We had a phone call from a Gentleman who told us the following;

“I own one of Four Flats in a converted Three Storey House and I have asked the other Tenants if they have seen a Fire Risk Assessment for the Building, and they haven’t. I phoned the Freeholder and asked if there was one and they told me that there was. I asked if I could see it and although they said I could, it is not at the House and they haven’t sent it to me. I am worried because I want to rent my Flat out and I want to know that it, and the Building are safe…”

“Have you got any particular concerns?” I asked them.

“Well, I always thought that we should have a Fire Alarm and there isn’t one.”

“And it’s a Three Storey House converted into Four Flats?” I confirmed.

“Yes.”

“When was it converted?

“Oh it must have been in the early Eighties.” The Gentleman remembered.

“Well without seeing it, I can’t swear to it, but it is very likely that it does require Manual Fire Alarm and Automatic Fire Detection provisions.”

“Could you give me an idea of what sort of thing we are looking at?”

And so, I sent him the following…

LACORS. Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services. Local Government Regulations. Housing-Fire Safety. Guidance on Fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing. ISBN: 978-1-84049-638-3. Pages 46-47. Case study D11: Three- or four-storey building converted into self-contained flats has been used as an example.

LACORS. Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services. Local Government Regulations. Housing-Fire Safety. Guidance on Fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing.

Fire detection and alarm system

A mixed system, Grade A: LD2 coverage in the common areas and a heat alarm in each flat in the room/lobby opening onto the escape route (interlinked); and Grade D: LD3 coverage in each flat (non-interlinked smoke alarm in the room/lobby opening onto the escape route) to protect the sleeping occupants of the flat. Subject to fire separation (above)

Management and maintenance of fire safety where the fire risk assessment identifies higher than normal risk, the BS 5839: part 6, LD2 interpretation of “rooms or areas that present a high fire risk to occupants” may include living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens within the flats, thereby providing automatic detection in these rooms in addition to the common parts and internal entrance hall/lobby within flats. Where this is the case, this additional detection would be an additional grade D system within the flat (i.e. a mixed system overall) so as to avoid whole-house false alarms.

What is required in this instance, in layman’s terms are Two systems.

One for the Communal area consisting of a Manual Call Point in the Hallway by the Entrance, exit door to the House and a Smoke Detector in the Entrance Hallway and on the First floor also a Heat Detector in the Entrance area of each Flat, These should be wired into the electricity supply and have a battery back-up. All of these should be linked to each other so that if one goes off, they all go off.

The Second system should, as a minimum, consist of a Smoke Detector in the Entrance area of each Flat and one each floor. These should also be wired to the electricity supply and have a battery back up but they are not linked to the system in any other Flat nor to the system that is in the Communal part. So, if you burn your toast the Alarm only goes off in your Flat. This Second system could have additional Detectors, perhaps another Smoke Detector nearer the Bedroom and a Heat Detector in the Kitchen. These should be linked together so that if the Detector in the Kitchen goes off it also sounds in the Bedroom and Hall and if the Bedroom one goes off it sounds in the Kitchen and Hall, and so on.

One of the reasons that you need the Two systems is that you want the First system to make you aware of anything happening in, or affecting the Communal parts, at the earliest opportunity so that you can escape from the Building. The Second system is so that you are aware of what is happening in your Flat, at the earliest opportunity, so that you can escape from the Flat but if it is the Toast, only you know about it.

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