NOW COMPULSORY: SMOKE ALARMS & CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS

Landlords must make sure all new tenancies and all rented properties meet new fire and carbon monoxide safety standards. Here’s a summary of the new rules

Landlord’s Legal Responsibilities

All rented properties and all new tenancies created from the 1st October 2015 must now meet new fire safety rules. Landlords have to install a smoke alarm on every storey in a let property - including mezzanine floors - where there is some living accommodation present.

Although there is no specification as to whether the alarms should be battery or mains operated, the landlord must make sure every alarm fitted is functioning from the day the new tenancy starts. This test must be recorded and evidenced, and repeated every time a new tenancy starts or renews.

The new rules also state that a carbon monoxide detector must be placed within any room that contains a solid fuel combustion appliance, and again for all new tenancies. Like smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors must be tested and evidenced as working at the start of a new tenancy starts or when it renews.