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Posted By saira adams
If two to three rooms of a domestic dwelling (over 5 employees) is being used as a business (offices) and has not really been amended to incorporate the business, do all the usual requirements still stand, i.e legionnaire testing, fire doors or are the normal front and back doors ok, emergency lighting, fire exit signs, dda access etc..
Thanks
Saira
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Posted By Rob Randall
Hi,
if the former domestic premises are now used as offices this constitues a "change of use" in terms of the Building Standards and should have been advised to the Local Authority.
The requirement when there is a change of use is that all of the current standards will have to be applied to the premises. So yes, there will be a need for compliance with the DDA, a fire risk assessment should have been done and any necessary alterations should be made. A "general" risk assessment should also have been done and any control measures needed as a result of this should be put in place.
In addition to this all of the usual elements of compliance with the HASAW act and the relevant statutory instruments (regulations) should have been looked at and implemented.
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Posted By Rob Randall
Hi again Saira,
what I should also have said in my reply was that I think it depends if the other parts of the premises are still being used as a domestic dwelling.
In this case it is a bit more complicated and depends very much on whether it is a family business, i.e. if the employees are members of the family who live in the dwelling. However if employees are non family members then all of the relevant HASAW legislation would apply.
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Posted By CWCaz
Saira,
When we had employees working at home, all of the above was carried out and if the premises were not suitable (i.e. unsafe and out of our control) then they were not allowed to work at home...If there was a fire for example and there was only one means of escape and they couldn't get out and that person persihed as a result, we as a company would be liable...it is a complicated one!
CCW
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Posted By Bob Shillabeer
Interesting questuion, But I would say if it is now used as an officee and not a dwelling the HASAWA applies as do the rest of the regulations including the RR(FSO). There is quite a difference in the council charge regime so you may be in trouble there. But as far as the workplace/house is concerned you need to act quite quickly and put your house/office in order.
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Posted By saira adams
What if the house is still mainly used as a home, and the ones who work from there are 95% of the time family members? Does DDA still apply, etc?
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Posted By Nicholas Bell
An overly simple response is that a person will (generally) not be in breach of H&S legislation for applying workplace regulations unnecessarily but they could be if they do not comply with legislation that does apply. Perhaps the easiest starting point is complying with legislation that you can be sure does apply to any employer... e.g. HASAWA, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 etc.
Checking legislation or ACOP for their 'application' and 'interpretation' - usually the first regulations or sections - can be helpful (and you can get the legislation for free at opsi.gov.uk) as you will often find definitions of 'workplace' (e.g. the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regs 1992 do not apply to domestic dwellings).
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Posted By Nicholas Bell
Also... in relation to DDA I have checked Part M of the Building Regulations and the building would only need to be upgraded to permit access for persons with disabilities if the use had changed to a shop, institution etc. Go to: http://www.planningporta...s/br/BR_PDF_ADM_2004.pdf
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Posted By Adrian Watson
THe HSWA 74 applies to the activities and not to the premises. See Sect. 4.(1).(b).
Regards Adrian
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