A Guide to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 came into force in the UK on 1^st October 2015 with very little publicity. The regulations introduce new safety standards in all privately rented properties when it comes to preventing death by carbon monoxide poisoning from solid fuel appliances as well as preventing fires breaking out. As part of Co Awareness week, expert Lawyer Gavin Evans of Simpson Millar Solicitors provides an outline of the dangers of Carbon Monoxide poisoning and emphasises why recent regulatory changes have been essential and why further change is still needed.

What has changed?

As of 1^st October 2015, Landlords are now legally obliged to fit a CO alarm in every room where there is a solid fuel appliance and a smoke alarm on every storey of the rented property. Even though the regulations only cover solid fuel appliances, the government strongly recommends in accompanying guidance notes that it is good practice for a landlord to fit a CO alarm in every room as well where there is a gas appliance so that will include rooms where there is a boiler / gas cooker / hob / gas fire.

Why have these new regulations been introduced?

Carbon Monoxide is known as the ‘silent killer’ because it’s almost impossible to detect its presence without some kind of an alarm. Carbon Monoxide cases are frequently in the news. Amongst others, over the course of the year, it has been reported that:

• Every year in the UK, the NHS claims over 200 people go to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, which leads to around 40 deaths. In addition there are thought to be many missed cases where a diagnosis is not made as people have not been aware there symptoms have been caused by CO.
• Over the past year, it has been reported that 1 in 10 Scottish adults suffer carbon monoxide poisoning in their home, according to research conducted with 2000 UK homeowners.
• After a US study, it was reported that people who live within six miles [of an airport] have higher levels of asthma and heart problems, which has suggested exposure to carbon monoxide from planes may impact on health.
• The potential for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in homes using solid and multi-fuel stoves is being highlighted by OFTEC, after what it describes as “an increasing number of incidents across Northern Ireland this year.
• Following a rise in the sale of stoves in recent years, the association said that many people do not realise the connection between CO and fossil fuels. The skipper of a fishing boat featured in the BBC television series Trawlermen was fined £20,000 after entering a guilty plea in the on board death of one of his crew. The crewman died having never regained consciousness, and the cause of death was recorded as carbon monoxide poisoning.
• A pensioner couple were found dead in their bed and police have been investigating whether the pair died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, with neighbours claiming the odourless gas may have leaked from their heating system.
• A young mother died during her first night in her new home after being overcome by carbon monoxide from a faulty fireplace. Kimberley Jones, 25, suffocated while sleeping on a makeshift bed in the living room of the property in Cwmbach while decorating.

According to Stephanie Trotter OBE, the President and Director of CO-Gas Safety, a large number of people have “very limited knowledge about the dangers of CO exposure and how to prevent it. CO cannot be detected using human senses. Sadly most people are also unaware of just how quickly CO can kill – less than 2% of CO in the air can kill in between one and three minutes.”

What do the new regulations mean in practice?

Government guidelines cite that:

• The CO alarm be positioned at head height approximately 1 – 3 metres away from the fuel source.
• Batteries are fitted and working. Landlords are responsible for checking from the first day of the tenancy but the tenant is responsible thereafter. Batteries should be checked monthly. If they are not working, the landlord is responsible for supplying replacement batteries.
• If there are gas appliances in the property, the landlord is obliged to have them serviced and inspected annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer. It is also their responsibility to supply tenants with a copy of the certificate.
• The landlord has a duty to service all gas appliances and to have any chimneys swept annually. When fuels burn, carbon monoxide is a by-product of the combustion and is released into the chimney. The purpose of the chimney is to remove these deadly fumes from the living area. If there is a blockage, the room will not be adequately ventilated and the carbon monoxide will not be able to escape out of the chimney. The Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps recommends that all chimneys servicing gas appliances need to be cleaned annually.

Gavin Evans commented: “The new regulations unfortunately do not go far enough as far as carbon monoxide is concerned. They only apply to private landlords and only apply to solid fuel appliances. Solid fuel appliances only account for 8.6% of the problem – that leaves gas appliances unregulated (although the regulations do recommend that landlords fit CO alarms where gas appliances are installed too, this is not mandatory under the new regulations). Only 1.2% of all deaths in private rented properties in the UK have originated from solid fuel appliances. Much more needs to be done by both the UK government and the EC, but this appears unlikely given that there is very little pressure being put on the UK government and the EC to do anything about it.”

What happens if landlords don’t comply with the new legislation?

A breach could see a fine of up to £5,000 per property handed to non-compliant landlords. It will be up to the local housing authority to police compliance with the legislation and they can also hand out remedial notices to landlords who haven’t made the change.

Gavin Evans concluded: “It is a ‘Catch-22’ situation: because CO poisoning is very hard to identify and diagnose, there are very few reliable statistics on the levels of CO-related poisoning and CO-related deaths. This lack of data is then used by the government to justify not making any further changes to the law. The charity CO-Gas Safety has however accumulated its own comprehensive data over the last 19 years which demonstrates that there have been 677 deaths from CO poisoning and over 4,700 ‘near-misses’ or injuries from CO poisoning in that time. Many such cases are never diagnosed or recognised, however, so the real problem is much more serious.”