As the laws surrounding carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in domestic properties in the UK are strengthened, how can landlords ensure compliance with the revised regulations? FireAngel offers some timely advice.
Over the last decade, carbon monoxide poisoning has caused an average of 162 deaths yearly in the UK, equivalent to a life lost every few days. A carbon monoxide alarm is the only certified source of detection, yet more than 2.3 million households in the UK are without a working CO alarm.
To keep more people safe, the Government has committed to introducing significant changes this year regarding CO protection. This includes amendments to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 and Approved Document J, in addition to the introduction of EN50291-2:2018.
Ensuring EN50291-1:2018 compliance
Superseding EN50291-1:2019+A1:2012, the new version of EN50291-1:2018 is the latest European Standard for the detection of carbon monoxide in domestic premises. Landlords should ensure they are fitting reputable CO alarms that have been independently tested to this standard and are supplied with a body test certificate in the form of a Kitemark to guarantee they are providing customers with the highest
possible standard of protection.
Amendments to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015
Replacing the previous 2015 regulation, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 will come into force on 1st October 2022. As a result, both private and socially rented properties will be legally required to have smoke and CO alarms installed.
Once the extended regulations are made law, a smoke alarm must be installed on each storey of a property where there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation.
A carbon monoxide alarm must also be installed in any room, used wholly or partly as living accommodation, with a fixed combustion appliance or when a fixed combustion appliance is fitted. This includes gas fire and gas boilers but excludes gas cookers.
The regulations recommend any alarms installed comply with BS EN 14604 (smoke) and EN 502911 (CO) and carry a British or European approval mark. Landlords must repair or replace alarms when notified of a fault, however regular alarm testing will remain the responsibility of the resident.
As outlined in an open letter by Eddie Hughes MP, the changes are “an important step to ensuring better quality, safer homes” and any landlord found to be in breach could be fined up to £5,000. As such, it is vital that landlords are prepared for these changes before the 1st October deadline.
Setting the standard for carbon monoxide safety and compliance
To meet the amended carbon monoxide alarm regulations and Approved Document J, installers should be recommending CO devices that wirelessly interlink with other CO, smoke and heat alarms.
FireAngel’s Specification Range CO alarm (FS1326-T) meets these requirements by providing housing associations and domestic properties with a cost-effective device that can be wirelessly interlinked with multiple FireAngel Specification mains powered and battery-powered smoke, heat and CO devices. As both mains and battery-powered devices can be interlinked together onto a single network to create a hybrid system, it eliminates the requirement for costly and time-consuming channelling or trunking.
Steve Boggis, Trade Business Unit Director for FireAngel, says: “FireAngel is dedicated to protecting, saving and improving customers’ lives by making innovative, cutting-edge technology simple and accessible. The launch of our new battery-powered CO range that meets the requirements of EN 50291-1:2018 is a reflection of this longstanding commitment to ensuring the highest possible standards of protection for all.”
As part of this commitment, FireAngel has launched a new battery-powered CO range, which complies with the latest EN 50291-2:2018 standard and features 10-year sealed for life lithium batteries. FireAngel’s new range of alarms is supplied with five-year warranty and all alarms contain advanced electrochemical sensing technology that provides an accurate and proven method of sensing low levels of carbon monoxide, in line with latest requirements.
The FA3328 CO alarm with SYNC-IT (NFC) technology features advanced data extraction capabilities as the Near Field Communication (NFC) syncs with the Cloud to provide all alarm data and maintenance information as a pdf report that can be shared or exported. The FA3820 CO alarm also provides advanced diagnostics support via a cable.
Carbon monoxide poisoning takes lives, but new regulatory changes mean people living in the social rented sector will soon be safer in their homes. Meanwhile, advances in safety technology can help housing providers go above and beyond the latest requirements to reinforce their duty of care and stay ahead of future changes to legislation.
