studio flats, long and short term tenancy, mostly student. The landlord checks and maintain all the external extinguisher, but he refuses to do the ones in the rooms as he thinks he is not oblige to.. thanks for the advice
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#2 Posted : 19 March 2008 17:31:00(UTC)
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Posted By Ashley Wood Did the landlord supply the equipment?
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#3 Posted : 19 March 2008 17:32:00(UTC)
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Posted By Rommel yes he did.
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#4 Posted : 19 March 2008 20:13:00(UTC)
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Posted By pluto I suspect the landlord is sheltering behind the Fire Safety Order that stipulates that he/she is responsible for maintenance of general fire precaution stuff in the common areas. That said, I would love to see the court case if you attempted to use an extinguisher he/she supplied and it failed to work putting you at greater risk. That wispy smoke would make me cough really hard and the mental anguish......well, it wouldn't bear thinking about!
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#5 Posted : 20 March 2008 07:43:00(UTC)
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Posted By Adrian Watson The landlord is complying with their duties under the RR(FS)O if they are maintaining their equipment in the common parts. The landlord does not have any legal, financial or moral responsibility for maintaining equipment provided for your safety that is under your control, in your area of responsibility. Regards Adrian Watson
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#6 Posted : 20 March 2008 08:13:00(UTC)
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Posted By John Donaldson The quick answer is yes if the Landlord is also the Manager. Have a look at The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regs 2006 SI 372 And The Licensing and Management of Housing in Multiple Occupation (Additional Provisions) (England) Regs 2007 SI 1903 Wales have equivalent Regs. Scotland have different arrangements for HMO’s
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#7 Posted : 20 March 2008 09:30:00(UTC)
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Posted By Adrian Watson Dear John, The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regs 2006 and The Licensing and Management of Housing in Multiple Occupation (Additional Provisions) (England) Regs 2007 do not apply as these items are not appliances as defined by the Regulations, Regulation 2 states "In these Regulations— (a)“the Act” means the Housing Act 2004; (b)“fixtures, fittings or appliances” are— (i)lighting, space heating or water heating appliances; (ii)toilets, baths, showers, sinks, or wash basins or any cupboards, shelving or fittings supplied in a bathroom or lavatory; (iii)cupboards, shelving or appliances used for the storage, preparation or cooking of food; and (iv)washing machines or other laundry appliances; and (c)“the manager”, in relation to an HMO, means the person managing the HMO. Regards Adrian Watson
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#8 Posted : 20 March 2008 11:08:00(UTC)
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Posted By John Donaldson Hi Adrian, I beg to differ. LA’s are expecting that the fire extinguishers are examined under the Regulations. Incidentally it is also a requirement under the Universities UK Code of Practice for University Managed Student Accommodation, which is approved by the Minister, and mirrors the regulations. http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/acop/ John
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#9 Posted : 20 March 2008 11:18:00(UTC)
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Posted By John Donaldson Adrian, Pushed the button to quick its Reg 5(2) which covers extinguishers and blankets Duty of manager to take safety measures 5.—(1) The manager must ensure that all means of escape from fire in the HMO are— (a) kept free from obstruction; and (b) maintained in good order and repair. (2) The manager must ensure that any fire fighting equipment and fire alarms are maintained in good working order. (3) The manager must ensure that all notices indicating the location of means of escape from fire are displayed in positions within the common parts of the HMO that enable them to be clearly visible to all the occupiers. John
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#10 Posted : 20 March 2008 13:07:00(UTC)
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Posted By Rommel Thanks very much for the advice, My understanding and according to The RR (Fire Safety) Order 2005 – reg 38 and The Management of HMO (England) Regulations 2006 – Duty of Manager to take safety measures, it is the responsibility of the manager to have emergency lighting, fire alarm and fire doors to protect all the communal areas and if the buildings considered to be a high risk i.e. 5 stories and above then you must have extinguishers on each landing, but I can’t find any reference as to have an extinguishers in each flat. On the other hand if the landlord/manager has provided extinguishers then he is obliged to maintain them. I would actually advise him against having any extinguishers at all, because the size of the rooms are quite small and I don’t think discharging 5kgs of CO2 in these rooms is particularly helpful. Please let me know if you disagree with this...
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#11 Posted : 20 March 2008 15:53:00(UTC)
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Posted By Adrian Watson John, But not in the private parts! Regards Adrian
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#12 Posted : 20 March 2008 15:56:00(UTC)
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Posted By Adrian Watson John, But not in the private parts! Furthermore a studio flat, with its own kitchen, bathing and sanitary facilities is not a HMO. Regards Adrian
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#13 Posted : 20 March 2008 15:56:00(UTC)
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Posted By Adrian Watson John, But not in the private parts! Furthermore a studio flat, with its own kitchen, bathing and sanitary facilitys is not a HMO. Regards Adrian
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#14 Posted : 20 March 2008 19:24:00(UTC)
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Posted By John Donaldson Adrian Agreed if it is not an HMO. But Rommel did say in his query that it was an HMO. Regards John
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#15 Posted : 21 March 2008 11:19:00(UTC)
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Posted By Ashley Wood Why does the landlord not simply remove the items!
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