Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Rules for Landlords

 

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are one of the few landlord compliance jobs that sound simple and still catch people out, usually because the rules changed in 2022 and a lot of landlords are still working from the old version in their heads. Here is what the current regulations actually require, and where most portfolios fall short.

What the regulations require

Under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended in October 2022, every rented property must have a working smoke alarm on each storey used as living accommodation. A carbon monoxide alarm is required in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, such as a wood burner, gas fire, or boiler, not just solid fuel appliances as the original 2015 rules stated. Gas cookers are the one exception and do not trigger the requirement on their own.

When alarms must be checked

You must make sure smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are in working order on the first day of every new tenancy. This is a specific legal test, not a general assumption that they probably still work from the last check. If a tenant reports a fault during the tenancy, you are required to repair or replace the alarm as soon as reasonably practicable once you are made aware of it, so a "we'll deal with it at the next gas safety visit" approach will not hold up if anything goes wrong in the meantime.

Battery or mains wired

Battery powered alarms are still acceptable under the regulations, there is no legal requirement for mains wired or interlinked alarms in most standard tenancies. That said, many landlords fit long life sealed battery alarms anyway simply because it removes the "tenant took the battery out" problem, which remains one of the most common reasons an alarm fails its test at the start of a new let.

What happens if you don't comply

Local housing authorities can serve a remedial notice giving you 28 days to fix the issue, and if you don't, they can arrange the work themselves and recover the cost from you, on top of a civil penalty of up to £5,000. Non-compliance can also complicate things at the point you actually need it, such as an insurance claim or a dispute with a tenant, since missing or untested alarms are an easy thing for either side to point to. It sits alongside your wider fire safety obligations, and if you haven't had an EICR done recently or checked what your gas and electrical safety checks actually need to cover, it is worth doing all three at once rather than piecemeal.

If you want it checked properly rather than guessed at, Tony Carlyon's fire risk assessment service covers UK rental properties and flags exactly where alarm coverage falls short, written up so you have a record if you're ever asked for one.
And if you just want a quick way to see what your property already has covered, grab the free UK landlord and small business compliance checklist and I'll send it straight over.

Comments

Post a Comment

Got a question about your own situation? Ask below and I will get back to you. Comments are checked before they go live so there may be a short delay.

Popular posts from this blog

CDM 2015 Duties Explained for Small Contractors

CDM 2015 applies to every construction project in the UK, not just the big notifiable ones, and it hands small contractors real legal duties whether they realise it or not. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 set out who is responsible for managing health and safety risk at every stage of a build, from a single tradesperson doing a domestic extension to a full site team. If you're a small contractor and you've assumed CDM only applies to large sites with a principal contractor sign on the gate, that assumption is the most common and most costly mistake in the trade. Who counts as what under CDM 2015 The regulations define five duty holders: client, principal designer, principal contractor, designer and contractor. On a small job with only one contractor involved, that contractor takes on the contractor duties directly, which means planning, managing and monitoring the work under their control, and making sure workers are competent and adequately supervi...
Read more

RAMS Explained: What a Risk Assessment and Method Statement Actually Is

 Short answer: RAMS stands for Risk Assessment and Method Statement, two connected documents that most UK construction sites will ask you to produce before they let you start work. If you've been asked for one and aren't sure what it actually needs to contain, here's the plain version. WHAT THE TWO PARTS ACTUALLY ARE A risk assessment identifies the hazards in a specific work activity: who could be harmed, how likely it is, how severe it could be, and what you'll do to control it. A method statement is the practical companion document. It sets out the actual sequence of works, step by step, so anyone reading it knows exactly how the job will be carried out safely. Put together, RAMS answers two questions a site manager or principal contractor needs answered before they let anyone start: what could go wrong, and exactly how you're going to stop it going wrong. WHERE THE LEGAL REQUIREMENT COMES FROM The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require risks...
Read more

HMO Fire Safety Requirements, Room by Room

 Short answer: what counts as compliant changes depending on which room you're standing in. HMOs get treated differently to a normal let because more unrelated people are sharing escape routes, so the requirements are more detailed room by room rather than one blanket rule for the whole property. BEDROOMS Doors opening onto an escape route generally need to be fire doors, rated FD30, with a self closer, intumescent strips and smoke seals fitted. Distance matters too: a bedroom should be within 18 metres of a way out, or 7.5 metres if there's only one direction of escape available. Smoke detection in bedrooms is normally covered by the property's interlinked alarm system rather than a standalone unit. KITCHENS Kitchens are usually the highest fire risk room in an HMO, and the requirements reflect that. Fire doors here need to be to the same FD30 standard as bedrooms. Detection is different though, shared kitchens should have heat detectors rather than smoke alarms, since coo...
Read more