Building/fire regs - kitchen open into lounge/stairs

Currently working on a property which has this arrangement so answer must be yes!

(A row of 4 properties with all the same configuration.)

Dave Jones

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:57:08 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named "Spike" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Yes to both provided that all the habitable rooms at first floor had suitable escape windows. I would also recommend a heat detector in the kitchen as well as smoke detection in the lounge and first floor.

In three storey houses (inc loft conversions), the answer to the second question would be, no, absolutely not, never, no way!

Aha! Thanks for the replies chaps - just one other question - I did not make it clear in my original post that the open plan kitchen/lounge idea would also be open plan onto the stairs - is that still OK or do we need a door in between the stairs and the open plan area?

: >Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house? : : Yes to both provided that all the habitable rooms at first floor had : suitable escape windows. I would also recommend a heat detector in : the kitchen as well as smoke detection in the lounge and first floor. : : In three storey houses (inc loft conversions), the answer to the : second question would be, no, absolutely not, never, no way! : -- : Hugo Nebula : 'What you have to ask yourself is, "if no-one on the internet wants : a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?"'

How about a 3 storey house that had ground level access to each floor? (Built into a hillside)

Bill

Doesn't that also apply to two storey houses if the house if for let ?

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:17:37 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named "G&M" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

I think you've asked this question before. Under the Building Regulations there's no difference between rented and owner-occupied.

I rather thought there was...

My existing house is, and building regs approved it. My new house is, and building regs have the plans, but no approval yet as its work in progress.

in my new house, the stairs are in the the lounge, there is also a second exit from the upstairs bedroom. However thinking about it, there is no door between the kitchen and the second set of stairs to the other bedrooms, however it would be possible to fit a fire door, get the BR cert and rip the fire door out again .....

Not me.

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 12:23:58 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named The Natural Philosopher randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Yes

That's what you may think, but there isn't.

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 22:51:55 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named "G&M" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Sorry; I've looked back through my old posts, and it was Lobster.

err, that's technically correct, but it's like people asking questions about planning permission when they mean bldg regs, & getting an answer which ignores the b regs.

IIRC there are (regret my memory is old, fading & sketchy) regs that could be confused with bldg regs that affect rented & not owner-occupied. Eg the need for an annual gas inspection certificate

- extended IIRC (or about to be) to other things like other heating systems. Also in Scotland (& IIRC in a few areas of England [& the govt has plans for all of England]) HMO* operate under a licencing regime which effectively extends the bldg regs (& their Scottish equivalent).

The Q posed by the OP is just the sort of thing that HMO licensing may regulate (though whether it does, I cannot say for sure - you'd need to get hold of an HMO scoresheet: memory clearing!! - I'm fairly certain it does.)

Another example: SFA the electrical supply goes, work done on a rented property by the landlord could be affected by the Elec at Work regs etc even without the forthcoming part P.

Come to think of it there's possibly a good few bldg regs style things tucked away in the detail of Landlord & Tenant law which affect what the tenant can expect of the property he's renting & which of course don't apply to an owner's own personal chez moi.

NB all this is SFAIRI, as I said, I'm out of date - double check before relying on info in this post - perhaps someone else with current knowledge could kindly confirm or otherwise?

HTH