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Fire Safety

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989 & 1993) provide that specified items supplied in the course of letting property must meet minimum fire resistance standards. The regulations apply to all upholstered furniture, beds, headboards and mattresses, sofa-beds, futons and other convertibles, nursery furniture, garden furniture suitable for use in a dwelling, scatter cushions, pillows and non-original covers for furniture. They do not apply to antique furniture or furniture made before 1950, bedcovers including duvets, loose covers for mattresses, pillowcases, curtains, carpets or sleeping bags.

Items that comply will have a suitable permanent label or swing ticket attached. Non-compliant items must be removed before the tenancy commences.

Smoke alarms

All properties built since June 1992 are required to have been fitted with mains powered smoke detector alarms from new. Although there is no legislation requiring smoke alarms to be fitted in other ordinary tenanted properties, it is generally considered that a common law 'duty of care' exists meaning that landlords and their agents could be liable should a fire cause injury or damage in a tenanted property where smoke alarms are not fitted. We therefore strongly recommend that you fit at least one alarm on each floor in the hall and landing areas. Where possible we also recommend the provision of fire extinguishers and/or fire blankets.

Other goods

Specific safety regulations exist for high-risk goods including gas cooking appliances, electrical equipment, upholstered furniture and nursery equipment. The General Product (Safety) Regulations 1994 state that all goods must satisfy general safety provisions - essentially that they must be 'reasonably safe'.

The Consumer Protection Act 1987 reiterates this point stating that such goods supplied in the course of a business must be 'reasonably safe' and includes goods that are both new and used.

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