Tom Sutton

The old blue guide for the FPA says you need them but not where they should be located it just says in conspicuous places and so they cannot be defaced. Article 11 says, The RP must make arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures and if you employ five or more it must be recorded. If you look up article 2 the definition of preventive and protective measures it says general fire precautions. If you look up article 4 general fire precautions it says (f) measures in relation to the arrangements for action to be taken in the event of fire on the premises. If you look up article 8 it says must take such general fire precautions for employees and relevant persons. So you could make an augment that fire action notices are required by the RR(FS)O but I cannot find where they should be located, in any of the guidance, in my opinion it is up to risk assessment which is basically what you are doing.

I fully agree with both AB and yourself it is all about risk assessment.

The label you speak of is the permanent label and you can have a label giving full information or a shorter label; you have the shorter label which should state, 1. The Caution 2. Batch number or identification number 3. Whether or not the article includes a fire-resistant interliner 4. Summary for the measures taken to ensure compliance with the Regulations Permanent labelling on furniture is intended to assist enforcement officers and show compliance with the specific ignition requirements for covers and fillings. The prime objective of the permanent label is for enforcement officers to examine a label on a piece of furniture and obtain relevant information which will enable them to find out and confirm that the materials used in the item do comply with the Regulations. They will also be able to complete a cross check of the claims being made on the label with the manufacturer’s records. Records only have to be kept for 5 years then labels will become redundant and serve no useful purpose. It appears your label does meet the regulation in a fashion and at sometime it did meet the regulations but it depends how old the sofa is will decide if the label has a useful purpose? http://www.fira.co.uk/document/fira-flammability-guide-october-2011pdf.pdf

Hi Shirley you should talk to your joiner but the door between the house and the garage should be a half hour fire door set (FD30) which means the door and frame come as one unit complete with all the door furniture. A fire door cobbled together would not be certificated and may not be acceptable to the building control officer.

I tried surfing the web and the only bite I had was about 2 or 4 wire systems and the only 3 wire systems were 240 VAC which is definitely not acceptable. I checked out BS EN 54 but as there are at least 31 parts so I chose not to study it to far and LPCB proved unfruitful. This level on technicality is far beyond me but I would suggest you try http://firealarmengineers.com/forum/or you could try http://electrical.theiet.org/index.cfm who may be able to help but at least they will be talking your language.

I think at first you need to study the legislation The nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 and the guide to the regulations will assist. You can also search for “guide to the nightwear safety regulations” and you may find your local trading standards guide which will explain how the European legislation has made small amendments to the above. Also I found a consultancy at http://www.boltonconsultancy.co.uk/index_files/page110.htm on the subject which may help. It was difficult to find companies that will treat fabric under BS 5722 1991 but I did find one, http://specialisttextileprocessing.com/ Please note that in November 2008, a new European Standard for nightwear came into effect - BS EN 14878:2007 - the requirements of which can be used for enforcement purposes under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. BS EN 14878:2007 contains a flammability requirement for pyjamas, while under the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 the flammability requirement is optional. In other words, pyjamas that are not treated for flammability may pass the requirements of the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 but fail under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

Eddy What is the operating voltage of the system and can you get fire resisting cable with only three conductors that met the requirements of BS 5839 part 1 2013?

There is no minimum distance that the landing should measure it just means you will need addition smoke detectors. Where smoke alarms are installed, no bedroom door should be further than approximately three metres from the nearest smoke alarm. This is because as the smoke percolates from a room on fire it cools and loses buoyancy and may not reach the smoke detector; also as the smoke detector operates its sounder has to penetrate into the rooms to wake the occupants. At least one smoke detector should be located between every bedroom and every other room in the dwelling, other than a toilet, bathroom or shower room. In a single-storey dwelling protected by a single detector, the detector should be as close as possible to living accommodation. However, where such rooms are located on both sides of any bedroom, a smoke detector should be sited mid-way between the doors to these rooms. The guidance is BS 5839-6:2013 Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings. Code of practice for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of fire detection and fire alarm systems in domestic premises, and there are more items to consider depending on the size and layout of the property. The manufacturer's instructions should detail all the necessary information that comes with the smoke detector.

The British standard for magnetic door holders BS 7273-4:2007 Code of practice for the operation of fire protection measures. Actuation of release mechanisms for doors, clearly state that they should be tested weekly. This is to ensure that the magnetic door holders will operate when the fire alarm is operated however, other than premises that operate 24 hours, all fire doors, if not all doors should be closed at the end of business when the premises is empty.

As I have said, legislation is all about interpretation and until it is tested in the courts we will never have a definitive answer. The auctioneer who stated it did not matter as he was merely an agent acting on behalf of the seller, well he/she is selling second-hand furniture in the course of business or trade, so I would say is subject to the regulations. Having said that I watch bargain hunt on the television and they are particular careful about selling electrical goods or ivory items but not much is ever said about second hand upholstered furniture. ​I agree, although the trading standards is the enforcing authority they do not seem to know much about it and you only have to look around stores selling mattresses. The best source of information on this subject is The Furniture Industry Research Association

The 3mm gaps applies to the jambs and the head of the door, the threshold gap depends if the door is required to control cold smoke. (FDs) I would think the best solution, if the door needs to control the cold smoke, would be to fit a piece of hard wood 12mm X depth of the door X width of the door, to the floor immediately below the door, or allow the carpet to extend to the front edge of the door, using a bullnose edging piece?

