Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm rules for landlords

The rules in brief

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 introduced minimum alarm duties for relevant private rented homes from 1 October 2015. Amendments effective from 1 October 2022 extended coverage to social housing and widened the carbon monoxide requirements. This guide covers England, checked October 2026; do not use it as a statement of the rules elsewhere in the UK.

Relevant landlords need at least one smoke alarm on each storey containing a room used as living accommodation. They also need a carbon monoxide alarm in every room used as living accommodation containing a fixed combustion appliance, except a gas cooker. Each prescribed alarm must work on the first day of a new tenancy. Reported faults must be investigated and, where confirmed, repaired or the alarm replaced.

The 2022 change matters when auditing an older property file. A checklist that only asks about coal fires and wood burning stoves is no longer enough: gas and oil boilers can also trigger the carbon monoxide duty. Social landlords should not rely on the former exemption for registered providers.

These are minimum requirements, not a complete fire safety design. Building requirements, HMO licensing and a fire risk assessment may call for more protection. Ask the council, a qualified fire safety assessor or a solicitor about uncertain cases rather than treating a basic alarm count as proof of full compliance.

Smoke alarms: where and what type

Work through the building storey by storey, including converted lofts and basements. A floor containing a bedroom, kitchen or living room needs smoke detection under the minimum rule. Bathrooms and lavatories are treated as living accommodation for this purpose. Do not omit a lower floor simply because nobody sleeps there.

The regulations do not prescribe mains powered or battery powered units. GOV.UK recommends selecting suitable alarms with reference to BS 5839-6 and favours sealed for life batteries over replaceable batteries where battery units are chosen. Mains powered systems still need appropriate installation and maintenance; no alarm should be described as immune to tampering or failure.

Follow the manufacturer's siting instructions. Government guidance generally places smoke alarms on the ceiling in circulation spaces such as halls and landings. A minimum of one per storey does not establish that sound will reach every bedroom, particularly behind closed doors. Ask an assessor about additional coverage and interlinking where the layout is complex.

Heat detection can help in kitchens where cooking fumes would cause nuisance smoke alarms, but a heat detector is not a substitute for the required smoke alarm. Consider tenants who are deaf or hard of hearing: vibrating or flashing alert equipment may be needed. Discuss individual needs and suitable equipment rather than assuming a standard audible unit protects everyone.

Carbon monoxide alarms

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas associated with incomplete combustion. The room based duty now covers fixed combustion appliances including gas boilers, oil boilers, coal fires and wood burning stoves. Gas cookers are excluded from this particular requirement. Electric heaters and induction hobs do not burn fuel and are not combustion appliances.

Map every appliance to its room, rather than fitting a single alarm somewhere convenient in the property. If a living room has a stove and a kitchen has a gas boiler, assess both rooms. A detector on the landing is not a substitute for the required detector in an appliance room.

Cupboards and unusual layouts need care. Do not assume that concealing a boiler in a cupboard removes the duty, or that an alarm inside a closed cupboard will protect the surrounding room. Establish how the appliance and room arrangement falls within the rules and follow the alarm manufacturer's instructions. Seek qualified advice where the position is unclear.

GOV.UK recommends suitable carbon monoxide alarms with reference to BS 50291. Follow the unit's installation instructions rather than copying smoke alarm positions or inventing a universal mounting height. Keep vents unobstructed and record the replacement date. An alarm is a backup, not a substitute for appliance maintenance or the separate annual gas safety check where required.

Testing at the start of a tenancy

The landlord is responsible for checking that each prescribed alarm works on the day a new tenancy begins. Arrange this as a dated handover task, even when a contractor fitted and tested the alarms earlier. An agent can carry out the check, but the management agreement should identify who attends and where the evidence is stored.

The guidance distinguishes a new tenancy from a renewal with the same landlord and tenant for the same premises. Do not use that distinction to avoid routine maintenance. Where occupants or contractual arrangements change and the position is unclear, take advice and arrange a fresh check as a sensible precaution.

Use the manufacturer's testing method and identify each unit separately. Record the property, room, alarm type, test date, result and tester. Note the model, power source and expiry or replacement date where available. Photographs support the record but do not by themselves prove that a sounder operated.

Invite the tenant to witness the demonstration and sign the inventory or check sheet, as government guidance suggests. Keep the record even if the tenant does not sign. Provide instructions on testing frequency, recognising fault signals and reporting problems, including an alternative contact when the managing agent is closed. Retain the manuals so a future manager can check the correct procedure.

Faulty alarms: repair and replacement

Once informed of a suspected fault, arrange to establish whether the alarm is faulty and repair or replace it as soon as reasonably practicable. The regulations do not provide a routine number of days for every repair. A council's remedial notice period is not permission to leave a known fault unresolved until enforcement begins.

Log when the report arrived, what the tenant described, the action arranged and the completion evidence. Distinguish a low battery warning from an end of life signal or a genuine activation using the instructions. Do not dismiss a sounding carbon monoxide alarm as a battery issue without establishing what its signal means.

