HMO fire safety guidance - Harlow Council

more than two storeys, for which in most situations
cupboards can be adequately managed so as not to
present an additional risk and can be accepted.
15.5 Gas or electric meters and/or distribution boards
should ideally not be sited in escape routes. However,
it should be possible to relax this providing any gas
meter is installed in accordance with the gas safety
regulations and any electric meter is installed and
sited in accordance with current IEE regulations. It is
considered best practice to enclose such equipment in
fire-resisting construction.
15.6 There is usually no requirement to provide protection
to bathrooms and shower rooms which open onto
protected routes. Properly installed and maintained
central heating boilers, electric showers or water
heaters and room-sealed gas water heaters pose little
additional risk. However, if the room contains open
flame or electric bar space heaters, storage cupboards
or other risk items then either the storage cupboards
or the room itself, as appropriate, should be protected
to the appropriate standard in the same way as the
remainder of the route.
16. Exit doors
16.1 Ideally, final exit doors from all premises should be
fitted with locks/catches which are openable by
the occupiers from the inside without the use of a
removable key. This should always be the case in
HMOs, including shared houses. Where security locks
are fitted they should be of the type with a suitable
internal thumb-turn to facilitate this. To safeguard
security any glazed panels within the door or adjacent
to it should replaced with protected glazing of some
kind or protected in another way from intruders.
16.2 It is strongly recommended that the exit door from
each unit of accommodation (bedsit or flat) is also
openable from the inside without the use of a
removable key.
16.3 Electrically operated locks must fail to safety (open) or
have a manual over-ride in the event of power failure.
17. Secondary means of escape
17.1 In certain larger buildings and those with certain higher
risk characteristics, a secondary means of escape will be
required (for example in a six-storey bedsit-type HMO or
a five-storey bedsit-type HMO which does not have fire
protecting lobbies to the risk rooms).
17.2 For the purposes of this guidance the term ‘secondary
means of escape’ refers to a second, alternative means
of escape from the building other than the usual escape
route usually used to enter or exit the premises.
17.3 Typically a secondary means of escape will comprise
an external staircase down the rear or side of
the building. In some situations this may prove
impracticable, and as an alternative a secondary
means of escape could be achieved by creating a
door through a separating wall or across a roof
walkway into the common parts of another building
which itself has a protected route leading to a place
of safety. Such arrangements are undesirable and
should be ‘designed out’ wherever possible. If no
other arrangement is possible then this is usually
only acceptable when the two adjoining buildings
are under the same ownership/management or
where the arrangement is reciprocal and a strictly
enforced, legally binding agreement is in place. In
an ideal situation, access to the secondary escape
would be possible from every floor. However, this is
usually impracticable, and access solely from the top
floor will be acceptable provided the other fire safety
precautions recommended in this guide are in place.
In five and six-storey buildings, to protect the upward
escape route at fourth and fifth floor levels from any
fire on the floors below, there should be 30 minutes
fire separation across the staircase between the fourth
and fifth floors.
17.4 To be acceptable a secondary means of escape should
meet the following requirements:
• have access from the common parts of the building,
not solely from rooms, bathrooms or WCs (where
this is impracticable, special arrangements may be
made with the agreement of the LHA);
• terminate at ground floor level at a place of ultimate
safety;
• the entire length of the secondary means of escape
to be passable without the use of a key or other tool;
• access preferably by a standard door, but where
impracticable via an opening of at least 800mm x
540mm;
• fixed walkways will be required across any roofs and the
roof area beneath should be 60 minutes fire resisting;
• walkways and staircases should have conventional
and emergency lighting throughout the route to the
standards outlined in paragraphs 23 and 24.
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housing – fire safety