Fire Safety

Fire Safety

Most fires in the home are started accidentally. You can help keep your home safe by taking a few simple precautions. Smoke alarms are a simple and inexpensive was of helping to protect your home and we strongly recommend that the leaseholders fit them.

Please make sure that you read our latest online information on fire safety and are familiar with the fire arrangements for your own building.

Fire risk assessments and management of communal areas

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is a piece of statutory legislation that sets out how fire risks should be managed. The Order specifies that a “responsible person” for each premises must conduct a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) and decide how any risks should be addressed.

In council-owned blocks of flats in Lambeth, the council will carry out Fire Risk Assessments for the communal areas of the building, and address any issues highlighted. We may ask you to cooperate with us in any safety measures we take as a result of Fire Risk Assessments. We may also contact you to request access to your flat to inspect fire stopping , The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order specifies that anyone who has repair responsibility for part of a building through a tenancy has fire safety responsibility for that part of the building.  As a Leaseholder, you have a duty to cooperate with us in safety matters and to ensure that the parts of the building you are responsible for are safe.

As part of our management of the building. We must keep communal areas and escape routes free from fire hazards and obstructions. You must not store any items in any communal areas of the building. Any combustible items will be removed by us without notice and we will ask that any non-combustible items are removed within 24hrs.

Fire Doors

If you own a purpose built flat, you should make sure that your front door is a 30 minute rated and properly fitted fire door. If your door was already fitted to the property when you bought it from the council or another leaseholder, it may not meet modern standards and you may have to upgrade it. Fire doors should meet standards BS476: Part 22 1987 or BS EN 1634-1 2000 and be fitted with an overhead closer meeting the appropriate British Standard.

If during a Fire Risk Assessment of the communal areas we identify that your flat might be fitted with an unsuitable door, we will ask your to replace it. If you do not comply, then we will fit a suitable fire door and recharge you the cost of the work.

Fire safety visits

The London Fire Brigade offers free fire safety visits to provide you with bespoke advice.

You can book a home safety fire visit at their website:

www.london-fire.gov.uk/homefiresafetyvisit.asp

The Fire Brigade are urging residents not to use barbecues on their balconies and roof terraces. 

The fires on balconies and roof terraces are hazardous as blazing debris spits off the barbecues and floats down to other levels risking a blaze on different floors. 

Lambeth’s tenancy agreement also stipulates the following: 

“You must not do anything which increases the risk of fire, flood or damage to your Property, or that might affect our insurance against these risks or make us responsible for damage or annoyance. 

23.2 You must not keep flammable material, liquids or gases in the Property (other than may be reasonably required for domestic use) or do anything (including holding a barbeque), which might cause a fire, flood or other damage to the Property. 

23.3 You are not allowed to use a barbeque or patio heater on or directly underneath balconies. You may have a barbeque in your garden provided it is safe to do so and does not cause a nuisance to your neighbours. 

23.4 If you live in a flat or maisonette you are not allowed to keep or use liquid petroleum gas other than that in disposable containers such as aerosols which comply with the current British Standard for disposable cylinders and which have a maximum capacity of 1 litre. 

The number of such cylinders must be limited to that reasonable for domestic use. 

23.5 You must not store dangerous or hazardous substances in the Communal Areas or the Locality.” 

Please do not use BBQ’s on balconies and roof terraces; while BBQ’s can be very tempting during lovely summer weather, they pose a huge fire risk if used on a balcony or roof terrace.