Can owner occupier remove smoke alarms?

[Guest LindaPur]

I live in flat, my neighbour has taken out his smoke/ fire alarms that were in his flat. He has taken them out because he says they are not cosmetically pleasing. I am worried in case there is a fire in his flat. Please could you tell me, if he could be forced to replace the fire/smoke alarms? He is an owner occupier

[Tom Sutton]

Is the smoke alarm in this flat a significant finding in relation to the fire risk assessment of the common areas?

[AnthonyB]

If they are self contained for the life safety of the occupant then it's at his own risk. It would only be an issue if the devices were part of a building wide system intended to protect all flats

[Guest Squeakabel]

I have recently taken ownership of a flat which has three alarms:

• Two defunct
  • Models Ei141 and Ei144
  • not sure when they last worked
  • wired into the mains but batteries have been removed
  • have clearly had a harsh life and not been properly cared for (bits missing, broken, sellotaped back together)
• One working
  • Model ST-BW-622
  • battery powered
  • definitely works (likes to remind me that my showers are too hot)

Previously the flat was rented, and I'm not sure if it complies with current fire regulations or just looked like it did!

Am I allowed to remove the bases of the broken ones, poke the wires back into the ceiling (after making them safe) and seal over the holes? Or should I get working ones?

[Safelincs]

Hi Squeakabel

Why don't you simply replace the heads for the Ei141 and Ei144? These are available as easichange kits and are easy to replace by yourself.

Harry

[green-foam]

Poking wires back into the ceiling?  what would happen if there was a fire? Nothing because you had poked the wires back in the ceiling,

Do as Harry suggests change just the detectors and have peace of mind

[AnthonyB]

You can do what you want but of the 250 - 300 people killed by fire each year almost all die in their home and most of those have no, insufficient or nonworking alarms - I'd get them working/replaced as reliance on Grade F (battery only) alarms as oppose to Grade D (mains and battery) increases the chance of them not being in working order when needed.

[dennis budd]

Please advise, I am a development manager and all my flats once had smoke alarms  as well as alarms in the corridors and communal areas.

We have just had an upgrade and all the alarms were removed from the flats and the corridor and communal area alarms were replaced with modern alarms.  Since then, when we have our weekly fire alarm test residents complained they now cannot hear the alarms. When I consulted with out H&S dept. they said this is the new system bearing in mind the stay put policy and that a resident should they leave there flat will hear the alarm and remain in their flat?  

So I think. As residents in a stay put policy situation are advised if they hear the alarms to stay in their flats, get dressed and any medication they have in readiness for evacuation. My thoughts are, that if a resident doesn't hear the alarm they will not have got dressed and ready for a possible evacuation thus delaying the evacuation  and may still be in bed fast asleep.

your thoughts on this are appreciated or am I am I wrong!

[AnthonyB]

Normally in a stay put building there shouldn't be any alarms except in the flats for the flat occupiers protection, this is the problem with halfway house systems that are insufficient for full evacuate and confusing for stay put.

Large scale evacuation is still rare in correctly built stay put premises so most of the time there is no need to know if something is happening as the safer place is to stay in the flat and not be nosy (people have died because of this).

If the policy is to alert all residents then the alarm system should support this which to be done properly would include use of voice sounders to differentiate between alert and evacuate, but 99% of the time the cheapest option is used that can lead to confusion.

 

[Guest sophiejo]

Our flats' mad fire alarm tester has already caused me an episode of loss of hearing. May I discontect my flat's alarm from the communal system?

[green-foam]

What do you mean by

18 hours ago, Guest sophiejo said:

Our flats' mad fire alarm tester

Fire/smoke alarms must be tested once every six months, but often they are tested once a week, this is not a problem, but it should be done on the same day and if possible same time (or same morning or afternoon)

If you were to disconnect your smoke alarm apart from causing a potential fault, you would be putting others lives, as well as yours in danger.

[AnthonyB]

On 18/12/2022 at 16:22, Guest sophiejo said:

Our flats' mad fire alarm tester has already caused me an episode of loss of hearing. May I discontect my flat's alarm from the communal system?

No, that would potentially be an offence. Remove the local one that only alerts you at your own risk (only you will die and statistically that's very likely where smoke alarms are rendered unworking) but you can't put other people at risk without consequence.

Have you actually tried raising this with the managing agent? Depending on the layout of your flat there may be a possibility of adjusting the volume if it will still meet the required minimum, also the alarm shouldn't sound for more than a few seconds - if it is lasting longer they aren't testing it right (need either two staff or use the walk test mode on the panel).

[AnthonyB]

On 07/07/2015 at 14:44, Guest LindaPur said:

I live in flat, my neighbour has taken out his smoke/ fire alarms that were in his flat. He has taken them out because he says they are not cosmetically pleasing. I am worried in case there is a fire in his flat. Please could you tell me, if he could be forced to replace the fire/smoke alarms? He is an owner occupier

Alarms for their own protection - no. Alarms part of a communal system - yes.