Communal Carpeting and Health & Safety and Fire regulations?

[crl]

Question regarding communal hallway carpeting.

My housing association landlord intends to remove the current communal carpet due to the carpet possibly not complying with the current Health & Safety and Fire regulations. What type of carpet would comply with communal property Health & Safety and Fire regulations? The carpet that is currently fitted (at the expense of the tenants) is in excellent condition which a shame to remove. I believe that there are fire retardant sprays available that can make carpets fire resistant, does this treatment comply with the Health & Safety and Fire regulations?

[Tom Sutton]

Most carpet has to have some degree of fire resistance. When buying carpet look out for reference to BS5287 and BS4790 on labelling and informational documentation. Compliance with these would indicate a 35mm radius of fire spread which is the specification for low fire spread carpets to be used in protected fire escape routes or other sensitive areas. In a normal household any standard carpet should have sufficient fire resistance to be suitable for use in most occupied areas.

Carpet used in escape route need to pass the hot nut test as described in the above BS's and if you find a fire resistant spray, it would need to certify the carpet to that standard