The argument that it is a ‘fire exit’ and can only be used ‘in case of fire’ is a misnomer however the landlord can lock fire exit doors providing they can be opened immediately, without the need of a key, in the event of a fire in the premises. It all depends on how he/she intends locking the exit door, there are certain requirements to be followed to ensure it is not dangerous and will open in case of fire.

In addition to free swing door closers have you considered cam action door closers, because improved accessibility in and around a building is becoming an increasing requirement in many environments. In some building fire doors can become a real obstacle to overcome for older or disabled persons and cam action door closer is a response to this need. The Cam action, in fact, is extremely efficient, the initial opening force decreases very rapidly as the door opens allowing, in particular, children and the elderly to overcome the closing power without any problem. The following document “Meeting the requirements of the DDA & Fire regulations” list many options for selecting door closers and may help you with your problems. http://productsearch.bdonline.co.uk/Which%20Door%20Control-file022424.pdf Sprung hinges/riser hinges are not suitable for fire doors and for quotes you should contact Safelincs.

It will depend on the width of the exit doors in sport hall, any seats adjacent to the exit doors, you must ensure there is an equivalent distance between the seats so person exiting the exit doors will not be impeded by the seats.

You could contact Fire Door Inspection Scheme they may be able to help but it may cost.

If the chair carries a permanent label that meets 1988 regulations, that is all it needs, all the amendments have done is to make the legislation more correct and the main requirements have not changed much. Check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/furniture-and-furnishings-fire-safety-regulations-19881989-and-1993/ you can see if the chair is affected by the ammendments. http://www.fira.co.uk/publications/flammability-guides

Domestic property is not subject to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 so it is up to you what you do but you must consider your means of escape plan for your home, or is this to do with the building Regulations approval? Check out Approved Document Part B Fire Safety.

According to the LACoR's guidance you require Grade D: LD2 coverage in the common areas and a heat detector in each flat in the room/lobby opening onto the escape route (interlinked) so the fire inspector is correct but I would contact the fire and rescue service and ask for them to put it in writing. www.cieh.org/uploadedFiles/Core/Policy/Publications_and_information_services/Policy_publications/Publications/National_fire_safety_guidance_08.pdf hhttp://www.firesafe.org.uk/uk-fire-rescue-services-details/

If you are an employer you are required to keep your employees informed of certain items regarding fire safety in your workplace but as a landlord you have no such requirement regarding tenants. You should make every effort to complete your tests when required but the occasional foul up is not going to make a significant difference and I doubt any fire and rescue service inspecting officer would take you to task over it, other than a slap on the wrist.

You need to study part B2 internal fire spread [linings] of Approved Document B - Fire Safety: Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellinghouses which you will need to meet to get building regs approval.

The guide to the regulations state, 10.4 Auctioneers The Regulations apply to second-hand furniture sold by persons in the course of business or trade such as auctioneers. However, they do not apply to furniture manufactured before 1 January 1950. It is the case of interpretation, mine is, domestic upholstered furniture manufactured after 1988 is subject to the regulations if sold by persons in the course of business or trade which includes furniture if manufactured between 1950 and 1988, however any furniture manufactured before 1950 is exempt. Deciding if a piece of furniture is pre 1950 would be a case of the style, is it utilitarian, type of wood used or the opinion of a valuer expert in this field. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_furniture and http://www.firesafe.org.uk/furniture-and-furnishings-fire-safety-regulations-19881989-and-1993/ I think the auctioneers at best is trying to interpret the regulations and at worst trying to manipulate them. I believe 1950 was chosen because prior to this date, although furniture was flammable, it was not highly flammable, as was upholstered furniture that was manufactured after that date. The synthetic material produced after 1950, especially PU foams was highly flammable, toxic and easily ignited which eventually resulted in the introduction of the regs.

In addition to green-foam's submission which BS 5839 do you mean part 1 or 6 and which category has been installed?

It is not the height from the floor that is important it is the clearance between the sprinkler head and the storage. I would recommend that you contact your insurance company; they have fire safety engineers as part of their auditing team who will give you the advice you need. There are many governing rules, type of products stored, spaces between rows of product, type of sprinkler system etc. etc. Unfortunately it is not just height below sprinkler heads. If you get it wrong and have a fire your insurance company will be checking that your storage was to the right specification, get them on your side now. The LPCB/BRE Certification Ltd undertakes third party verification of industrial and commercial sprinkler systems installers to a standard known as LPS 1048. This standard uses the relevant British Standard BS EN 12845, the LPC Sprinkler Rules and their Technical Bulletins.

If push bars are necessary then it should be the only means of securing the door when the premises are occupied. When the premises are unoccupied you can secure it how you chose, providing any additional locking device are removed or unlocked when the premises is occupied. Also a key or chain board should be used to remind those in charge, that the extra locking devices have been removed and the exit door is only secure by the push bar/pad.

How you describe the engineers actions, it does seem suspicious, they do not appear to be the actions of a competent service engineer. You should report him/her to the company and consider changing to another company.