Does UK Fire Safety Need Hammering Home?

An illegal extension has left a landlord with a £24,000 and a criminal record, after local council safety officers deemed it to be in an “appalling condition” with numerous safety issues – including a slew of fire safety offences which put the building’s occupants at a very real risk of injury or death.

When the safety officers inspected Ilford landlord Mohammed Saleem’s property (read full report here) they found no ventilation, no fire alarm, no fire doors and no other safe means of exiting the property during an emergency as among the fire and general safety violations. He was declared guilty, in his absence, of eight offences under the Housing Act 2004 and slapped with a £3,000 for each offence, as well as numerous court costs and victim surcharges – one of the largest fines in the country. Plus, had to make sure proper services and specialists from NorthernLightsExteriors.com were hired to do what was missed.

So with this most recent case in mind, and the fact that punishments for simply violating regulations can be as severe as this, why do incidents like this seem to keep occurring? While they are admittedly few and far between, the severity of these kinds of incidents begs the question – are landlords informed enough about fire safety and the punishments for non-compliance? Safety experts Bull Products examine this case and fire safety law in this latest guest post.

What Does The Law Say?

The law is actually fairly clear on who is responsible for safety in a property, particularly rented property and HMOs (homes of multiple occupancy) – a ‘responsible person’ has numerous duties in ensuring that the premises is safe, occupants can easily escape in the event of a fire and adequate fire procedures (such as equipment and exit markings) are in place.

A responsible person is defined as an employee, an organisation, a contractor with a responsibility for maintenance, a building owner or simply someone who is controlling the premises – there are other definitions of a responsible person, but the aforementioned descriptions are most applicable to landlords and HMOs.

There are a number of responsibilities for a responsible person when it comes to fire safety alone –remember that this covers just one aspect of safety, and there are numerous other compliance requirements for other areas of safety law and legislation. These include:

• Carrying out fire risk assessments, and reviewing these assessments regularly
• Taking fire precautions and ensuring principles of prevention are followed (this includes equipment placed in areas of concern and structural aspects like cladding)
• Take note of those particularly at risk including the elderly, disabled or infirm
• Provide adequate methods of warning occupants of a fire (such as FD&As)
• Providing sufficient and safe means of escape in the event of a fire, including a comprehensive evacuation and fire safety plan
• Maintenance of all fire safety equipment and detection/firefighting systems

How Severe Are Punishments For Non-Compliance?

As we’ve already said in this post, this £24,000 fine is one of the largest penalties issued throughout the UK – but it’s not necessarily going to stay this way. Under the Fire Safety Regulatory Reform Order 2005, fines are unlimited (so can therefore stack up into six or even seven figure sums quickly for multiple offences) and the ‘responsible person’ could face up to two years in prison.

Put simply, the law does not look kindly on landlords, building managers or other individuals deemed to be responsible people who put people’s lives in danger due to apathy, ignorance, laziness or greed. Of course, these punishments are nothing compared to the potential penalties if there’s an incident where occupants are harmed or killed.

What Should Landlord Be Aware Of For Fire Safety?

There are obviously a large number of safety checklists to go through when you’re making an assessment of a buildings safety and any risks that might be present. A really good idea for landlords, and indeed other responsible people including building contractors who are in charge of managing a property and its upkeep, is to familiarise yourself with the FIA (Fire Industry Association) best practice document. You can view the document in its entirety in this PDF file – but here are a few of the most important aspects to be aware of when dealing with fire safety.

• Minimise distance each occupant has to travel to an exit in the event of an emergency.
• Adequate fire detection and alarm systems (FD&A) – potentially linked to other systems like emergency lighting and sprinkler systems.
• Emergency lighting covering areas including: escape route; stairways; rooms greater than 60m²; firefighting equipment.
• Escape route signs printed white on a green background to comply with Health & Safety Regulations 1996.
• A five step fire risk assessment looking at fire hazards, people at risk, protecting against fire, training and plans, and regular reviews of this risk assessment such as after an incident or if there’s been a significant change to the building (e.g. an extension).

This guest post was written by Tom McShane – a construction industry blogger and writer for safety supplier Bull Products, who supply a range fire safety solutions for homes, businesses and commercial premises.