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New Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detector Requirements

24/10/2022

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Since 1 October 2015 landlords in England have been required to:
  • Ensure smoke alarms are installed in all of their rented residential accommodation.
  • Ensure carbon monoxide alarms are fitted in every room with a solid fuel heating appliance. This includes any open fireplace that is available

As of 1 October 2022, the requirements are expanded so that:

Any room with a fixed combustible heating appliance (excluding gas cookers) will also require a carbon monoxide alarm.
The legislation also requires landlords to act when tenants report a faulty alarm.
Failure to comply can lead to a civil penalty being imposed of up to £5,000.
 
The following guidance will assist landlords and their agents on how to comply with this legislation and to ensure that properties are safe for tenants.
What are the requirements for smoke alarms?
During any period after 1 October 2015, while premises are occupied under tenancy the landlord must ensure that a smoke alarm is equipped on each level / story of the premises on which there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation.
Rooms used as living accommodation include lounges, dining rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and separate toilets. It also includes a hall, or landing. A loft space or garage for example would not be considered a “living space”
Heat detectors are not considered sufficient substitutes. 
What are the amended requirements for carbon monoxide alarms
From 1 October 2022, all properties will be expected to have CO detector fitted in every room that is:
Used partly or wholly as living accommodation, and contains a fixed appliance which burns, or is capable of burning fuel. This would include working gas / oil boilers, gas fires, wood burning stoves, open fires, etc.
The only exception to this is rooms where the ONLY fuel burning appliance is a gas cooker or hob. If a kitchen contains both a hob and boiler for example, a CO alarm would need to be fitted.
Where a fireplace is purely decorative, and has been blocked off or capped off, a CO alarm would not be required.
Where should the alarms be placed?
Guidance suggests following the alarm manufacturer's instructions and landlords should ensure that alarms are installed in an effective way to protect tenants from the dangers of smoke and carbon monoxide
CO alarms should preferably be wall or ceiling mounted. This will typically be 150mm from the ceiling and between 1-3 meters away from the fuel-burning source or gas appliance.
Smoke Alarms should be fixed to the ceiling in a circulation space i.e. a hall or landing and away from areas that could trigger unnecessary “nuisance alarms”
What type of alarm should be used?
The regulations do not stipulate what kind of smoke or carbon monoxide alarm is required, just that it’s in working order.
CO alarms should conform to British Standards BS 50291 and Smoke alarms to BS 5839-6
For smoke alarms ideally, it should be a mains-wired, interconnected alarm system as this is the modern standard required in the building regulations.
Were battery powered alarms are selected, alarms with “sealed for live” batteries are the preferred option.
Requirement to ensure the alarms are in working order
The landlord is specifically required to carry out a check to ensure that smoke alarms or carbon monoxide alarms are in proper working order on the day a tenancy begins where it is a new tenancy. 
If a landlord is notified by a tenant of a defective smoke or CO alarm the amended regulations require landlords to investigate and repair or replace the item as soon as reasonably possible. 
Do alarms expire?
Landlords should take note of installation and expiry dates of alarms and replace them once the expiry date has been reached.
It is recommended that both battery and hardwired alarms be replaced after 10 years as their sensors degrade and they’re no longer dependable or effective.
How should checks be performed during the tenancy?
Typically, the tenant will be responsible for checking the alarm during the duration of the tenancy. Landlords are advised to provide them with the instructions or demonstrate how to perform these checks to ensure they are done correctly.
If tenants find that their alarms are not in working order during the tenancy, they are advised to arrange for the replacement of the batteries.
If the alarm still does not work after replacing the batteries, or if tenants are unable to replace the batteries themselves, they should report this to the relevant landlord.
Who must comply with these requirements?
The requirements are imposed on the immediate landlord of the tenant. 
Which premises are affected?
These duties apply to almost all residential premises in the private rented sector. It also includes tenancies where the building is in mixed-use such as a flat above a shop.
Which premises/tenancies are exempted from these regulations?
There are various excluded tenancies found in the Act such as:
Shared accommodation with the landlord or a member of the landlord's family.
A tenancy which is let on a long lease (more than 7 years)
Student halls of residence
Hostels and refuges
Care homes and other accommodation relating to health care provision
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Gas Pipe Size Required

15/7/2015

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Replacing an old boiler with new often means replacing the gas pipework too because it might be undersized from the previous installation or you might want to fit a new 30kw boiler when the old one was only rated 24kw. The bigger the boiler the more gas flow it requires to work.

So at a glance and without making complicated calculations, what size copper gas pipe do you need for your new boiler?

Here's a rough guide to help you gauge it at a glace. 
Important; the table below is only good for when you have a single natural gas appliance. 
If your supply is LPG or you have an additional gas appliance e.g cooker, hob or fire the calculation needs to take that into account too and will vastly differ from those below. Always get your Gas Safe heating engineer to work it out accurately before installation. 

Note that the overall length is calculated by taking the actual distance in meters of pipe from the gas meter to the boiler and then adding 0.3 meters for every time the pipe changes direction (bend in the pipe) and 0.5 meters every time it changes direction with a elbow fitting. For example; if you have a 10 meter pipe and it has 5 bends and 5 elbows then you have to add on 1,5 meters for the bends and 2.5 meters for the elbows. So your final length would be 14 meters total. 
If you can, it is always better to use a bigger size pipe than what is required.


Boiler Rating

41 Kilowatt boiler requires

36 Kw

31 Kw


26 Kw

24 Kw


20 Kw

18 Kw

16 Kw

14 Kw

12 Kw


Overall Length Max

up to & including 12 meters

≤ 15 m 

≤ 20 m
≤ 3 m

≤ 25 m

≤ 30 m
≤ 4.5 m

≤ 6 m

≤ 7.5 m

≤ 9 m

≤ 12 m

≤ 15 m

Copper Pipe Size

of 22 mm pipe

22 mm

22 mm
15 mm

22 mm

22 mm
15 mm

15 mm

15 mm

15 mm

15 mm

15 mm

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    Gas Safe Heating Engineer

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