Smoke alarms, mains wired, who replaces internal back-up battery, landlord or tenant?

[DiamondEcho]

We rent a place where the mains-wired smoke-alarm system has been playing up. The landlord has suggested we have to replace the rechargable back-up batteries in the detector heads. She has e-mailed us a photo to what the battery compartment on the back of the heads look like.

Based on what the landlord says this would require us to do the following:
(I've done this step by step walk-through in case I need to come back to it later):

Identifying the circuit-breaker for the alarms on the main consumer unit and switching it off.
Accessing and detaching the detector heads from the ceilings.
Detaching what appears to be 3 or 6 pin cabled connectors to the mains supply.
Unscrewing a back-plate on the detector heads, identifying and replacing the batteries.
Testing the detector heads function from the new battery back-up.
Reconnecting the 3 or 6 pin powered connectors.
Re-attaching the detector heads into their fittings.
Switching the circuit back on at the consumer unit.

I have to say that this is at the far edge of my comfort zone; I do not like dealing with mains power and it's cabling, even in property that I own. In this case we are renting and I'm wondering whether we genuinely have a responsibility (liability? obligation?) to be carrying our such work. To be clear, if they were simple standalone stick-on battery powered smoke/CO alarms then yes replacing the batteries would be simple; but this here is a mains-wired system and the back-up batteries seem a more intrinsic part of the equipment.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this; might the landlord be trying to make us do work for which they are responsible?


I'm noting down some pages I was reading earlier, again in case I have to come back to them:
'Guidance - Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022: guidance for landlords and tenants'
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... -landlords
Note: These regs are an updated version of the earlier 2015 regs. It appears this linked^ version only comes into force on 1/Oct/22.

A more informal look at the previous 2015 regs includes: https://www.thetenantsvoice.co.uk/your_ ... ions-2015/

[pje16]

as you uncomfortable owing to danger of mains power (not all unreasonable)
poliyely explain that to your landord and get them to pay for an electrician to do the job

[mc2fool]

What does your lease say (if anything) on such maintenance?

[bungeejumper]

As a landlord, the less our flat tenants mess with the electricity supply, the happier I am. We've had people adding power points, sometimes by daisy-chaining four or five sockets off one ring main socket, and one who fitted an antique metal lamp right over the washbasin in her bathroom. (Not even an earth. Eeek!)

It's absurd to expect a tenant to get up close and physical with mains electricity as part of their obligations. Present company excepted, there will be some who couldn't be trusted to be safe, even if they were willing.

Is it an apartment in a larger premises? Having done the rounds with mains-wired fire alarms, it also occurs to me that your fittings might not necessarily be run off your own part of the ring main - some systems have their own separate circuits running round the property - so even if you turned off the power at your own fuse box, that might not necessarily stop the juice to the alarm. (Then again, it might, but it's unreasonable to expect you to guess how it's wired.)

Be polite, but put the ball firmly in the landlord's court. Is the tenancy being administered by a letting agent? They're usually pretty clued up about these things.

BJ

[Lootman]

As a landlord, the less our flat tenants mess with the electricity supply, the happier I am. We've had people adding power points, sometimes by daisy-chaining four or five sockets off one ring main socket, and one who fitted an antique metal lamp right over the washbasin in her bathroom. (Not even an earth. Eeek!)

It's absurd to expect a tenant to get up close and physical with mains electricity as part of their obligations. Present company excepted, there will be some who couldn't be trusted to be safe, even if they were willing.

Is it an apartment in a larger premises? Having done the rounds with mains-wired fire alarms, it also occurs to me that your fittings might not necessarily be run off your own part of the ring main - some systems have their own separate circuits running round the property - so even if you turned off the power at your own fuse box, that might not necessarily stop the juice to the alarm. (Then again, it might, but it's unreasonable to expect you to guess how it's wired.)

Be polite, but put the ball firmly in the landlord's court. Is the tenancy being administered by a letting agent? They're usually pretty clued up about these things.

