Communal fire alarm installation in London
Communal fire alarm installation in London for houses converted into flats and small blocks: a system in the shared hallway and stairs, linked to a heat detector inside each flat.
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Direct answer: a communal fire alarm warns everyone in a building of flats about a fire in the parts they share. In a house converted into flats below the Building Regulations 1991 standard, the LACORS guidance most councils use asks for a mixed system: detection in the hallway and stairs, an interlinked heat detector in each flat’s entrance, and a separate smoke alarm in each flat that is not linked to anything else.
Converted houses and small blocks
Most of the communal systems we are asked about are not in tower blocks. They are in Victorian and Edwardian houses split into three, four or six flats, with one front door, one staircase and nobody quite sure who looks after the hallway.
Where the conversion did not meet the building standards of its day and fewer than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied, the building is an HMO under section 257 of the Housing Act 2004, and the council can ask for the fire safety work.
The grade depends on the height. For two storeys the guidance sets grade D in the common parts. From three storeys up it sets grade A: a control panel, detectors, a call point by the front door and, in taller buildings, one on each landing.
What the installation includes
- The panel by the main entrance, where the fire service and the people managing the building can read it.
- Detection in the hallway, stairs and landings, to the grade and coverage your assessment or the council sets.
- A heat detector inside each flat entrance, linked to the communal system, so a fire in a flat warns the whole building.
- Sounders loud enough to wake people, at least 65 dB(A) in the common parts and 75 dB(A) at the bed-head with the doors shut, for grade A.
- The paperwork: zone chart, log book and certificates, handed over at the end.
Working in a building where people live
The communal wiring runs through the hallway and stairs, but the heat detectors go inside every flat. Getting into each flat is usually what decides how long the job takes, so access is agreed with the freeholder, the RMC or the agent before work starts.
Residents keep living in the building throughout. At handover, whoever looks after the building is shown how to read the panel, silence and reset it, and record the weekly test.
After it is installed
A grade A system needs a call point or detector tested every week and a service by a competent engineer every six months, with a certificate each time. That is our fire alarm maintenance. Grade D alarms are tested monthly with their test buttons.
For purpose-built blocks, and the question of whether a communal alarm is needed at all, see fire alarms for blocks of flats.
How it runs
Send what you have
The fire risk assessment or the council’s schedule of works, the number of flats and floors.
A free survey
We walk the hallway, stairs and a sample of flat entrances, and check the cable routes.
A written quote
The price in writing before any work starts.
Installation and handover
Commissioned, tested and certificated, with the log book filled in.
Communal fire alarms: your questions
Does a house converted into flats need a communal fire alarm?
If the conversion does not meet the Building Regulations 1991 standard, councils working from the LACORS guidance usually expect one: a system in the shared hallway and stairs, linked to a heat detector inside the entrance of each flat. A conversion that was built to that standard and still meets it normally needs nothing extra. Your fire risk assessment, or the council’s schedule of works, is what settles it for your building.
Why is the smoke alarm in each flat not linked to the communal system?
Because burnt toast in one flat should not send every household into the street. The guidance links a heat detector in each flat’s entrance to the communal system, and leaves the smoke alarm that wakes the people in that flat on its own.
Who pays for it and who is responsible?
The person in control of the common parts, usually the freeholder or the residents management company, is the Responsible Person for them. The cost normally goes through the service charge, so in a leasehold building check the consultation rules with your managing agent or adviser before the work is ordered.
Free survey · No obligation
Need a communal alarm in your building?
Send us the assessment or the council’s schedule and tell us how many flats. We survey free and quote in writing. We call every enquiry back within 7 to 24 hours.
- Each service done to its British Standard
- Written quote before any work starts
- Called back within 7 to 24 hours