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A REVIEW OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE MANDATORY LICENSING OF HOUSES IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION IN SCOTLAND
ANNEX THREE POSITION OF THE CHIEF AND ASSISTANT CHIEF FIRE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION (CACFOA) ON ANNEX D OF THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE GUIDANCE
Response by the CACFOA representative to the question: Is there a CACFOA view about the fire safety standards advised in the Guidance for HMOs with less than six occupants that relates to standards for smoke detection ( Annex D)
"Prior to the guidance, there was s.162 [of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987] - the question was what standards if any were applicable for automatic detection. BS5839 part 6 was designed to deal with properties that did not fall within the Fire Precautions Act or other legislation that would provide an adequate level of automatic fire detection and alarm to protect the occupants and has been in operation since 1995 (part 6 does not allow for alarm sounders or a break glass call point or a control panel and is not as onerous as BS 5839 part 1 which is designed for larger and more complex buildings with larger numbers of occupants). The guidance indicated at Annex D, 6.1 is a lesser standard to that previously applied i.e. BS5839 part 6.
The introduction of the guidance therefore caused confusion. If the guidance in Annex D, 6.1 is applied (as opposed to BS 5839 part 6, which is the standard that had been applied to HMOs since 1995) what is the justification for applying a lesser standard as indicated at Annex D? When a premise has more than 6 occupants, a higher standard will be required (which is BS 5839 part1, L2). With a property with 6 or less occupants, the fire brigade is of the opinion that BS5839 part 6 is a better standard and more appropriate to the fire related risk which will prevail in this type of premises (HMOs)".
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