Because of continually advancing fire safety tools and procedures, fires pose less and less of a threat to human life every year. However, while those procedures will defend people, your building is susceptible to significant damage if you don’t follow proper fire prevention processes. According to a report compiled by the Home Office, fire-related casualties have dropped by 4%, but the amount of property damage fluctuates year to year.
As a landlord, extensive fire damage means extended talks with insurance companies or property claims companies which could lead to potentially pricey repairs. However, with careful implementation of our top fire prevention tips, you’ll be able to stop fires before they happen, keeping your building and tenants safe.
What Are the Main Causes of Fires Within the Home?
The first step in learning how to be safe from a fire is recognising typical fire starters. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be able to pre-emptively warn tenants of the danger these items pose and reduce the chance of death and financial losses due to carelessness. The most frequent causes for residential fires include:
- Cookers – Leaving an oven unattended can cause food to burn and eventually ignite.
- Heating equipment – If a heater is located near furniture or paper, extended use can cause them to catch on fire.
- Candles – With their open flames, a candle falling onto the carpet or drapes can quickly spread a fire.
- Children – Kids are naturally curious and, if not supervised, can end up playing with something that starts fires.
- BBQs – If you’re grilling too close to your home or on a wooden patio (particularly with propane), a gust of wind could spill dangerous embers on your property.
- Faulty wiring – Bad wiring can overload or overheat and spark, leading to electrical fires.
- Lighting – Another common cause of electrical fires are faulty light bulbs sparking when they’re in a lamp and catching the shade on fire.
- Flammable liquids – Open flame near liquids like gasoline or alcohol may cause them to ignite.
- Smoking in bedrooms – Tenants putting out cigarettes improperly or dropping one on their bed is a significant cause of fires.
- Clothes dryers – If a tenant doesn’t clean their dryer frequently, the lint caught in the machine could ignite.
Top Fire Prevention Tips
While you’ll never be able to control how tenants use their property, there are still a few things you can do as the landlord to increase your property’s fire safety:
- Make sure your tenant can contact you about mechanical issues. Usually, a skilled maintenance specialist can stop an electrical fire before it starts.
- Make sure your tenants have easy access to working fire extinguishers.
- Install a sprinkler system for a quickfire response.
- Keep documentation of your fire prevention and safety measures to avoid potential legal problems and help with insurance claims.
- Make regular and consistent repairs to electrical systems.
- Install smoke alarms on your property and check them regularly to ensure they’re working.
- Outline firm house rules on smoking before a tenant moves in. You can even establish specific smoking areas if you feel your property is particularly vulnerable.
- Explain basic grilling safety to tenants (if you allow grilling at all) and establish specific areas where grilling is permitted.
- Create a detailed fire safety list and perform regular checks on your fire precautions (smoke alarms, fire escapes, etc.) to ensure that they’re still in good condition.
- Make a fire action plan that details what a tenant should do in case of a fire. Ensure it lists escape routes and basic fire safety information to ensure as calm and orderly an evacuation as possible.
What Tenants Can Do to Prevent Fires
Of course, preventing fires isn’t solely the landlord’s responsibility; the tenants must play a part as well. Most people don’t want their homes to burn down but may not know the essential fire prevention tips to follow. Before a tenant moves in, it’s crucial that you emphasise the importance of fire safety and how it can prevent fire damage to the property.
It’s important not to assume that tenants already know general fire safety rules. Outlining essential fire prevention tips for the kitchen and laundry room and providing means to contact you or relevant repair services when there’s been a mechanical failure goes a long way in preventing fires.
What Are the Fire Safety Regulations for Landlords?
You must implement several things to follow UK fire codes. The law states that you must:
- Install smoke alarms on every floor of your property
- Install carbon monoxide detectors in every apartment with appliances that burn solid fuels (such as wood or coal)
- Only supply furnishings that are fire safe
- Ensure that every tenant has clear access to fire escape routes
Additionally, you need to test fire alarms and smoke detectors when a tenant first moves into the property. After that, regular checks and upkeep become the resident’s responsibility.
What Are the 4 Types of Fire?
When a fire occurs, it’s classified into four different groups depending on its source. These classifications are named A, B, C, and D:
- Green triangles denote Class A fires. Fires in this class involve organic fuel such as wood, cloth, paper, and some plastics.
- Red squares denote Class B fires. Fires classified here have liquid sources such as gasoline, alcohol, and oils.
- Blue Circles denote Class C fires. These fires have electrical sources such as bad wiring.
- Orange stars denote Class D fires. This class represents fires started by flammable metals such as magnesium.
Conclusion
While fire prevention does take a fair bit of work to implement correctly, it’s worth it to keep your tenants safe and building undamaged. Remember that fire prevention is a two-way street between you and the tenant. While it’s your responsibility as the landlord to ensure that your tenant knows essential fire safety information before moving in, it’s their responsibility to follow those instructions.
In the event of anything happening you should understand the procedures involved in making a claim. You should understand the insurance claims process and the difference between a loss assessor and loss adjuster.
Be aware of potential fire hazards, keep electrical systems maintained, and respond quickly to any mechanical problems your tenants may have. Keep these top fire prevention tips in mind, and you’ll rarely have to worry about a fire starting on your property.
Solution
If you are a managed client with Belvoir Portsmouth and have chosen to benefit from their Specialist Landlords Buildings & Contents Insurance, you are in safe hands:
- Our staff are specially trained to identify hazards when appraising your property
- Coordinate an annual property inspection in accordance with the Governments Housing Health & Safety Rating System which include smoke alarm checks
- Coordinate Gas Safety Inspections which include smoke and Co2 alarm checks
- Coordinate Electrical Gas Safety Inspections
- Our inventory clerks are trained to identify potential hazards and test smoke alarms at every check in and check out
- Our staff personally check for working smoke alarms in every property 24 hours prior to occupation
- We enable you to provide a 24 hour emergency call out service for your Tenants, ensuring their safety at ALL times
- Provide you access to one of the top rated, specialist Landlords Buildings & Contents Insurance policies in the country, only available via the Belvoir group
- We are experienced insurance claim handlers
- We are experienced in managing our Landlords and Tenants through major disasters such as house fires
Not with Belvoir? we can still help you with our FREE Property Health Check service, just click below to request:
YES, I WANT A FREE PROPERTY HEALTH CHECK
