Tom Sutton

Further to Neil's contribution first check to see if intumescent seals have been fitted check the frame and the door leaf (top), smoke seals will be obvious. Preferable they should be fitted to the door frame but they can be fitted to the door leaf and once you have decided the fire resistance required, which will dictate the size of seal. If smoke stopping is required you will need to add a cold smoke seal which can be separate or combined. Then it will be a case of routing out the a channel for the seals to be fitted, then gluing in, some use self adhesive. You can get surface mounted seals but I preferred when you fit them into channels. Check out http://www.bwfcertifire.org.uk/fire-door-seals and you can search on the net with " specification for fitting intumescent seals" worth a try.

I do not know the insurance situation but wedging a fire open is illegal and the Responsible Person could be issued a notice from the enforcing authority (fire and rescue service) which eventually could lead to prosecution. First present the landlord with your concerns and if they do not solve the problem contact the local fire and rescue service. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/uk-fire-rescue-services-details/

Maybe, it depends on the layout of the premises and you should check out https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/do-you-have-paying-guests which covers you type of premises.

The BS says you should not be able to leave the building without passing a BGU which usually means a BGU adjacent or close to all final exits.

You cannot fit a device that would seriously impede exit from a fire exit but you can fit an alarm that will alert you if the door is opened. Check out http://www.safelincs.co.uk/fire-exit-door-security/

Absolutely, operatives work in the area as long as they are trained to remove themselves and any other items quickly, if if not immediately, when the fire alarm is activated and I would record the fact when the fire evacuation drill takes place.

Without knowing much more about you situation it is impossible to give you sound advice I would contact a Party Wall Surveyors to inspect the situation and I am sure will give you the necessary advice you need. Check out https://www.localsurveyorsdirect.co.uk/partywall-surveys-consultancy.aspx and http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/partb/bcapproveddocumentsb/ page 30 of vol 1and https://www.gov.uk/guidance/party-wall-etc-act-1996-guidance

If it is the front door that leads from the communal hallway to outside then it does not need to be a fire door, there could be a situation where a fire doors could be needed but that is very rare.

Have you tested the batteries to check their state of charge because even new batteries need checking, they can discharge in the packaging. (shelf life)

For an HMO you need to check it with the local council (housing department) as they are the enforcing authority for HMO registration however, Article 18 of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, any person assisting the Responsible Person must be a competent person which means having sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities properly to assist in undertaking the preventive and protective measures and I believe that should apply to your carpenters/joiners. Other persons who assist the RP have third party accreditation, fire extinguisher engineers, fire alarm engineers, fire door inspectors and fire risk assessors but I am not aware of anything for carpenters/joiners however it would be a good idea for one of the association to consider the possibility.

I will assume it is a conversion also the common areas have a FRA done by a competent person and is satisfactory. You have been using ADB volume 1 for dwelling houses not volume 2 for flats, and in your case described as a multi storey flat.(Maisonette) So you need to check out vol 2. clause 2.16 page 23. and Clause 2.21 page 27 however I did not find it easy to understand.

You would need to check all fire doors required for means of escape but unfortunately not all are labeled, you would need to identify all doors that need to be fire doors, this could be achieved by studying the Fire Risk assessment, the fire strategy, or the DCLG guide relating to your premises. http://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/ All newel installed fire door sets should be certified or at least have documentation that guarantees they meet to required standards. All existing doors could be checked by a qualified FDIS inspector and you would receive a report but you would need to speak to them for more information. Fire Door Inspection Scheme After September 2019, all fire resisting doorsets supplied in the EU (including the UK) must be CE marked in compliance with the standard. Approved Document B (Page 5) also states that one way of demonstrating that proper materials have been used is to use products bearing CE marking in accordance with the Construction Products Directive (89/106/EEC). CE marking of essential hardware will be compulsory from July 2013. Check out http://www.firecode.org.uk/

Could you confirm that this is a house converted into 3 self contained flats and a maisonette?

Sorry Ahmed I do not wish to get that involved, I am sure safelincs would agree with me, we are not an online fire consultancy agent and you would have to employ the services of a fire consultant/assessor to check out your evacuation measures. As you are aware we will show you where to find the information how to comply with the fire safety order but that is as far as I would go.

I would not always rule out a rotary bell and Aico Radiolink System is for dwellings ( BS 5839 part 6) I think in your case your require a BS 5839 part 1 system, which sounds like you have had priced, and using beacons I do not see how you could use any other. The guidance for you is Small and medium places of assembly and section 2 page 52 is all about fire alarms.

I am assuming this is part of a thread which I cannot find,sorry.

