Afternoon all,
Other than the requirements within the Health and Safety at Work etc Act is anyone aware of any HSE (or other) guidance with regard to landlord/tenant requirements in mixed/multiple occupancy (or tenancy) offices.

In particular I am thinking the serviced office industry and items such as fire procedures, fire warden provision, etc. E.g. I would expect a tenant to be responsible for appropriate DSE assessment of their staff but in a furnished office the burden to be on the landlord/provider to supply suitable workstations.

But where is the line drawn with fire wardens, should the landlord be advising how many fire wardens a tenant and/or floor needs, as you will not necessarily have the landlord/provider with an employee on each floor who can act as fire warden.

Any thoughts/information on this welcomed, particularly if there are any clear guidance documents out there.

GarethS, this is a very difficult question to answer without understanding and having knowledge of the scope of your particular situation.
So with a generalist head-on I’ll try and give some practical scenario’s/situation’s relating to landlords.

FIRE:-
With reference to alterations to premises, there are several points concerning premises that are owned or managed by third parties, eg landlords, housing associations, managing agents, etc. The physical features that may require adjustment include building approaches, access ramps, exits, fittings, furniture, equipment or materials.

DISABILITY:-
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 states that service providers must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled persons can make use of a building's facilities. It is most likely that commercial tenants will be responsible for those areas that they occupy and the landlords will be responsible for the communal areas of the premises, particularly if there is public access.

ACCESS/EGRESS:-
As an example, in many tenanted premises, lifts will be provided and used in the common areas of the premises and will can be the responsibility of the landlord, who may or may not have a site presence.
GarethS, there is a huge amount of case law relating to breaches of health and safety by landlords both for tenanted domestic and commercial property. Most of this relates to the duty of care that should be undertaken.

However, many acts and regulations may be imposed on a landlord relating to health and safety, as a few examples:-
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR); as mentioned by Ron Hunter.
The Occupiers Liability Act 1957
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

Ron is correct in that the majority of the burden rests with the employer. However, to give you a more thorough /comprehensive answer to your question we would require more information. I hope that the above has helped you in some way?

PM me directly if you need further advice.

With you now Gareth. I kinda "missed" the serviced office issues. Now that I get that, I'm afraid I can't offer anything specific or prescriptive!