Block Management Liverpool - Nothing More Important Than Fire Safety
Friday 9th July 2021
Block Management Liverpool - Nothing More Important Than Fire Safety
Whenever I discuss taking over a block of apartments in Liverpool or Wirral, small or large, the first thing I say to owners is that we need to undertake a fire risk assessment and everything else flows from that. It provides a baseline from which to undertake changes and ensure complete compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
It never ceases to surprise me that no one in the block has thought through how flat owners and tenants would be warned that a fire is underway anywhere in the building without the correct alarm and warning system installed, maintained and tested weekly. Some blocks I visit in Liverpool and Wirral, do not have emergency lighting either.
The number one priority of a landlord is the safety of his or her tenants. There is no excuse for putting them in danger and it is unlawful and eventually you will be found out, hopefully before anyone dies or is seriously injured. This piece in Landlord Today 9th July 2021 makes for sober reading. If you need any help in becoming legally compliant, please contact Tuna Fish today, we can help.
Landlord Today
"A landlord has been sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for two years for breaches of fire safety legislation.
Thirunavukkaradu Kuladaisamy, the owner and landlord of flats in Derby, has also been been fined a total of £50,000.00, ordered to pay court costs of £22,861.00 and an additional £156 as a victim surcharge for breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Kuladaisamy pleaded guilty to the offences.
The breaches were identified when firefighters were called to a fire in flats in November 2019.
Firefighters discovered some fire doors had no self-closers or smoke seals, the kitchen door did not close due to a lack of maintenance and the fire alarm was not working. In addition, there was no evidence of a fire risk assessment and fire extinguishers were out of test date.
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service, Fire Protection Group Manager Lee Smith says: "Thankfully, no one was killed or seriously injured in the fire that took place in the flats in November 2019, but that could have been a very different story if that fire had started in a ground or first floor flat and not as it did, in a flat on the very top floor.
Due to the lack of fire safety measures, the fire would have been much more serious putting people's lives at risk while they slept.
The fire and smoke would have spread easily within the common escape routes and as there was no working fire alarm, residents would not have been alerted placing them at serious risk, particularly as the fire doors which would have given their flat some protection from smoke or fire were inadequate. Quite simply this was a fire that could have had a catastrophic outcome due to the lack of fire safety measures Mr. Kuladaisamy had in place.
Providers of sleeping accommodation including flats, bedsits and houses in multiple accommodation must accept that they have a responsibility to ensure the accommodation they provide has a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment in place that is reviewed regularly and that the measures provided for fire safety including fire doors, fire alarms, smoke detectors and extinguishers are maintained to a suitable standard.
The sentencing of Mr. Kuladaisamy sends out a very clear message about the severity of the fire safety breaches found at the London Road property and that the Fire and Rescue Service will consider formal action against anyone where breaches of Fire Safety Regulations are found and particularly where there is a failure to comply with any statutory notices issued."
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