Government guidance advises tenants to replace replaceable batteries where they can. If the alarm still fails, or they cannot change the battery, they should tell the landlord. A sealed battery unit is not designed to be opened. Never make a tenant's ability to reach or dismantle a device a condition of arranging help.

Check replacement dates rather than assuming every model lasts ten years. Tenants should not remove, cover or disable alarms to stop nuisance alerts; investigate the cause and suitability of the equipment. Agree access at a reasonable time and retain appointment offers, replies and contractor reports if entry is refused. Access difficulties require documented follow up, not forced entry or a closed repair ticket.

Enforcement and penalties

Local housing authorities enforce the minimum alarm requirements. Where they have reasonable grounds to believe a relevant landlord has breached a duty, they must serve a remedial notice. It identifies the premises, the suspected failure and the action required. Read the service date and instructions immediately rather than waiting for the next inspection.

The notice requires action within 28 days beginning with the day it is served. Landlords can make written representations within that period. Government guidance explains that representations suspend the notice pending the council's consideration. Obtain advice on the applicable timetable and keep written confirmation of the outcome; do not assume that a telephone complaint counts as representations.

If the landlord fails to comply, the council can arrange remedial work with the occupier's consent and impose a financial penalty of up to 5,000 pounds. The maximum is not an automatic charge for every missing detector. The penalty process includes notice, review and an appeal route to the First tier Tribunal.

A landlord may need to demonstrate all reasonable steps taken to comply, particularly where access was refused. Evidence of repeated appointments, written requests and alternative arrangements is more useful than a bare statement that the tenant would not cooperate. Seek a solicitor's advice promptly on notices, reviews or appeals. Licensed HMO breaches involve a different licensing framework and should not be assessed only against this penalty figure.

HMOs and larger buildings

Government guidance distinguishes unlicensed and licensed HMOs. The alarm regulations apply to unlicensed HMOs. Licensed HMOs are exempt from Parts 1 to 5 because similar requirements are imposed through HMO licensing obligations under the Housing Act 2004. That exemption is not permission to operate a licensed shared house without alarms.

Read the actual licence and its conditions alongside the fire risk assessment and council standards. Depending on the property, the required system may include interlinked detectors, heat detection in kitchens and equipment in bedrooms or other risk rooms. System grade, coverage and power supply should come from a competent assessment, not a generic shopping list.

Keep the commissioning information, servicing records and inspection reports appropriate to the installed system. A tenant pressing a domestic test button does not replace professional maintenance where the system requires it. Allocate responsibility for shared area tests and defect reporting, especially where several agents or contractors are involved.

For flats, coordinate the alarms within the dwelling with the building's wider fire precautions. The Fire Safety Order applies to common parts, and the building may have a stay put strategy or another evacuation arrangement. Do not install or alter communal detection simply by extending a domestic solution. Consult the building's responsible person and a qualified assessor before changes that might conflict with its fire strategy.

Who is exempt

The GOV.UK booklet lists exclusions including certain accommodation shared with a resident landlord or their family, long leases, student halls of residence, hotels, refuges, care homes, hospitals, hospices and some healthcare accommodation. Low cost ownership homes are also excluded. The precise arrangement matters more than the label used in a letting advert.

For a resident landlord arrangement, government guidance describes sharing an amenity such as a kitchen or living room. Merely living elsewhere in the same building is not a safe basis for assuming exemption. Similarly, a privately rented student house should not be treated as exempt just because a hall of residence is excluded.

Social rented homes are not generally excluded: the 2022 amendment brought registered providers within scope. Check older policies, agent templates and acquisition documents for outdated statements saying social landlords are outside these regulations. Record the basis for any claimed exclusion and get council or legal advice if the tenancy does not fit clearly.

An exclusion from this particular regime does not establish that no other fire, housing or appliance safety obligations apply. Alarms remain a sensible precaution, and insurers or other regulatory arrangements may require protection. Review the position when a property changes use, occupation or management, rather than copying an exemption indefinitely from an old file.

A practical checklist

Use a room by room alarm schedule at onboarding, before a new tenancy and during planned inspections. Record the property layout and appliance locations before ordering equipment. This avoids buying several detectors without knowing whether the right rooms and storeys are covered.

Keep installation, handover and repair evidence together in the property file. For a portfolio, assign a named person to track approaching replacement dates and unresolved reports. Ask contractors for specific completion details rather than an invoice that only says alarms checked.

Review the schedule after a boiler installation, loft conversion, change in occupancy or HMO licence variation. An alarm plan that was suitable before building work may no longer match the layout. Where a checklist identifies uncertainty about coverage or access, escalate it to the manager rather than marking the property compliant.

• Confirm every relevant storey has smoke detection and every qualifying appliance room has carbon monoxide detection.
• Check model suitability, placement, power supply and replacement dates against instructions.
• Read HMO licence conditions and arrange specialist assessment where needed.
• Test each prescribed alarm on the first day of a new tenancy and retain the results.
• Give tenants testing instructions, fault reporting contacts and help with inaccessible equipment.
• Log defects, access attempts, repairs and follow up checks until each issue is resolved.