Safelincs

Hi Green-Foam I believe that in most cases the service is half-yearly (unless for example there is a vented battery, in which case it is quarterly) Harry

Hi Craid I would check through your insurance documents. If they require extinguisher maintenance in accordance to British Standards, this method would not be acceptable. The difficulty with your landlord's system is to evidence that all extinguishers have been serviced - how would you know that no extinguishers have been missed or actually been replaced with other, untested units? Harry

Hi Tina Is the security door leading to the outside of the building? If so, it is unlikely to be a fire door so from a fire safety point of view you can keep it wedged open. Harry

It will be interesting to hear Colin's view

Hi Tom That is a quality answer! Harry

All mains powered alarms will be powered either by a dedicated power spur or by the lighting circuit. The oven will be on an entirely separate spur. When changing the battery in a smoke alarm only flick off the fuse that relates to the smoke alarms, not the power supply to the entire house. The fuse for the alarms should have been marked by your electrician with a sticker that comes with each Ei alarm. If that is missing try each fuse until you have found the one that switches off the smoke alarms and then mark it with a sticker or pen. The correct fuse will turn off the green LED in the alarms.

You could also use a drop down threshold seal on the fire door to get rid of the lip. Harry

Hi Charly That model pauses the LED indicators and the test function as soon as you remove it from the base plate (eg to replace the battery). It will spring back to life when you fix it back to its base plate. Please let me know if this resolves the issue Harry

Hi Stephen To cheque your door closer torque (in Nm or 'Newton metres')): 1) Measure the distance from your door handle axis/spindle to the end of the door leaf on which the door hinges are fitted. Let say this is 0.915m 2) Get a spring balance or similar, fix it to the handle (close to the axis) and pull the door open. Take a reading in kilograms (eg 2kg). Multiply this figure with 10 to get the force in Newton (here 20N). 3) Multiply your distance with the spring force (0.915m x 20N) which gives you the torque in Nm. (Here 18.3Nm) The torque will vary depending form the position of the door, however, if you measure as stated above, the measurement will relate to the effort it takes a person to open the door which can be hard for elderly people. Kind Regards Harry

Hi While the British Standard asks for servicing of all extinguishers, this is in practice a grey area. Kidde for example defines their 1kg and 2kg powder extinguishers as maintenance-free on their packaging. As long as you inspect, for example, Kidde's small powder extinguishers visually on a regular basis and record your findings in your fire safety logbook and replace them every five years, you should have a reasonable case for not carrying out a service by an external engineer. Harry

Hi Bob 10 to 20 years ago there was a change in the Ei150 series smoke alarms. The older units had connector plugs with 4 evenly spaced holes or just 3 holes. The newer units since then have 4 holes in the connector plug with 3 holes grouped closely together and the 4th one slightly apart. There are replacement alarms for the Ei150 series (Ei150, Ei151, Ei151TL, Ei154, Ei154TL, Ei156, Ei156TL). You will need to change the plate and connection but the alarm will communicate with any other Ei150 alarms in the system and the kit comes with a plate to cover any blemishes on the ceiling from the old rectangular Ei150 alarm. Harry

Hi Tiffany I assume that this post refers to a full-blown alarm rather than just a low battery warning. Always assume that the alarm is real. That means open up all windows, switch off all gas appliances and, if possible, other forms of burners/fires, send your family outside. Take the CO alarm outside with yourself (if possible). Check that the lifespan of the detector is not exceeded. Most CO alarms up to now had a 5, 6 or 7 year lifespan. However, some of the newer models are 10 year long-life carbon monoxide detectors. See if the alarm stops after about 10 to 15 minutes outside. If it continues after that time, the unit is probably faulty. If the alarm stops within 10 to 15 minutes outside, you might have CO gas in your premises. Call out the relevant service. Please find the telephone number in this article. Please note that certain chemicals can trigger a false CO alarm. If you are charging a car or boat batteries inside your home, the hydrogen produced by the battery can trigger a false alarm. Harry

Hi Emily It might be helpful to separate between the testing and the service element of the maintenance regime. If an emergency lighting system has key switches integrated (with a 'fish key'), everybody is able to power switch the supply to the emergency lights off to see if they keep burning for the period required (usually 3 hours). The corrective actions might best be left to an electrician, though. The person doing the testing should have a minimum of understanding with regards when to do the tests and where to find all the emergency lights. Harry

