Landlord compliance

Fire Safety Check (Smoke & Heat Alarm Certificate)

Smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarm testing and certification to BS 5839-6.

From £65 (inc VAT) Certificate issued same day 12-month workmanship guarantee

Book this service 07426 409342

Starting from

£65inc VAT

up to 3 alarms · testing and certification

Live smoke and heat testing, not just a button press

Expiry date of every device recorded so replacements can be budgeted

Interlinking verified across the whole property

Detector type and siting checked against BS 5839-6

Book online

Overview

What is a Fire Safety Check certificate?

The Fire Safety Check is a formal inspection and test of the fire detection in a property: smoke alarms, heat alarms and carbon monoxide alarms. We verify that each device is the correct type for its location, correctly positioned, within its expiry date, properly interlinked where required, and actually functional when tested with real smoke or heat rather than just the test button. You receive a certificate listing every device with its type, location, age and result.

Why it matters

Why it's worth getting right

Working smoke alarms roughly halve the risk of dying in a house fire, and the fires that kill people are overwhelmingly those where the alarm was missing, expired, or had been disabled. Alarms also have a finite life that almost nobody tracks: the sensor degrades and every unit carries an expiry date, typically ten years from manufacture, after which it may test fine on the button while failing to detect actual smoke. Pressing the test button proves the sounder and battery work — it does not prove the sensor still does.

Your legal duty

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended in 2022, require a smoke alarm on every storey of a rented property used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation containing a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. Alarms must be tested and confirmed working on the first day of a new tenancy, and must be repaired or replaced once the landlord is informed of a fault. The 2022 amendment extended the duties to social housing and made the repair obligation explicit. Licensed HMOs face additional requirements — usually a Grade A or interlinked Grade D system to BS 5839-6 — set through licence conditions and the fire risk assessment. Local authorities can impose a penalty of up to £5,000 for breach.

Regulations & standards

The rules this work is carried out to

Every inspection we do is measured against a published standard — here are the ones that apply to this service.

SI 2015/1693

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 (am. 2022)

Smoke alarm every storey; CO alarm with any fixed combustion appliance.

BS 5839-6

Fire detection and alarm systems for dwellings

Defines system Grades A–F and Categories LD1, LD2, LD3.

BS EN 50291

Carbon monoxide detection apparatus

The standard CO alarms must be manufactured to.

In detail

Understanding your Fire Safety Check

The technical detail behind the certificate — what gets checked, what the results mean, and the decisions that actually affect your property.

Grades and categories — what BS 5839-6 actually specifies

Two separate scales define a domestic system. Grade describes the hardware: Grade A is a full system with a control panel, separate detectors and sounders and a standby supply, typically required in larger or higher-risk HMOs; Grade D1 is mains-powered interlinked alarms with a sealed tamper-proof backup battery, which is the standard for most rented houses and smaller HMOs; Grade F is battery-only, which is no longer acceptable for most rented accommodation. Category describes coverage: LD3 covers escape routes only, LD2 adds detection in higher-risk rooms such as kitchens and living rooms, and LD1 covers all areas. A typical licensed HMO requirement is Grade D1 LD2 or better, and your fire risk assessment specifies which applies.

Why the right detector type matters in each room

Detectors are not interchangeable. Optical smoke alarms respond well to slow smouldering fires, the type that starts in soft furnishings or from an electrical fault, and are the correct choice for hallways, landings and living rooms. Ionisation alarms respond faster to fast-flaming fires but are prone to nuisance activation near cooking. Heat alarms do not detect smoke at all and trigger on a rate of temperature rise, which is exactly why they belong in kitchens where a smoke alarm would be silenced within a week. Carbon monoxide alarms detect a gas, not a fire, and must be sited near the combustion appliance at breathing height rather than on the ceiling like a smoke alarm. The most common fault we find is a smoke alarm in a kitchen — which tenants inevitably remove.

Interlinking, and why one alarm is not enough

In an interlinked system, any detector that activates sounds every alarm in the property. This matters because a fire starting in a downstairs kitchen at three in the morning may not wake someone sleeping on the second floor if only the kitchen alarm sounds — and by the time the smoke reaches an upstairs detector, the escape route may already be impassable. Interlinking can be hard-wired or radio-based; both are acceptable, and radio interlinking is often the practical choice in an occupied property where running cable would mean lifting floors. We test interlinking specifically as part of every check by activating one detector and confirming every other device responds.

Expiry dates — the failure nobody looks for

Every smoke and heat alarm carries a manufacture or expiry date printed on the body, and the sensing element degrades over time regardless of use. Smoke and heat alarms are typically rated for ten years, and carbon monoxide alarms for five to seven depending on the model. Past that date the alarm may still beep when tested, because the test button proves the sounder circuit rather than the sensor, but its ability to detect an actual fire is no longer assured. We record the expiry date of every device on the certificate, which means you can plan replacements as a scheduled cost rather than discovering a property full of expired alarms at a licensing inspection.

