Morning all A charity owns or leases a few properties. In a 4 bedroom house of multiple occupancy I have been asked why there are no ‘FIRE ACTION’ notices clearly displayed? Why, indeed is there no fire signage of any sort displayed - fire exit signs over front door and back door etc. Are there any special rules for this type of situation. I am aware of fire doors having been installed in the house from the bedrooms and bathroom to the upstairs landing and from all down stairs rooms to the hallway and stairs to form a protected route. Also installed, is a complete fire alarm system with call point, sounder and fire alarm board and detectors in every room including the integral garage - is this necessary or can I remove everything bar the detectors of course? Is there anything else I should consider - I need educating either by you kind folk or informed of any written legislation, or publications etc. Thanks in anticipation. Rich

The DCLG guide is proably not best place to start for HMOs. Quote below on what it covers. • the common areas of houses in multiple occupation (HMO); Note: HMOs and flats and maisonettes are covered by two pieces of legislation, the Order and the Housing Act 2004. A better start (imho) is http://www.rla.org.uk/do...ORSFSguideApril62009.PDF which is more detailed and specific about HMOs and woudl be used by FB or Housing Authority as indicative of standards to be achieved.

Quote from Lacors doc above. Council Housing office will almost certinly lead on fire matters in HMO and use the LACORS doc linked above. Suggest if fire risk assessment is "discovered" you check against the LACORS doc particularly if removing Fire Detection. LACORS doesn't ask for Fire Detection in every room but in common areas. Signage paras below. A.46 The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 and The Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Additional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2007 place requirements on the managers of all HMOs (whether licensable or not) in respect of fire safety. The purpose of the management regulations is not to require additional fire safety precautions but to ensure that existing precautions are properly maintained. A.47 Regulation 4 (5) places specific duties on managers of HMOs in respect of fire safety. The manager must ensure that: 􀁳 all means of escape from fire in the HMO are kept free from obstruction and maintained in good order and repair; 􀁳 any fire fighting equipment and fire alarms are maintained in good working order; and 􀁳 all notices indicating the location of means of escape from fire are displayed in positions within the HMO that enable them to be clearly visible to the occupiers (unless the HMO has four or fewer occupiers).

Morning all Thanks so far for all the help. Safety Smurf - yes you are right there is some supported living with Support Workers in the house or supporting out and about - but only from about 8.00 in the morning to about 7.00 on an evening. So some sort of training for both support workers and occupants needs to be carried out. We took over the property and occupants only within the last year from a LA wjp cannot find/locate upto date records of any fire related issues. Therefore, a fire risk assessment was carried out during which the questions in my original post were asked by the assessor. I asked why a full fire alarm system was installed in what is an ordinary 4 bedroomed house (but falls into the HMO) and the assessor had no answer other than to say perhaps that was the LAs gold plated solution. The support workers don't actually do anything in the house only there to give advice etc - for example, they do not do cleaning or give any kind of physical help to the occupants - almost like a watching brief really. Although the occupants are classed as "adults with learning difficulties" they have achieved independent living. I hope all this is not rambling. Thanks once again Rich

Thanks mssy - most informative post and the info is very reasonable and actionable. I have found that LAs sometimes do go overboard hence my use of the term "Gold plated solution". As a matter of interest the house concerned could not be used for anything other than domestic living. Thanks once again. Rich

That may be the case, but if the supported living tenants were replaced with non ambulant or otherwise non independent clients, then perhaps the alarm system would already be suitable. Mind you, what sort of local authority ever plans that far in advance? :)