BS Fire Safety Regulations for Curtain/Blind Makers

[Bohosew Interiors]

Hi, 

I am in need of some advice please. 

I have a client who has asked me to make some curtains for her property.  It is her family home, however, she also hires it out via agents as a location house for photographic, commercial and film shoots.  

Do I need to ensure that the fabric used is FR treated? I am struggling to fine a clear answer.

Thanks, 

Claire 

[Tom Sutton]

If the house is used as there permanent abode most of the year and only occasionally for other purposes then I am not aware of any legislation that would require them to have flame retardant curtains, although it is a good fire safety consideration.

If for instant you use a small bedroom as an office or a plumber fits a bathroom in your house it doesn't make you house a workplace, the principal use is still a domestic dwelling.

[Bohosew Interiors]

Thank you very much Tom, I really appreciate your time and advice. 

Kind regards, 

Claire Morhall 

[Tom Sutton]

No prob.

[FRFree]

Actually, there is a grey area here. If the house is being used for non-domestic purposes - in this case as film location - it could be argued that the Fire Safety Order applies. There are no requirements for curtains to be fire-resistant under domestic legislation, but I think there may be under the FSO. The test would be if a fire started in the curtains and caused damage, e.g. to the film-maker's equipment. The enforcement body for the FSO is the fire service, so they would decide whether or not to make a case. If you want to be on the safe side, you should check out the FSO brochures on MHCLG's site. You might still need legal advice, however. I used to work on the domestic fire regulations and regularly liaised with MHCLG colleagues on the FSO about the many overlapping areas, but I could never get them to help me sort it out!

[Tom Sutton]

FRFree are you saying if your employ a plumber in your house or you convert the back room into a office, it becomes a workplace, which I equate to the situation above, the principle use of the premiese still remains a domestic property.

[FRFree]

Tom, apologies for not replying earlier. The notifications facility doesn't seem to work on my PC. As I said, this is a grey area between the Furniture Regulations and the FSO which no one at BEIS or MHCLG appears to have the slightest interesting in putting right and probably doesn't even know about these days. I'm therefore not sure what the answer is; it may have to be tested in court. I don't think a plumber working in your house means the FSO applies but I recall discussions between the two departments (when I worked for BEIS) about the situation where you convert a room into an office - with no solution come to. This means that no one knows whether the office chair you put in your home office should comply with the Furniture Regs or the FSO (and they are slightly different for such chairs). But, yes, you are probably right that assuming such a situation is a domestic property is the sensible thing to do.