AnthonyB

Not externally (in fact external sounders must silence after 30 minutes just like intruder systems) unless there is an open area part of the building like a roof terrace. Visual Alarm Devices may be appropriate as well.

The change of use from a garage to a habitable room will mean compliance with building regulations, including delivery of a building notice to your council. Building regulations apply to ventilation, moisture proofing, insulation, fireproofing, escape routes, and structural soundness. As a result, almost any design decision must take them into account. When dividing up the garage a new room is created. This room is subject to a set of building regulations that require an escape route and ventilation separate from the main room. Alterations such as an infill wall replacing the original garage door will also be subject to building regulations concerning the foundations. The building inspector will want to visually inspect windows, doors, fireproofing and foundations before he gives a certificate of completion. Note existing fire doors would not be affected by the change - if all the doors were fire doors (rather than just the door between the garage & the habitable space) then this is not because of the garage - you could change them to fire doors with clear fire resisting glazed panels though.

Absolutely not and don't let the management company (& yourselves through the service charge) be ripped off by someone trying to persuade them it's a legal requirement. The current official guidance for fire safety in purpose built flats states: "- It is not normally considered necessary to provide fire extinguishers in the common parts of blocks of flats. Such equipment should only be used by those trained in its use. It is not considered appropriate or practicable for residents in a block of flats to receive such training. In addition, if a fire occurs in a flat, the provision of fire extinguishing appliances in the common parts might encourage the occupants of the flat to enter the common parts to obtain an appliance and return to their flat to fight the fire. Such a procedure is inappropriate." Also water or foam extinguishers would be useless on two of the most common domestic fires - cooking oils/fats and electrical appliances. The common areas in flats should be fire sterile (if not a serious offence is being comitted) so a fire would be unlikely to occur and if one did you would be safer in your flat than getting seriously injured (or worse) trying to deal with it. Link to fire safety guidance: http://www.local.gov.uk/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=1138bf70-2e50-400c-bf81-9a3c4dbd6575

Possibly. Brass plated steel or steel screws would have been better, solid brass melts too easily. Wooden kick boards are unusual, you usually see steel. They aren't as damaged as they might be without the protective boards by the sound of it.

For clarity this is a Federal law in the USA and not applicable to the UK

6m is the usual distance in most guidance for waste storage

Bear in mind most provider's basic servicing training no longer covers refilling or Extended Services so unless you were going to replace with new when an extinguisher reaches 5 years (10 for CO2) or needs refilling (which a lot of commercial servicing firms do now as it's more cost effective) and if you wanted to refill the extra training, and recharging equipment & consumables, would make it nonviable just for three sites. Moving to P50 extinguishers as part of a risk reanalysis (to reduce numbers overall plus the fact that one P50 can replace up to three extinguishers of two different types at a single fire point) may be more viable - the only tools you need after the free training on installation would be a permanent marker (each extinguisher comes with the verification equipment required built in)

No. Extinguishers are only required where there is a specific requirement under specific legislation, such as foam extinguishers in buses, coaches & minibuses (C&U Regs) and vehicles carrying dangerous goods covered by ADR

You need to read "BS 7273-4:2015 Code of Practice for the operation of fire protection measures - Part 4: Actuation of release mechanisms for doors." which covers these devices. Devices that hold open fire doors are divided into different categories depending on their method of operation and intended usage: Critical, Standard & Indirect (used to be category A, B & C). Dorgard don't state what level their devices meet (they say 'normal' which doesn't exist) but the basic models appear more like Indirect models. Risk assessment determines which type to use, but considering the reliability of correctly installed, tested and maintained fire alarm systems would rather have loads of Indirect acoustic devices than wedges, disconnected closers etc which were far more prevalent before these were invented. There will be some circumstances where direct wired equipment is required, although to get the most advantage of these they need to be linked to fire alarm systems capable of causing release on fault as well as fire.

Because it's over one floor and split into several rooms, "manual" or non electrical means of alarm (shout's, gongs, etc) are unlikely to be suitably audible. Most fires in single company occupancy buildings during working hours are likely to be detected by sight and smell (you may smell a really small fire quicker than it would activate a detector) or even sound and so the minimum fire alarm requirements in Building Regulations and BS5839-1 (Fire alarm standard for non-domestic premises) is a system of manual call points and alarm sounders. Automatic detection is only required where there is a risk of a fire developing undetected for some time such that it could affect escape and thus life safety and even then is applied in layers - detectors for specific risks/purposes (L5); for escape routes (L4); for escape routes and adjoining rooms (L3); escape routes and adjoining rooms plus specific areas of risk(L2); virtually everywhere (L1). The higher categories (L2, L1) are usually only needed for sleeping risk, healthcare, fire engineered buildings, etc - some installers will try and put you detection in everywhere despite there being no legal basis.

I would strongly suggest you take specialist legal advice on this matter, especially as a landlord who claimed they had no liability after letting to a primary tenant who then sublet was recently successfully convicted for fire safety offences. Warren Spencer at Blackhurst Budd is a specialist lawyer in the fire safety field having both successfully prosecuted on behalf of fire services and defended on behalf of Responsible Persons for over 160 cases. http://www.blackhurstbudd.co.uk/fire-safety/

BS 5839-1:2013 13.2 Recommendations 13.2.1 Recommendations applicable to all detection zones b) If the total floor area of the building is greater than 300 m2, each zone should be restricted to a single storey. d) For voids above or below the floor area of a room, these may be included within the same zone of the room, provided that the voids and the room constitute a single fire compartment. Depends whether you class it as a void or a floor. If the space is used and has an access ladder/stair I would be leaning towards calling it a floor, if a disused space more likely a void, but in the case of the latter would want remote indicators fitted.