Seconded. As a former landlord I would rarely allow tenants to do work on their unit. And particularly with anything to do with fire prevention where there is a potential liability. In fact I always liked the opportunity to do an annual visit and inspection, the main pretext of which was to check that the smoke and CO detectors were working, and that the fire extinguishers were in place. It was an opportunity to see what was going on inside the property.

Smoke detectors are often designed to work even if the mains electricity is cut off (which obviously could be the case in a fire). They have battery backups and some have a capacitor or similar to hold charge as well.

[Cornytiv34]

Apart from the batteries having a set life marked upon them there are also on our alarms a date for replacement of the whole unit.

I am sure that if you interferred with such units (especially as they have been giving trouble) that you would not be the qualified electrician that no doubt is required to carry out such work on behalf of the landlord on a rented property. You might even be liable if the house later burns down as a result of your efforts. Would the landlord want you doing it yourself on a gas appliance?

A definite No! No!

Mike

[BullDog]

I really cannot see how a tenant can be responsible for routine maintenance of a piece of hardwired building infrastructure (hardwired smoke alarm). Surely a tenant is only responsible for maintaining stuff that plugs in like light bulbs? If the immersion heater or oven element failed, would the landlord expect the tenant to change those as well? Exactly the same scenario.

I think this landlord is simply taking the pi55 out of the tenant.

[richlist]

I agree with all the previous posts. Is the landlord new to landlording, are they inexperienced, are they doing it themselves without an Agent and are they located some distance from the rental property.......or perhaps all four ?

[Mike4]

Two points jump out at me.

1) Your landlady has enough attention to detail to be pro-actively tracking when the batteries time-expire, not just the alarm. This is good, I'd suggest!

2) You say rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries last a VERY long time and don't think I've ever see one with an expiry date marked on it. I'm wondering if he or she has confused expiry of the sensing head itself, which I would imaging time-expires. All kite marked battery-powered alarms time-expire. Might be worth a close look at a head to see the expiry date on the head.

But I agree with the others. As tenant you should not be expected to mess with mains installations. Perhaps invite them to do it themselves on the next quarterly inspection, assuming they are not chirruping once a minute and driving you demented.

[modellingman]

I'm assuming that you are a tenant in England. The rules may be different in other parts of the UK.

...might the landlord be trying to make us do work for which they are responsible?


I'm noting down some pages I was reading earlier, again in case I have to come back to them:
'Guidance - Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022: guidance for landlords and tenants'
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... -landlords
Note: These regs are an updated version of the earlier 2015 regs. It appears this linked^ version only comes into force on 1/Oct/22.

A more informal look at the previous 2015 regs includes: https://www.thetenantsvoice.co.uk/your_ ... ions-2015/

In terms of your first link, the HTML report it shows is a webpage where the first two links are the current (2015 regulations) and the updated (2022 regulations) which, as you note, come into force on 1 October 2022. The current regulations only impose an obligation on the landlord to ensure that alarms (smoke and/or CO) are fitted as prescribed and that they are "in proper working order" at the start of the tenancy. The updated regulations add a further requirement on landlords that "where, following a report by a tenant ... [an] alarm is is found not to be in proper working order, the alarm is repaired or replaced" and that determination of whether an alarm is in proper working order or not and any repair/replacement should be undertaken by the landlord as soon as reasonably practicable after the tenant's report.

The regulations themselves are silent on the matter of battery replacement but your first link (which in its own words is not a statement of the law but a general guide to the updated regulations) states the following:

Does replacing a battery count as a repair? Who is responsible for changing the batteries?

Landlords will be responsible for repairing or replacing any faulty alarms.

If tenants find that their alarms are not in working order during the tenancy, they are advised to arrange for the replacement of the batteries.

If the alarm still does not work after replacing the batteries, or if tenants are unable to replace the batteries themselves, they should report this to the relevant landlord.

I suspect that, legally, it will come down to whether the manufacturer of the alarm unit specifies that battery replacement is something that can be undertaken by the householder or is something that needs to be carried out by a trained or competent person. Units vary and there are some where batteries are replaceable "on demand", some at specified intervals (such as 3 or 5 years) and some where the battery is "sealed for life".

