DomesticKitchens Foodfor thought
Stockists need to be aware of several proposed regulation changes affecting fire and carbon monoxide alarm provision in domestic kitchens. Meanwhile, kitchen upgrades and re-wiring provide ideal opportunities to add heat and CO alarms, improving safety and peace of mind, as well as increasing business, as Kidde Safety Europe explains.
Standards point out, “a significant number of fire related deaths (62%), occur from fires started in living rooms and kitchens. It is therefore important that the outbreak of fire in living rooms and kitchens is detected quickly and the alarm raised as early as possible during the early stages of fire growth.” Despite this, Building Regulations Approved Document B (AD B) for England and Wales requires heat alarms only in some kitchens.
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Approved Document B Smoke and heat alarm requirements in Section 1 of Approved Document B (AD B) are based on the Code of Practice BS 5839-6:2013. It defines ‘Grades’ (the reliability of a system in terms of its power sources) and ‘Categories’ (in which areas smoke or heat alarms are required for detection). The current edition of AD B only calls for smoke alarms in escape routes – effectively Category LD3 – plus heat alarms in kitchens open to circulation areas. It also includes specific recommendations on positioning alarms.
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ore than 60% of domestic fires start in kitchens and, as the Scottish Building Regulations Technical
Now, in response to recommendations made by Dame Judith Hackitt following the Grenfell Tower fire, AD B has been redrafted “to improve usability and reduce the risk of misinterpretation”. However, the new Section 1.1 simply states that: “All new dwellings should have a fire detection and fire alarm system, minimum Grade D Category LD3 standard, in accordance with the relevant recommendations of BS 5839-6”, without any further comment or guidance.
Essential heat alarms The problem is that Category LD3 actually falls below the minimum standard in BS 5839-6, invalidating the proposed use of its recommendations alongside the new AD B. And in the government’s haste to simplify its guidelines, the new draft AD B makes no reference to heat alarms in kitchens at all, effectively further reducing minimum standards. Clearly this proposal should be resisted and stockists should encourage customers to make use of heat alarms in all kitchens while uncertainty remains with regulations.
Although some kitchen fires are started accidentally by occupants, many can go unnoticed – notably from faulty electrical
Firex plus 4MCO mains CO alarm.
appliances. This is particularly dangerous with appliances operating at night on low tariffs while occupants sleep. Without doubt, heat alarms are essential in all kitchens and utility rooms, for housing of all types, new or old. They can also be used in garages, lofts and other areas where smoke alarms may not be appropriate. And don’t forget that they must always be interlinked with smoke alarms elsewhere in the property so that all the alarms sound when one is triggered.
Scotland changes Meanwhile, new regulatory proposals from the Scottish Government should increase demand as well as improve safety. With the Scottish Government’s recently published headline proposals, the minimum safety standards currently in place for private rented properties will soon be extended to all other tenures including social housing and even existing owner-occupied homes. Private rented housing in Scotland must already meet the ‘Repairing Standard’ requirements, based on the Category LD2 level of protection and Scottish Building Regulations for new-builds and extensions. This means interconnected smoke alarms in principal living rooms and heat alarms in kitchens, in addition to smoke alarms in circulation areas on each storey.
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