Making Sure You’re Compliant With UK Rental Legislation
Ensure that your property portfolio is fully compliant with UK building legislation by letting Focused Solutions provide real estate compliance services for your property or business. We can provide an audit of your property to see if the systems that are already in place are fully compliant, and to assess any potential hazards, and we can help identify areas for improvement. Our team can make sure that your property is compliant with current legislation regarding fire, gas, electricity, asbestos and legionella. We can also install and maintain a reliable, cost effective fire suppression system that is designed to be used in care homes and other multiple occupancy buildings.
Fire Compliance
In the UK, property rental is heavily regulated, with legislation changing regularly. With complex laws, and robust penalties for non-compliance it pays to let our professional property management service take care of fire compliance for you, so you don’t have to worry about it. Landlords have legal obligations when it comes to fire safety in their properties, and it can vary depending on the size and type of property as well as the use of the building. Focused Solutions can guide you through the best options or do it on your behalf.
Current Fire Regulations
The fire safety order (Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005) makes it mandatory to carry out a detailed assessment identifying the risks and hazards in a commercial premise. By law, if you are responsible for the premises, you need to make sure that a Fire Risk Assessment has been completed by a competent person. Additionally, your Fire Risk Assessment must be recorded if you have a total of five or more employees or your business has a licence under enactment in force. The responsible person for the premises is also required to:
- Consider who may be especially at risk.
- Eliminate or reduce the risk of fire as far as is reasonably practical.
- Provide general fire precautions to deal with any risk.
- Take additional measures to ensure fire safety where flammable or explosive materials are used or stored.
- Create a plan to deal with any emergency and where necessary record any findings.
- Maintain general fire precautions, and facilities provided for use by firefighters.
- Keep any findings of the risk assessment under review.
The Furniture and Furnishing (Fire & Safety) Regulations apply to beds, mattresses and soft furnishings made after 1950. Everything that comes under this remit has to meet modern fire resistance requirements. This means that furnishings have to be labelled correctly, if labelling is incomplete and does not indicate compliance, then there needs to be a check with the manufacturer, Focused Solutions are happy to do this on your behalf.
The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations oblige landlords to provide one smoke alarm as a minimum for every storey of the rental property. In addition a carbon monoxide alarm needs to be fitted to any room that uses a solid fuel appliance. When a tenant moves into a property, they should have a signed receipt to confirm that all smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are working correctly. If the alarms stop working, it is the landlord’s responsibility to replace them.
The Q1 Watermist Suppression System
Focused Solutions also provides and installs the Q1 Watermist Suppression system for enhanced fire protection in your home or business. This system was designed specifically for use in the care sector and for assisted living facilities, or any locations that need adaptable fire solutions.
This highly rated Swedish fire suppression system offers a reliable fire defence set-up for any building. If the system is activated by fire in the premises, a high-pressure water mist is discharged that will put out the fire, with minimal water damage to the building and any objects inside the space.
As the Q1 unit requires no permanent installation, or fitted to your water supply, this drives down the cost of running it, and it needs only minimal maintenance. The unit can be installed in one place or in multiple locations, but one unit can be installed in an at risk area, then nozzles can be added to cover other areas in the building. It can be moved to different locations without any risk, making it a cost effective solution to fire safety in a care home or rental property.
Its high-pressurised water sprinkler will put out fires quickly and effectively, which increases the chances of survival for anyone living in the property. Focused Solutions can also install the Q1 fire suppression system with independent detectors, and it’s control system can be linked to external fire alarm systems.
If you have limited space then Focused Solutions can install a Q1 mini fire suppression system, which does not have a separate water tank, and is connected to the domestic water supply.
If you are interested in Focused Solutions installing this fire suppression system in your home or business property, then contact us now.
Catching a fire when it starts saves lives
The Q1 unit has been subject to successful fire testing at VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland (2009) and passed its original testing at SINTEF (Now RISE Fire Research
Association) Test report #102201.38 of October 3, 2007. The report contains an evaluation of the results reached with Q-Fog AB’s system Q1 in trials performed at SINTEF NBL in
October 2005. The tests were performed as a part of the project: “Water mist systems in care homes – A mapping of what effect mobile and easy movable water mist system has
on fire safety in care homes”.
Gas Compliance
The Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations mandate that legally there needs to be an up to date Gas Safety Certificate for every property in the landlord’s property portfolio. Focused Solutions can assure that a Gas Safe registered local engineer can inspect the property and sign off an up to date Gas Safety Certificate every year. Tenants are legally entitled to see the certificate when the tenancy agreement is signed. If the certificate is not up to date and an occupant at your property dies or is sick from the effects of a faulty gas appliance, then you as the landlord will be held responsible, and could even face conviction for unlawful killing.
Electricity Compliance
The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations are designed to make sure that every electrical appliance that is left by you in the property is safe. Focused Solutions recommends that all electrical appliances be checked on a yearly basis by one of our qualified engineers, who can then give you a Portable Appliance Test (PAT) certificate. In addition, every electrical device that was made after 1995 should have the CE symbol.
Periodic Inspection Report (P.I.R.) & Electrical Installation Condition Report (E.I.C.R.) Landlords are legally required to ensure that all electrical installations in a rented building are safe and up to date when tenants move in. Regulations apply to all new tenancies on or after June 1st 2020, and there needs to be a new inspection report every 5 years. An up to date E.I.C.R enables you to fulfil your legal responsibilities to your tenant/s and is often a condition of landlord insurance.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) have been a legal requirement for landlords since April 2018. Landlords need to ensure that their EPCs have a minimum rating of E. An EPC contains information about typical energy costs and energy use for the property. They can also provide tips on how to save money by reducing your energy usage. The EPC will rate your property on a sliding scale from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient), and is valid for 10 years. If you do not have a valid EPC you can be fined £200 per dwelling. If your rental property has an F or G energy rating, you will not be legally allowed to rent it out. Focused Solutions can help with making sure that your property is always up to date with UK regulations by using our trusted tradesmen to carry out any checks, and ensure that periodic checks are carried out.
Asbestos Compliance
Focused Solutions is regularly contacted by landlords in the UK who are concerned about their responsibilities when it comes to asbestos in their rental properties. The Control of Asbestos Regulations covers everything that landlords need to know about asbestos. Whoever is legally responsible for the maintenance of a property is required to have an asbestos management survey. If there is asbestos in the building, then they also need an asbestos management plan, where there are annual checks to ensure that the tenants are protected. Focused Solutions can arrange for asbestos surveys and checks to be carried out, and we can ensure that the yearly checks are booked too, to make sure that your property and tenants are safe.
Legionella Compliance
Legionnaires disease is a form of pneumonia caused by the inhalation of water that is contaminated by Legionella. As man made water systems can host Legionella, health and safety laws dictate that landlords have a duty of care to their tenants to ensure that they are not at risk. There are some steps that can be done to ensure that there are no risks of Legionella in the property.
- If the house is empty for a week or more, run all the taps, showerheads and flush the toilets to clear sitting water.
- Hot water should be set at 45 degrees Celsius to prevent Legionella breeding inside the water tank.
- Run water periodically through unused outlets such as sinks in guest bedrooms.
If you, or your property manager implements these simple measures then the risk of Legionella in your rental property will be low.