Hi Stephen I guess you are after a solution for a fire door, which should in theory always stay closed but poses problems for people in wheelchairs and with zimmer frames. There are two solutions I am aware off: Keep the door open legally with a fire door retainer to make movement through the fire door opening easier. Here two retro-fitting examples: http://www.safelincs.co.uk/dorgard-fire-door-retainers/ http://www.safelincs.co.uk/freedor-wireless-free-swing-fire-door-closer/ If you need the door closed for privacy or temperature/draught control you need a door operator instead. One model is here http://www.safelincs.co.uk/easydor-door-operator-and-closer/ but there are mains powered versions available in the market as well. The esydor is charged by other users using the door like an ordinary door, while wheelchair users just press a button Harry

Hi Andy It could of course be CO, as cars are producing plenty of it. Did you maybe charge your car battery in the living accommodation. Car batteries when being charged produce hydrogen and oxygen and the hydrogen can set off your CO alarms. Harry

Hi Katherine Offices are usually equipped with non-maintained emergency lights (not always on) Harry

Fire exit signs are essential to indicate the escape routes of a building. All fire exit signs must have appropriate lighting – this can either be internal lighting i.e. self contained unit, or lighting cast off it from emergency light fittings in the vicinity. Photoluminescent fire exit signs can be used but they must only be installed in areas where there is usually light, as the signs will not illuminate if they have not been “charged” in a room that is usually left dark.

Hi David There are also fire rated door viewers available Harry

Hi Wireless smoke alarms come in two potentially suitable versions -mains powered smoke alarms with RF signal (power supply for each unit comes usually from the nearest light fittings while the signal cables between the smoke alarms are replaced by wireless signals). These type of systems are fully Grade D compliant -Sealed, battery operated smoke alarms with ten year batteries. To my knowledge there is only one system on the market at the moment 'Ei600TYCRF Series'. This system is usually permitted for a Grade D requirement, however, I would recommend that you always ask your council or, in the case of new-builds, your building inspector first before installing this system. That said, I have not heard of any council not approving this solution as a retrofit for landlords. Harry

hi Gul Certainly gaps up to 14mm can be dealt with through threshold smoke seals Harry

Hi Gator What an awakening! Just to emphasise that carbon monoxide (the poison gas) has the chemical description CO rather than CO2 which is the chemical shorthand for carbon dioxide (used in fizzy drinks etc) Harry

Hi, I would recommend that you take part in training through the British Fire Consortium. The courses take 3 to 4 days and you will be a qualified fire extinguisher servicing engineer at the end of it. Alternatively, you can consider service free extinguishers, which do not require annual servicing or refill after 5 years. The installing company will offer site survey as well as training, so that you are fully covered. Harry

Hi Criag If you follow the video about the removal of the battery you will see the part number on the back of the smoke alarm and the replacement date on the side of the head. If it is the ionisation model, dust and dirt should not be so much of an issue. However, if it is the optical smoke alarm version than dust can cause false alarms and you could try vacuuming the smoke alarm head. However, you only have experienced the odd chirp, which sounds more like a battery issue. Re the CO alarm: Try moving it away from the smoke alarms so that you can determine which alarm makes the noise. Honeywell will not be able to help you to determine which alarm is sounding. Try changing the battery in the Honeywell alarm to exclude the possibility of a low battery warning. The Honeywell alarm has a 7 year life, so you also need to check the replacement date. Harry

Hi Craig Assuming that it is indeed the smoke alarm that is causing the chirp there are two potential causes for the nightly chirp: If it is an Ei141 model the alarm has an alkaline backup battery. This battery will last about a year or two. Eventually its power supply will start dropping and when the battery is getting colder, its power supply will be at its weakest, triggering a low battery warning chirp. If that is the case, a replacement of the battery will help. There is a video showing you how to replace the battery of an Ei141. If it is the Ei161, which contains a rechargeable lithium backup battery, this type of drop in power supply by the backup battery should not happen. In this case I would check the date of the smoke alarm and if it is older than ten years you should replace the alarm. You can buy genuine Ei replacement heads, called easichange, which do not require electricians for an exchange of the alarm. Harry

You need a maglock system that is linked to your fire alarm system. Should the alarm be activated or your alarm system becomes faulty, the maglock will release your fire exit door. On top of this there are numerous ways of overriding the maglock with green buttons on the inside and keypads etc from the outside. See maglock example Harry