Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 December 2016
224. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the persons or bodies that specifically hold responsibility for ensuring tenants adhere to fire safety regulations within council properties. [40290/16]
View answer258. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the body that specifically holds responsibility for ensuring tenants adhere to fire safety regulations within council properties. [40101/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 224 and 258 together.
The Building Regulations 1997-2014, in particular Part B Fire Safety, impose requirements in relation to fire safety in the construction of new buildings and works to existing buildings. However, there are no regulations imposing requirements on the tenants of residential properties.
Minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008, as amended by the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) (Amendment) Regulations 2009.
The Regulations specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light and fire safety. With very limited exemptions, these regulations apply to local authority and voluntary housing units as well as private rented residential accommodation.
Article 11 relates specifically to fire safety and the requirements with regard to houses and multi-unit buildings and provides that
- a house shall contain a fire blanket and either a mains-wired smoke alarm or at least two 10-year self-contained battery-operated smoke alarms.
- each self-contained unit in a multi-unit building shall contain a mains-wired smoke alarm, a fire blanket and an emergency evacuation plan.
- emergency lighting shall be provided in all common areas within a multi-unit building.
It is open to a local authority to include a condition in a tenancy agreement in relation to the notification of defects in a smoke alarm to the local authority.