They are mixing up the general floor calculations in BS5306-8 for general normal risk cover by Class A extinguishers. Hot works are by their nature anything but normal risk and require extinguishers immediately available (certainly within 10m). No extinguishers no permit, no permit no work, leave the premises, don't expect to be paid for your time. Many buildings that are normally very safe suffer devastating fires during hot works - the risk is too great to let them get away with this misguided statement. If they can't be bothered to spend the very small amounts on having & maintaining a stock of extinguishers for hot works I'd be suspicious of what other corners they will cut in both safety and workmanship.

Yes there are and they are going to become recommended as a standard provision for public or high misuse risk areas in the new 2017 edition of BS5839-1 so fitting them wouldn't require a risk assessment and variation as currently.

It's most likely to be your responsibility as the landlord under the Housing Act.

Upgrading work is preferred to the frames - you can get adhesive smoke seals from Envirograph, but there would be no test certification for the upgraded installation.

CO2 is an asphyxiant, but in the real world the size of room (or more accurately cupboard!) needed to be at risk from discharging a CO2 is so small the combustion products of the fire would be more likely to get you first - plus starting no nearer than 1m to the fire would usually put you outside the area anyway. Powder is still very useful and it's not an absolute no-no indoors if justified by a Health & Safety assessment. However for your usual place of assembly, office, shop, hotel, healthcare premises, etc it's not appropriate - it's usually industrial type risks where the need for it's rapid knockdown properties outweighs the secondary damage and health risks where it can remain. CO2 is not the only replacement for powder - depending on the risk to be covered then Wet Chemical, Water Mist, Triclass, Foam, Water Spray are all possibles as powder extinguishers can be found covering all sorts of risks!

Legally each item should retain it's permanent label

Full rated discharge, if it's a 3 hour system it should be tested to 3 hours. The lighting standards do still refer to certain building types only needing one hour (despite it being decades since 1 hour fittings were discontinued) however the same standard says that the annual test must be to the full rated duration (inevitably 3 hours). Note that there is a difference between escape lighting, emergency, lighting, standby lighting etc so whilst 1 hour may meet escape requirements your installation may be intended for other purposes in addition where 3 hours is needed.

The only reference to seal width I can find is purely based on door fire resistance and nothing to do with size. The recommended seal size for most modern 30 minute doors, other than doorsets, is 15mm X 4mm. The recommended seal size for most modern 60 minute fire doors is 20mm X 4mm, or 2 No. 10mmX4mm. This is from BWF-CERTIFIRE who are the fire door industries' Scheme to ensure the correct standards are used in relation to fire doors and their installation

Water Mist is pricey, but the best all round action as the others have disadvantages: Water or CO2 gas: Not even worth considering, too many disadvantages Foam: Great for solids and liquids, but no good on cooking oils and only 1 manufacturer approves them for electrical fires Wet Chemical: Great for solids, liquids and cooking oils, not for direct electrical use, slightly messy Powder: Good performance on solids and liquids, safe for electrical equipment but not the most effective, Not suitable for cooking oils, no longer recommended for indoor use as the powder will obscure vision, affect breathing and is very damaging to surfaces and equipment Water Mist covers the primary domestic risks to a high standard (solids, cooking oils and electrical) with no mess or damage or adverse effect to the user. It's also safe on liquid fires, just can only deal with very, very small ones, but as this is for the house not the garage that isn't an issue

You can't use an electromechanical lock on an exit route where the release of the keep is required for exit and electromagnetic locks are not normally allowed on doors from places of assembly (such as your hall) where panic proof (push bar) exit is required. You need to buy a panic bolt with compatible outside access device - if you prefer code access to keys then Briton Panic Furniture has a coded version: http://www.safelincs.co.uk/briton-digital-code-lock-outside-access-device/?fGB=true&gclid=CM_Q_bOr99ECFcLGGwodT-MHkQ

The official guidance states: " In order to provide a facility for extinguishing small fires in their early stages, a simple multi-purpose extinguisher is recommended on each floor in the common parts of HMOs and buildings containing flats. It will not usually be practical to train tenants in the use of these, but basic advice should be offered at the start of each new tenancy. Fire blankets are recommended as good practice in kitchens of all premises covered by this guide, including single household occupation and bedsit rooms." Traditionally that would have meant dry powder extinguishers, but since the publication of this guidance the use of powder has fallen out of favour and newer standards depricate it's use indoors due to the health & safety risks from inhalation & loss of vision as well as the fact it's exceeding damaging. So the use of Water Mist or Britannia Triclass extinguishers (foam extinguishers marked for direct electrical use, both in traditional steel variants and Kevlar P50) would be better options - a powder extinguisher would be cheaper......until it gets set off!

Not all brands of twinwire system operate the same way - which is why installers & maintainers who are not competent in fire alarms wonder why they can't get twinwire devices of different makes to work on the same system. Many twin wire systems use reverse polarity but Apollo Alarmsense uses voltage changes, in a quiescent state 12V runs through the system, device activation causes the panel to raise the voltage to 24V to activate the sounders. Polarity is unchanged. I think a competent fire alarm engineer is required for this situation.

The same as any potential ignition source - liklihood of ignition, proximity to other combustibles, effect of a fire on escape, etc, etc. Spontaneous fires in parked vehicles do occur, but are relatively rare and a complete ban is not always necessary or practicable