Warning signs

Alarm problems that need attention now

Any of these means the detection in the property cannot be relied on:

Any alarm past its printed expiry date, typically ten years from manufacture

An alarm that chirps intermittently — usually a failing backup battery

A device that has been removed, covered, or had its battery taken out

A smoke alarm inside a kitchen, which will always be disabled by a tenant eventually

No alarm on one or more storeys, including cellars and loft conversions

No CO alarm in a room containing a boiler, gas fire or solid fuel appliance

Alarms that sound individually but do not trigger the others

Yellowed or discoloured casings, indicating age and heat exposure

The risks

The cost of inadequate detection

This is the cheapest safety measure to get right and the most serious to get wrong:

!Civil penalty of up to £5,000 from the local authority per breach

!HMO licence refused, conditioned or revoked

!Prosecution under the RRO 2005 where the property has communal areas

!Insurance claims declined where alarms were absent or expired

!Manslaughter exposure where a death results from missing detection

!You cannot evidence the tenancy-start alarm test the regulations require

!Expired alarms that pass a button test while failing to detect actual smoke

Keeping detection reliable

Ask tenants to test every alarm monthly using the test button and to report chirping immediately rather than removing the battery, which is what usually happens next. Vacuum alarm casings a couple of times a year, since dust is a leading cause of both nuisance activation and reduced sensitivity. Record the tenancy-start test in writing on the first day of every new tenancy — it is an explicit legal requirement and it is the one landlords most often cannot evidence later. Replace every device at its expiry date rather than waiting for a failure, and where you are replacing more than one, replace them all at once so the whole system shares an expiry cycle and you are not back next year.

Why us

The benefits of booking your Fire Safety Check with us

Accredited, transparent and built around making compliance easy.

Live smoke and heat testing, not just a button press

Expiry date of every device recorded so replacements can be budgeted

Interlinking verified across the whole property

Detector type and siting checked against BS 5839-6

CO alarm compliance checked alongside fire detection

Same-day certificate, HMO licence-ready

What's included

Everything covered in your Fire Safety Check

One all-inclusive price — here is exactly what the engineer does on site and what you receive afterwards.

Every smoke, heat and CO alarm located, identified and recorded

Detector type verified as correct for each room

Position checked against BS 5839-6 siting requirements

Live function testing with smoke or heat, not just the test button

Interlinking verified by activating one device and confirming all respond

Manufacture and expiry dates recorded for every device

Certificate listing every device with type, location, age and result

Replacement quote for any expired, missing or incorrectly sited devices

Pricing

Simple, all-inclusive pricing

The price you see is the price you pay — VAT included, with no hidden call-out fees. Your final price depends on the size of your property; we'll confirm an exact, all-inclusive quote before we attend.

Fire Safety Check from

£65inc VAT

up to 3 alarms · testing and certification

Get my exact price

All prices include VAT · 12-month workmanship guarantee

Fire Safety Check pricing — residential

Number of alarms	Price (inc VAT)
Up to 3 alarms	£65.00
3–6 alarms	£100.00
6–9 alarms	£135.00
9–12 alarms	£170.00
12–15 alarms	£205.00
15–18 alarms	£240.00
18–21 alarms	£275.00

All prices include VAT and a full certificate listing every device. Fire alarm panel systems and new alarm installations are quoted after this inspection, once we know what the property actually needs.

Prices are all-inclusive of VAT with no hidden call-out fees. Where they genuinely apply, parking (£5) and the London Congestion Charge (£18) are passed on at cost and always shown up front.

The process

How your appointment works

Simple, transparent and designed around you and your tenants.

Step 1

Locate and identify

Every smoke, heat and CO alarm is located and recorded with its type, position, grade and manufacture date.

Step 2

Check siting and coverage

Positions are checked against BS 5839-6 and any storey or room lacking required detection is identified.

Step 3

Live function and interlink test

Each device is tested with smoke or heat, and interlinking is proved by confirming all devices respond.

Step 4

Certify and advise

Your certificate is issued the same day, with a quote for any expired, missing or wrongly sited devices.

FAQs

Fire Safety Check — frequently asked questions

At minimum, a smoke alarm on every storey used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room containing a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. HMOs and properties with communal areas usually need more, specified by the fire risk assessment and your licence conditions.

No. The test button proves the sounder and power supply work. It does not prove the sensor can still detect smoke, which is exactly what degrades with age. We test with real smoke or heat and record each device's expiry date.

Typically ten years from manufacture for smoke and heat alarms, and five to seven years for carbon monoxide alarms depending on the model. The date is printed on the device. Past it, the alarm may still beep on test while no longer reliably detecting a fire.

You should not. A smoke alarm in a kitchen will be triggered by cooking and will be disabled by the occupants within weeks. Kitchens need a heat alarm, which responds to a rapid rise in temperature rather than smoke. This is one of the most common faults we find.

In most rented properties, yes — and it is required in HMOs. Interlinking means any activation sounds every alarm, so someone asleep upstairs is warned about a fire that starts downstairs. Radio interlinking avoids lifting floors in an occupied property.

The regulations require alarms to be tested and confirmed working on the first day of a new tenancy. This is the requirement landlords most often fail to evidence. Record it in writing and keep it with the tenancy file — our certificate covers the inspection itself.

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07426 409342

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