Fire safety guidance

Fire safety within the home is an extremely important issue, covered by both the Housing Act 2004 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Domestic property owners have a duty to carry out a fire risk assessment on their property regardless of whether it is a single letting, shared house or a House in Multiple Occupation, and make sure it has adequate and appropriate fire safety measures in place.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 requires private landlords to ensure their rental properties have working smoke and/or carbon monoxide alarms installed.

Failure to comply with this legislation may lead to landlords being issued with a fixed penalty fine of up to £5,000.  For further information on how this legislation will be applied and how the level of fine will be determined, please read our Statement of Principles (PDF, 174KB) 

Available guidance

LACORS, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and the Chief Fire Officers Association have produced extensive Guidance on fire safety in housing (PDF, 1.58MB) and an Update to the fire safety guidance (PDF, 341KB).

The Council and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service each have responsibilities for enforcing fire safety, with the Council in the main having the lead responsibility in residential properties. These responsibilities and working arrangements are set out in Fire Safety Protocol for Cheshire (PDF, 1.03MB).

The Cheshire Homestamp Guide (PDF, 4.98MB) is a guide to fire safety in Houses Multiple Occupation and has been endorsed by the local authorities in Cheshire together with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. Acknowledgement goes to the Homestamp Consortium in the West Midlands for the production of the Guide.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service's website contains a range of useful information about making the home safe from fire, and how to carry out a fire safety risk assessment.

The 5 step Fire Door Checklist produced by the British Woodworking Federation provides essential information for checking whether a fire door in your property is safe.

Contact us if you need further information about fire safety in rented properties.

Page last reviewed: 15 December 2020