HMO & Landlord Consultancy

So why do HMOs need fire safety measures?

When a property is in multiple occupation, the risk of fire breaking out is greater than in an ordinary single family home.

Some of the reasons for this are:

• Portable heating appliances may be used
• There is often more than one kitchen present, and kitchens can be shared by a number of individual tenants. Kitchens are by definition high-risk areas
• Electrical circuits can become overloaded
• There are more people in the house who are living independently of, and having no real control over, each other’s behaviour

What does the law say about HMOs and fire safety?

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

This Order is enforced locally by The Fire and Rescue. It requires any person who has some level of control of an HMO (the ‘Responsible Person’) to:

• Take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of fire
• Make sure anyone in the property can safely escape if a fire does occur

The ‘Responsible Person’ can pass the task to some other competent person (although the ‘Responsible Person’ retains the duty to meet its requirements).

The first task in meeting the Order’s requirements is to carry out a Fire Safety Risk Assessment. This identifies any possible dangers and risks in the HMO and forms the basis for action to improve fire safety.

The steps involved in carrying out a Fire Safety Risk Assessment are:

Step 1: Identify the hazards (e.g. sources of ignition such as naked flames or heaters and sources of ignition for a fire: accumulations of rubbish, furnishings, and so on).

Step 2: Identify people at risk (tenants in general, but particularly occupiers especially at risk: children; parents with babies; disabled people; the elderly or infirm).

Step 3: Evaluate, remove, reduce and protect from risk (look to remove/reduce any fire hazards, for instance by replacing highly flammable materials and having a safe smoking policy. Then assess any remaining risk and think about further steps to reduce it. Consider general fire precautions such as:

• Maintaining fire detection and warning systems
• Facilities for tackling a small fire, e.g. chip-pan fires
• Keeping protected escape routes clear and usable
• Ensuring the escape route leads to a safe exit point
• Providing and maintaining fire doors

Step 4: Record, plan, instruct, inform and train (note down the dangers and people identified as being at risk and the actions taken under Step 3. Draw up an Emergency Plan and inform, instruct and train people such as residents and managers in what it says and what they need to do).

Step 5: Review (periodically check the assessment to make sure it is up to date and amend as needed).