Fire Safety

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988

All upholstery and upholstered furnishings supplied as part of a tenancy must comply with current fire resistance standards. It is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine and/or a prison term, to let premises with furniture or soft furnishings which cannot be proven to comply with the above fire safety regulations. The regulations apply to the following which must be match resistant, cigarette resistant and carry a permanent label:

• All upholstered furniture
• Three piece suites
• Beds and divans including the upholstered bases
• Padded headboards
• Sofa-beds
• Furniture with loose or fitted covers
• Children's furniture
• Cots and other items used by a baby or small child
• Cushions
• High Chairs
• Mattresses of any size
• Pillows
• Garden Furniture which may be used indoors

Items such as carpets and curtains are not included. Any furniture manufactured prior to 1950 will be exempt, provided that they have not been re-upholstered with an illegal filling. All furnishings must carry the appropriate permanent labels to show that they comply. Any furnishings that do not comply with the regulations must be removed prior to the start of the tenancy.

Smoke Detectors

Properties built after June 1992 must have mains interlinked smoke detectors on each floor. Although older properties do not fall under these regulations, scottfraser would recommend that a let property have a least one fully operational battery operated detector on each floor as a minimum requirement.