Fire extinguishers for landlords

Essex and London

Commercial and residential landlords in the UK have legal obligation to ensure fire extinguisher provisions meet the legal stipulations of local Essex and London authorities.

If you are a UK commercial or residential landlord, you might meet what is described legally as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) if you match the the following 2 definitions:

1. At least 3 tenants live there, forming more than 1 household
2. You share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities with other tenants

Your property would be categorised legally as a large HMO if all of the following apply:

1. It’s at least 3 storeys high
2. At least 5 tenants live there, forming more than 1 household
3. You share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities with other tenants

Here in the UK the are certain considerations which owners and managers of sleeping accommodation must take care of; one of which is adequate fire fighting equipment and signage for all the persons onsite.

Certain peoples onsite could be those who are:

• asleep
• employees
• guests or visitors
• unaccompanied persons, such as children
• people with disabilities
• people come for some other reason and may not be able to leave quickly
• sensorially impaired people

Fire extinguishers can reduce the risk of a small fire spreading throughout the building and cause much more widespread damage. For a fire extinguisher to be maximally effective, it must be an appropriate propellant type and used early enough in the development of the fire to stop it from spreading.

Fire extinguishers come in varying types and have specific uses (colour coded for ease of identification):

• Water (white stripes on red bottle) = For wood, paper, textile and solid material fires (DO NOT USE on liquid, electrical or metal fires)
• Powder (Blue band on red bottle) = For liquid and electrical fires (DO NOT USE on metal fires)
• Foam (Cream band on red bottle) = For liquid fires (DO NOT USE on electrical and metal fires)
• Carbon Dioxide CO2 (Black band on red bottle) = For liquid and electrical fires (DO NOT USE on metal fires)

In simple premises, just a couple of extinguishers may be all that is necessary, however the more complex the premises, the more extinguishers are required at suitable locations in order to combat the risk. Appropriate signage to point people toward a nearby extinguisher may also be necessary.

Those with appropriate training should be appointed to operate the fire safety equipment, like extinguishers. Comprehensive training should be given to those appointed members, with contingencies made for reasonable occurrences of absence of appointed staff.

Building regulations and local law does require periodic maintenance of your fire extinguishers, for which annual servicing is stipulated in most cases. Landlords with unserviced and unmaintained extinguishers are not only liable to convene building or local law in most cases, but also run the risk of invalidating the terms of their property insurance.

In most cases, such extinguisher maintenance will require a fully trained, competent fire engineer.

Local fire safety companies, like Breeze Fire Protection serving Essex and London, have positioned neighbourhood fire engineers stationed in convenient reach of your commercial or residential property throughout Essex or London for installation or servicing of all types of fire extinguishers. Breeze Fire Protection also offer FREE onsite advice with no obligation, should you need a helping hand to point you in the right direction. If you prefer to view our pricing, feel free to submit a quick request for a London and Essex fire extinguisher quote.

All Breeze Fire Protection extinguisher engineers draft and deliver to landlords strictly meticulous records of extinguisher maintenance to help you demonstrate diligence to the relevant authority overseeing enforcement of fire safety law.

For FREE onsite advice (no obligation), or a quote for British Safety Standard fire extinguishers, please call your local engineer on:

07806 675171

or, call our office line:

01708 442659

* This post appears in Fire Extinguishers London category

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