5 fires a week start from existing electrical fuse boards – commonly found under existing wooden staircases in homes.
The governments building regulations makes building owners ultimately responsible for carrying out compliant building work (under Regulation 7 – Materials and Workmanship).
If you are currently carrying out building work in your home, there may be areas where you will be required to make good existing deficiencies or defective areas found in your building, which may present health and safety risks following your building extension work, loft extensions or other internal alterations which are being supervised by our building inspectors.
Areas discovered and highlighted during building control inspections which may present fire safety risks in particular, will be highlighted to building owners by our inspectors.
“…Building owners ultimately responsible…”
Example : Existing meter cupboard under single stairway -fire containment risk found by our inspectors. Building owners will be required to provide fire resisting linings to protect the staircase in this 3 storey building following a new loft conversion. This cupboard contains both electrical and gas meters.
Existing deficiencies or defects identified during our building inspections may not be the responsibility, or under your builders contracted remit to put right or to otherwise make compliant.
In which case building owners will be ultimately required to carry out any necessary upgrades deemed necessary by our inspectors – for instance fire protecting an existing electrical or gas meter cupboard under a single stairway, following a loft conversion.
The key early warning and construction features recommended - that you must maintain in your home are:
· Fitting of interlinked mains powered with battery back-up smoke detectors in your corridors and a heat detector fitted in your kitchen.
· Well fitting doors to habitable rooms, or fire rated doors as upgrades.
· Providing fire resisting linings and doors to meter cupboards especially under wooden stairways.
· Keeping your corridors and hallways clear of obstructions and significant combustible linings.
get a fee quote from www.bcsurv.com tel: 01992 710 763 Email: support@bcsurv.com