I think its your best route and not that daunting providing you co operate with the enforcing authority.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the relevant legislation and article 3 defines who the Responsible Person is, consequently if that person or persons has control they have to implement articles 8 to 22 nobody else. This includes article 9 which require a fire risk assessment to be conducted by the RP and a competent person to assist the RP if required. The FRA must take account of all the different uses the premises is used for and reducing or preventing the spread of fire is only part of the FRA. If it is a business then the employer will be the RP or it could be the owner or the person running it on behalf of the owner, so the first thing is to decide who the RP is. If there are certain article under the control of another person then they are responsible for that article or joint responsibility. Without knowing the full details of a premises and the occupier it is very difficult to give a definitive answer I have to make assumptions. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/ for more information. http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-risk-assessment/

Here are two standards BS 5839 part 1 for non-domestic premises and BS 5839 part 6 for domestic dwellings. Part 1 has only one grade so it is irrelevant but does have three categories, further split detailing the coverage (M, L1 to L5, and P1 to P3). Part 6 has 6 grades A to F and two categories further split detailing the coverage (LD1 to LD3, PD1 to PD2). Part 1 has only one testing and maintenance requirements check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-alarms/ Part 6 is a little more complicated. Part 6 Testing. All Grades should periodically be tested to ensure that there has been no major failure. This does not require any specialist knowledge, and can normally be carried out by the occupants, with some simple instructions how to. Grade A systems should be tested every week in accordance with the recommendations contained in BS 5839-1. All systems, other than Grade A systems, should be tested at least every week by operating the fire detectors in the premises. In the case of smoke alarms and any heat alarms, the weekly test may be carried out by use of a test button. If the dwelling has been unoccupied for a long period of time, the occupier should check immediately on reoccupying the dwelling that the system is still operating. Maintenance It is essential that the system is subject to periodic inspection, to ensure the reliability of the system. In dwellings in which a Grade A system is provided, periodic inspection and servicing needs to be carried out competent service engineer. Grade A systems should be inspected and serviced at periods not exceeding six months in accordance with the recommendations of BS 5839-1. Batteries in any radio-linked devices should be changed by the service engineer before the low battery warning condition is likely to be given. Grade B and Grade C systems should be serviced every six months in accordance with the supplier’s instructions. Smoke alarms in Grade D, Grade E and Grade F systems should be cleaned periodically in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, in more dusty locations more frequent cleaning and the fire detectors should be replaced approximately every ten years. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-alarms/ for details on testing and maintenance of a grade A system. Check out your user instructions that accompany your fire detectors for D to F grades.

You need to state which grade of fire alarm we are discussing and you say "there are breakers on each floor" what are breakers? In the flats it is likely to be a grade D, E or F in the common areas it could be any. Check out http://www.cieh.org/policy/fire_safety_existing_housing.html section 22 page 23 for information. http://www.safelincs.co.uk/pages/bs5839-6.html

You are all corporate RP's with equal authority the other two could be guilty of an offence under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 article 22 and you all are guilty of offenses under the above legislation. If I was you I would contact the enforcing authority the local fire and rescue service, however it would be putting you in the line of fire but most FRS's are reasonable and i would think understand your situation by bringing the other two into line. It will not make you very popular with the other two but by the sound of it your not the best of friend at the moment. http://www.firesafe.org.uk/uk-fire-rescue-services-details/

Because it is a HMO under additional licensing the Housing Act is the principal legislation the local council is the enforcing authority but most enforcing authorities accepted the Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing as the national guidance. You have not provide sufficient information but I would say the fire alarm required is a grade A or D depending on how many floors, which to my knowledge there is no facility to connect a manual call box on a grade D but there is on a grade A. You need to study the attached guide to see which type of fire alarm you have and require according to the guide.

CBS is when there is a bank of batteries in a central position usually the meter room, on trickle charge which feeds all the emergency lights in the premises, now most premises use individual units with individual batteries Managing an emergency network is a significant responsibility: ensuring you comply with current legislation and best practice, keeping the occupants of the building safe at all times, and keeping energy and maintenance costs as low as possible. I assume it will do this automatically and will test the lights without any intervention from you. But I suspect there are many different systems you would need to check if any particular system if it is suitable for you.

If you are checking fire doors the Fire Door Inspection Service maybe of some help and the Architectural and Specialists Door Manufacturers Association have excellent downloads on fire doors check out the Knowledge Centre. But lift doors are something I have not considered although they do have some FR but they are usually in a FR lobby consequently no problem, check out the following attachments which maybe some help. http://www.firesafe.org.uk/fire-doors/ http://www.lift-report.de/index.php/news/177/368/EN-81-58-Lift-Landing-Doors-Fire-resistance-test

As far as I am aware there are no third party certification schemes for carpenters who fix, repair or modify fire doors, so who ever did the job would not be able to provide a certificate. Without inspecting your work I would not be able to say it was satisfactory but as you informed your client at the beginning you would not be able to provide a certificate have you considered taking them to the small claims court.