Wired Smoke Alarm on standard 2 bed 1900s terraced property?

Is this an HMO?
I’m not an expert on them but wondered if that perhaps makes a difference?

The local authority correctly quotes the guidance from British Standard BS5839-6:2019+A1:2020
The reason for this guidance is the safety of life and limb of your tenants.

Failure rates of battery alarms are 30% or thereabouts from
Government statistics and they do not have a backup power supply

Failure to do this puts you at significant risk of prosecution for gross negligence manslaughter or bodily harm should not he worst happen
Grade D1 is mains powered with an internal backup battery.
The requirement for a new EICR is however nonsense as you simply need the electrical installation and con ironing certificate which he has to also file with Building Control.
If you need help contesting the council on this latter point or on which rooms need what alarms (thought probably the council told you this) do get in touch with us at landlordsdefence.co.uk

for a standard rental property British Standard BS5839-6:2019+A1:2020 is guidance and not the law. The law is Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022: guidance for landlords and tenants.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smoke-and-carbon-monoxide-alarms-explanatory-booklet-for-landlords/the-smoke-and-carbon-monoxide-alarm-england-regulations-2015-qa-booklet-for-the-private-rented-sector-landlords-and-tenants
just because the council go by the guidance does not mean you have to, the question you have to ask them is that the UK gov law

Your question isn’t clear, since you don’t say enough about the existing installation; is it mains powered or battery only? Are they interlinked using wireless or is the interlink via a wired connection? I have a combination of wired (upstairs where it’s easy to access via the loft) and wireless (downstairs, where wired interconnect would be challenging) and all are mains powered with battery back-up and that set up passed a fire safety officers inspection earlier this year. All alarm units are linked together via a bridging unit that connects the wired and wireless domains. The property in a HMO.

If you are in a selective licenced area it seems they are free to come up with any additional requirements.

The law in England requires landlords to select the most appropriate alarm for their property/tenants.
The tenants are responsible for testing the alarm and reporting any faults to the landlord.
In November 2019, the BBC reported that 38% of battery alarms failed to sound. It also reported that 21% of wired alarms also failed to sound. Maybe landlords should appoint a fire warden to stand guard outside their rental properties.
Does anyone know if a landlord has ever been prosecuted for providing a working alarm at the start of a tenancy (that meets the standard set down by Parliament) but that subsequently fails to sound? I doubt it.

If ever I need a defence team, I know who not to call.

I would recommend fitting mains powered alarms, ideally with a permanent backup battery as tenants can and do remove batteries or otherwise disable alarms.
A wired interlink is preferable so that all alarms go off at once, but at least have a wireless interlink if that is not possible. Any good electrician should be able to fit a fully wired system.
Remember, the alarms are there primarily to protect the tenant, but they are also protecting your property if the worst were to happen. If I’m having electrical work done, then I generally put them in all risk rooms even if it is not an HMO, for maximum peace of mind. Plus, if you do turn it into an HMO, which is surprisingly easy as it only takes 3 people with one unrelated, then it is already fit for purpose.

Hi Philip,
I assume this is an HMO and assume the council are involved as they have visited your premises due to your requested HMO license?
Your premises will fall under the fire safety Act and will require by law a recorded fire risk assessment, this risk assessment should identify all risks and hazards and from that you should ensure you have reasonable fires safety measures in place.
There are lots of British Standards and Guidance documents to assist you to, these are not the law and shouldn’t stop you receiving a license as long as you can ensure you have reasonable fire safety measures in place. Unfortunately there are a lot of guide huggers out there who don’t understand fire safety and will alway preach a British Standard of which might even be substandard in some cases.
Reasonable fire safety measures is what is required as stated in the fire safety Act.
All licensed premises will be notified to the fire authority and they have 28 days to comment you may get a visit from them, they will be the only organisation who can enforce the fire safety Act. The council will have powers under Licencing Act.
Fire safety ( life safety) is all about buying time and the best way to do that is early detection which in turn will provide asset protection, without see plans to ur premises to see how many floors, travel distances, hazard rooms etc it’s hard to assess what requirements are needed to provide reasonable fire safety measures.
But if ur system doesn’t get tested, serviced or have battery backup then it’s unlikely to be reasonable.
I’m a fire safety Enforcement Officer for the fire service.