Smoke alarms supplied, fitted, tested and recorded to meet the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations — from single standalone alarms to fully interlinked systems for HMOs and shared buildings.
The rules
The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 require at least one smoke alarm on every storey used as living accommodation. Since the 2022 amendment the duty covers social housing as well as private rentals, so the rule now reaches every rented home in England, whoever the landlord is.
Two details catch landlords out. First, the alarms must be shown to be working on the first day of each new tenancy — a dated, signed record at check-in is the evidence a council or deposit adjudicator will want to see. Second, once a tenant reports a fault, the landlord must put it right as soon as reasonably practicable; the repair duty cannot be passed to the tenant.
The same regulations govern carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with fixed combustion appliances — we fit and record both in one visit, usually alongside the annual gas safety check.
Beyond the minimum
In an interlinked system, one alarm detecting smoke sets off every alarm in the property — vital in HMOs and multi-storey houses where a fire in one room must wake someone asleep two floors up. Interlinking is standard in Scotland, routinely written into HMO licence conditions in England, and available wired or wireless, so retrofitting rarely means channelling cables through decorated walls.
Licensing councils normally expect mains-powered, interlinked detection matched to the building's size and layout, often alongside fire doors and protected escape routes. The right specification comes from a fire risk assessment, and our HMO service can design, install and certificate the whole package rather than leaving you to assemble it trade by trade.
Keep the evidence current. We test alarms and log the results during mid-term inspections and check-ins, so your file always shows working detection — the record that matters if a council serves a remedial notice or a claim ever reaches a deposit adjudicator. Fines for breaching the regulations can reach £5,000 per breach.
Common questions
It depends on the number of storeys, how many alarms are needed and whether they must be interlinked — a two-bed flat and a licensed HMO are very different jobs. Send the property type, number of floors and postcode and we'll reply with a fixed quote, usually the same working day.
At least one on every storey that is used as living accommodation — so a three-storey townhouse needs a minimum of three. That is the legal floor, not the ideal: hallways and landings on the escape route are the standard positions, and larger or higher-risk properties often justify more.
The landlord must make sure every alarm is working on the day each new tenancy starts — and be able to prove it. During the tenancy, tenants should test alarms regularly, but once the landlord is told an alarm is faulty it must be repaired or replaced as soon as reasonably practicable.
Not for a standard single-household rental in England, where standalone alarms on each storey satisfy the regulations. Interlinked systems are the norm in Scotland, are commonly required by HMO licensing conditions, and are what a fire risk assessment will usually specify for shared buildings — we advise on the right grade before quoting.
The English regulations do not prescribe a power type, so sealed long-life battery alarms are compliant for ordinary rentals. HMO licensing and fire risk assessments often demand mains-powered, interlinked alarms with battery back-up, and new-build homes are wired that way from the start. We fit whichever the property genuinely requires.
Tell us the property type and postcode — we'll come back with a fixed quote and the earliest available date.