Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm regulations are changing - here's what you need to know.
Starting 1 October 2022, all rented properties in England will have to comply with new smoke and carbon monoxide alarm regulations.
Key changes for landlords.
The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022, which replace building safety regulations from 2015, bring some key changes for all private and registered social housing landlords.
Smoke alarms will now be mandatory in private and social rented homes. Carbon monoxide alarms will be required to be fitted in rooms within properties that have fixed combustion appliances such as gas boilers or fires.
Landlords must now:
Equip each storey of a house, used as a living accommodation, with a smoke alarm
Ensure that any room with a fixed combination appliance must also contain a carbon monoxide alarm (this excludes gas cookers)
Repair and replace both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms if informed that they are faulty
These fire safety and building safety changes do not include a transition period, so landlords must act and complete any required changes before 1 October 2022, to avoid non-compliance and fines of up to £5,000 per breach.
Types of alarms.
The new regulation does not specify whether the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms installed should be mains or battery operated. Landlords are advised to choose alarms that are best suited to the premises where they will be installed.
Smoke alarms should be British Standard (BS) 5839-6 compliant and carbon monoxide alarms should be BS 50291 compliant.
Responsibility for testing.
As testing alarms is a fairly straightforward process, tenants should carry tests out themselves and inform landlords of any issues. Landlords can be requested to provide instructions on the process of testing alarms, including how often they must be tested.
We recommend that landlords communicate this legal requirement to their tenants so as to improve access rates for any works that need to be carried out in line with this change.
We're here to help.
Landlords should act now to take remedial action for non-compliant properties. Plentific is committed to helping both private and social landlords maintain homes that are safe and compliant.
The platform's built-in marketplace of nationwide contractors can help landlords monitor, fit, replace and repair any alarms with speed, transparency and affordability - in time for the 1 October 2022 deadline.
Working with Plentific.
Plentific's SaaS solution integrates repairs, maintenance, compliance management and more into a single system, to streamline your workflow from job creation to payment.
Our platform comes with a mixed economy service delivery model for maximum flexibility. Using Plentific, landlords can assign repairs, inspections, voids and compliance works to in-house trade teams, preferred suppliers or source up to five quotes from our proprietary marketplace, with complete oversight of all work in progress, completed and outstanding.
Experience frictionless service delivery, with the ability to bulk upload thousands of jobs at once and start addressing repairs backlogs, maintenance issues and remedial action.
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