Based on what the landlord says this would require us to do the following:
(I've done this step by step walk-through in case I need to come back to it later):

Identifying the circuit-breaker for the alarms on the main consumer unit and switching it off.
Accessing and detaching the detector heads from the ceilings.
Detaching what appears to be 3 or 6 pin cabled connectors to the mains supply.
Unscrewing a back-plate on the detector heads, identifying and replacing the batteries.
Testing the detector heads function from the new battery back-up.
Reconnecting the 3 or 6 pin powered connectors.
Re-attaching the detector heads into their fittings.
Switching the circuit back on at the consumer unit.

If battery replacement is specified by the manufacturer as being something that can be undertaken by the householder then detailed steps to be followed will also be specified by the manufacturer in the user instructions supplied when the unit was originally purchased. (User instructions - the requirement for which is one of those <tongue-in-cheek>burdensome</tongue-in-cheek> EU regulations that Ms Truss has promised to abolish). So as well as checking your tenancy agreement (which may well specify that it is your responsibility to replace light bulbs, consumable batteries, etc), you should ask your landlord for a copy of the manufacturer's user instructions for the unit which set out the procedure for battery replacement.

Whilst I fully agree that expecting anyone other than a qualified electrician to undertake work on the fixed mains wiring is a big no, that is not necessarily what is being asked for here. It may well be that the head unit has been designed by the manufacturer to have its batteries replaced by the householder. If this is the case then it is no different to expecting the tenant to replace a failed light bulb, though the need to isolate at the consumer unit is quite an alarm bell (since how, without specialist equipment, can it actually be confirmed that the supply is isolated at the unit?). So in the OP's shoes I would definitely want to see the manufacturer's user instructions for confirmation that it is designed for battery replacement by the householder and those same instructions for how it should be done.

Note that the change in regulations this October won't change the current legal position with respect to battery replacement in smoke alarms.

[XFool]

If tenants find that their alarms are not in working order during the tenancy, they are advised to arrange for the replacement of the batteries.

If the alarm still does not work after replacing the batteries, or if tenants are unable to replace the batteries themselves, they should report this to the relevant landlord.

It occurs to me that "replacement of the batteries" might be ambiguous. Replacing dry batteries in a battery powered device is one thing. But replacing standby rechargeable batteries in a mains powered device possibly another thing.

[modellingman]

If tenants find that their alarms are not in working order during the tenancy, they are advised to arrange for the replacement of the batteries.

If the alarm still does not work after replacing the batteries, or if tenants are unable to replace the batteries themselves, they should report this to the relevant landlord.

It occurs to me that "replacement of the batteries" might be ambiguous. Replacing dry batteries in a battery powered device is one thing. But replacing standby rechargeable batteries in a mains powered device possibly another thing.

I agree and it is the manufacturer of the device who specifies for each specific item of equipment whether the battery replacement activity is something that can be undertaken by a normal user (householder, tenant, etc) or whether more specialist expertise is required. Hence the importance of the user instructions for the device in question, which will also specify the type of batteries that should be used.

[Mike4]

If tenants find that their alarms are not in working order during the tenancy, they are advised to arrange for the replacement of the batteries.

If the alarm still does not work after replacing the batteries, or if tenants are unable to replace the batteries themselves, they should report this to the relevant landlord.

It occurs to me that "replacement of the batteries" might be ambiguous. Replacing dry batteries in a battery powered device is one thing. But replacing standby rechargeable batteries in a mains powered device possibly another thing.

Indeed, and a point I tried to make in my post earlier in the thread.

But the main reason for posting again is to point out that the manual may well have something to say on who should change the rechargeable batteries. Manuals often say "This work should (or must) be carried out by a qualified electrician" or words to that effect.

So I think the answer might be found by reading the manual for this particular alarm, and what it actually says about qualifications to work on it.

[modellingman]

If tenants find that their alarms are not in working order during the tenancy, they are advised to arrange for the replacement of the batteries.

If the alarm still does not work after replacing the batteries, or if tenants are unable to replace the batteries themselves, they should report this to the relevant landlord.

