Tom Sutton

It depends on the layout of the apartment building and when it was constructed, there are situations when it is required but not always.

In my opinion there is no highest qualification in fire safety, it depends what you want the qualification for and what qualification employers may require to employ you. Some areas of fire engineering a degree would be best, other areas lesser standards and short courses are required. I would contact a number of fire consultancies to see what qualifications they require. Check out http://www.crisis-response.com/forum/index.php?topic=5680.0 may be useful.

Further to what Harry has said, you need to study BS 7273 part 4 and find out what the category of actuation, of the installed device is and then check out appendix A of the BS 7273 part 4.

If the fire service is in attendance, or there is somebody taken charge, then they are most likely to prevent you entering the building but it is still not illegal.

The owners or those acting for the owners (Management Company) are the Responsible Person as defined by The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 but because there are no common areas the regulations do not apply. However you could check the FIRE SAFETY Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing which is the guidance for your type of premises and see if it conforms, for your own peace of mind. Domestic Premises are exempt from the regulations and domestic premises is defined as ""domestic premises" means premises occupied as a private dwelling (including any garden, yard, garage, outhouse, or other appurtenance of such premises which is not used in common by the occupants of more than one such dwelling);

The owners/landlord or the management company are the Responsible Person as defined by The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. They have a duty to conduct a fire risk assessment (FRA) under the regulations and act on the findings. They certainly have a duty to carry out the significant findings of the FRA, which you have detailed above, but how it is paid for is a matter for the tenant agreement. The guide for the FRA would be FIRE SAFETY Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing which would have been used by the fire risk assessor, which shows what is required to meet the required standard of the regulations.

What do they say about the USA and UK, two nations separated by a common language, in the UK we have live, neutral and earth, I could make guesses on your terminology, but not prepared to, you need to speak to an electrician over there.

I am afraid not, the boiler is located in an escape route and needs to be a FD30s door which needs to control smoke and a intumescent fire grill would totally defeat this purpose. You will need to look for ventilation from the outside.

You could contact the fire door inspection service at http://fdis.co.uk/ and have an inspection which will provide a written report which you could use to appeal against the building control decision. You also check out the https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200128/building_control to see if there is any help there.

A door mat IMO cannot be described as upholstered furniture or furnishings so it would not fall under the Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home and a FRA in the common areas falls clearly under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

You correct I should have said they are HMO's but not licensed HMO's.

A Fire Marshall in USA, in the UK is Fire Safety Inspector so I would use fire warden it is more British, I remember air raid wardens. (God Save the Queen)

Why do you need a fire door, is it to protect a means of escape or is it to prevent the spread of fire? The fire door you propose to buy, just says that, it does not give any details of its fire properties and how it should be installed, I would need more details before I could make any comments. I think your father in-law is correct fitting a intumescent fire grill defeats to purpose of the fire door it would prevent the spread of fire but not smoke, so it depends what the fire door is for. If you have a open flue boiler and the ventilation is required for combustion then you need to study Approved Document J: combustion appliances and fuel storage systems.

You could try what I have suggested above or try a solicitor maybe a solicitors letter could have the desired effect but I am not aware of any fire safety law that could help you.

Could he provide an exit from the garden and if so would the means of escape be satisfactory.

Check out https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/422202/9446_Means_of_Escape_v2_.pdf may be helpful.

BS 5499 part 4 says the primary escape route from each room to a final exit should be signed and if you have to make a choice, the shorter route should be choose, if they are both the same, distance then both should be signed. Because you have to assess from each room, then each room will have its own primary escape route which means all escape routes would need signing. I think it is important that unfamiliar escape routes should be signed but if you follow the guidance of the BS then it is more than likely that all escape routes will be signed anyway.

Check out https://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-door-fitting-and-ironmongery/.

Normally the regular ingress/exit from your place of work does not need to be signed only the less common routes and emergency exit luminaires are needed to illuminate those signs. However if required emergency exit lighting should cover all the routes out of the premises to the prescribed levels,. If the rooms are fairly large I would place a luminaire close to each door and then check the level of light to see if any more are required.

No prob

No they do not come with basic locking system this is provided separately and should meet the standards of BS EN 179 and should be easily opened, without the need of a key from the inside.

Normally the regular ingress and exit from your place of work does not need to be signed only the less common routes but emergency exit lighting should cover all the routes out of the premises to the prescribed levels, if required. If the rooms are fairly large I would place a luminaire close to each door and then check the level of light to see if any mose are required.

It is impossible to give a definitive response to your question with a lot more information, a survey and /or plan but I can say in most situations an enclosed area cannot be used for a means of escape route, it has to lead to a place of ultimate safety and dispersal.

Sliding doors and magnetic locked doors on escape routes should meet the standards of BS 7273 part 4 which requires a manual override switch (green MCP) to open the doors if required in an evacuation, with some exception like places of lawful detention but retail premises are not one of them.

I am assuming each flat has its own private entrance/exit, therefore there are no common areas therefore The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 does not apply. The Housing Act will apply but because it is a shared flat, it is not HMO, but The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 does apply and you will require a smoke detector also CO detector depending on the type of heating you have, check the legislation.