Smoke alarms out of date in leased flat

[Guest Jocelyn]

Hi there,

I live in a block of flats. I lease from the owner, but the building seems to be run by a property management company (RMG).

When changing the battery of the smoke detector in my flat I noticed a sticker that says 'replace by 2013' on the actual detector. The detector is also wired to the mains.

The smoke detector is the same as many in the corridors of the building. Some have actually been replaced but not all. I would assume most old ones have that same sticker and replacement date on them.

Who is responsible for changing all of these? Should I be contacting the owner of my flat or the property management company?

Thanks,

Jocelyn

[Tom Sutton]

The property management company usually runs the premises on behalf of the owner and is responsible for the common areas and I would think it is them you should contact. Domestic smoke detectors in the flats are the responsibility of the tenants, unless the tenants agreement says different. If there is a fire alarm in the common areas it should be a BS 5839 part 1 system which doesn't use backup batteries in the detectors, it uses a battery in the control panel (CIE) or a centrally located battery, consequently your situation is a little confusing.

[green-foam]

If it helps, I have seen what Jocelyn has described more than once, in that there are domestic smoke detectors in the common area of flats.