Fire services have reiterated their call for mandatory smoke alarms in private rented properties to be among the next government’s priorities in its first 100 days.  

In their ‘Making our nation safer’ report, the Chief Fire Officers Association ( CFOA ) and the Local Government Association ( LGA ) called for a number of measures that would both save lives and cut costs, and now they are again pushing home this message as the LGA Annual Fire Conference and Exhibition opens in Gateshead today (10 March). 

Mandatory smoke alarms in private rented properties is set to be a key issue at the conference, together with a call for a reduction in stamp duty for properties with sprinklers (either all properties or specifically warehouses) and an independent body to distribute funding to fire and rescue authorities.

Original sources

CFOA 

Public Sector Executive 

Commercial buildings, non-domestic and multi-occupancy premises in England and Wales are already forced to undertake a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

While the overwhelming majority of premises do this, if the assessment is thought to have been carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.