It occurs to me that "replacement of the batteries" might be ambiguous. Replacing dry batteries in a battery powered device is one thing. But replacing standby rechargeable batteries in a mains powered device possibly another thing.

Indeed, and a point I tried to make in my post earlier in the thread.

But the main reason for posting again is to point out that the manual may well have something to say on who should change the rechargeable batteries. Manuals often say "This work should (or must) be carried out by a qualified electrician" or words to that effect.

So I think the answer might be found by reading the manual for this particular alarm, and what it actually says about qualifications to work on it.

I agree. I didn't spell it out when I gave my advice to the OP to ask for a copy of the user instructions, but perhaps I should have added a condition that "provided these confirm that battery replacement can be undertaken by a normal user and do not require specialist skills". The OP asked whether the landlord was trying to make him do work for which the landlord was responsible and I framed my responses in those terms.

[monabri]

We've just rented out a property...the tenant's covenants state.?



Looking back at the previous tenants contract (2018) , the requirement to change batteries falls on the tenant.

However, I personally would sort it out myself and not rely on a tenant..!

[mc2fool]

Looking back at the previous tenants contract (2018) , the requirement to change batteries falls on the tenant.

As I say very early in the thread:

What does your lease say (if anything) on such maintenance?

All other pontifications are irrelevant if the lease specifies who is responsible for what in regards to smoke alarms. (Provided all such clauses in the lease are within the law, of course.)

[BullDog]

We've just rented out a property...the tenant's covenants state.?



Looking back at the previous tenants contract (2018) , the requirement to change batteries falls on the tenant.

However, I personally would sort it out myself and not rely on a tenant..!

I suspect the intention, though it's not written that way, is that battery operated sensors are quite rightly the tenant's responsibility. But hardwired detectors? That's a real stretch. But it says what it says, I suppose.

[Mike4]

Looking back at the previous tenants contract (2018) , the requirement to change batteries falls on the tenant.

As I say very early in the thread:

What does your lease say (if anything) on such maintenance?

All other pontifications are irrelevant if the lease specifies who is responsible for what in regards to smoke alarms. (Provided all such clauses in the lease are within the law, of course.)

Disagree!

I reckon the manufacturer’s instruction manual trumps anything the AST says.

[mc2fool]

Looking back at the previous tenants contract (2018) , the requirement to change batteries falls on the tenant.

As I say very early in the thread:

What does your lease say (if anything) on such maintenance?

All other pontifications are irrelevant if the lease specifies who is responsible for what in regards to smoke alarms. (Provided all such clauses in the lease are within the law, of course.)

Disagree!

I reckon the manufacturer’s instruction manual trumps anything the AST says.

No, it doesn't. If the lease says the tenant is responsible and the manual says "This work should (or must) be carried out by a qualified electrician" then it is the responsibility of the tenant to get (and pay for) a qualified electrician to do it.

[modellingman]

Looking back at the previous tenants contract (2018) , the requirement to change batteries falls on the tenant.

As I say very early in the thread:

What does your lease say (if anything) on such maintenance?

All other pontifications are irrelevant if the lease specifies who is responsible for what in regards to smoke alarms. (Provided all such clauses in the lease are within the law, of course.)

Disagree!

I reckon the manufacturer’s instruction manual trumps anything the AST says.

I also disagree (and therefore agree with Mike4).

I think it was over a decade ago that the Office of Fair Trading brought tenancy agreements within the scope of consumer protection legislation, specifically protections from unfair contracts. As a result of this previous restrictions in tenancy agreements, eg on keeping pets are now often written as eg "no pets allowed except with the consent of the landlord, which must not be unreasonably withheld."

If a tenancy agreement attempts to impose an obligation which is patently unreasonable - such obliging a tenant to service a smoke alarm which the manufacturer states should only be serviced by a qualified electrician - then that is unreasonable and therefore unenforceable. If the argument is that the tenant should pay for the electrician rather than attempting it him/herself then that, of course, falls foul of the Tenant Fees Act.

Interestingly, the clause quoted by monabri has probably been written by the office junior in whichever office produced it. How can the activity of replacing batteries be both regularly undertaken and undertaken as necessary? It is one or the other but not both.