Fire alarm in communal cellar

[endecotp]

Dear Experts,

We have a communal cellar in our building that is mostly used to store old furniture and similar junk. One resident has expressed concern about a fire hazard. Personally I don't think there is much to worry about, but it has made me wonder about whether a fire alarm could be installed, cheaply, to keep this neighbour happy.

To be useful, a sounder would need to be fitten in the stairwell serving the flats above - but the cellar is not accessed from this stairwell, so wiring would be difficult. Also there is no easily-accessible mains power in the cellar.

No doubt a "pro" alarm could be fitted, but my question is, could we install anything ourselves that would be better than nothing? Does anyone have experience of a similar installation?

 

[Hoover]

You are best advised to seek a fire alarm specialist.

This is a shared building, you should ask the landlord/ whom ever is responsible for maintaining the building.

Ask the fire brigade for free advice first.

 

[endecotp]

We, the owners, are responsible for maintenance. (I'm in Scotland.)

The neighbour who is concerned about the fire risk has said that she will contact the fire brigade. I imagine that they will say "no action required". She won't like that answer. My aim is mostly to keep her happy, so that she is "on side" if some other work needs to be done and her agreement is needed.

 

[Hoover]

They can advise and it wont cost a penny, depends on what the risks are and what you already have in place.

 

[EightyTwo]

Is the cellar under the stairwell? You should be able to poke (drill) a hole through the cellar ceiling into the hall or stairwell. If you manage to get it to come up in an internal corner behind the skirting board, you should be able to run a bit of surface trunking up the wall to hide a cable...

You've then got lots of options: a pair of mains-powered interlinked smoke alarms, a fire alarm panel in the cellar and a sounder above, a fire alarm above with a smoke/heat detector below, an intruder alarm with a smoke/heat detector connected to a zone or even some kind of homebrew alarm with a psu, detector, sounder(s) and some relays.

As Hoover says, contact your local fire brigade for free advice then, maybe, your local alarm company. Or you could just wack up a battery-powered smoke alarm and hope that the person living above can hear it through the floor!!

 

[ekmdgrf]

http://www.securitywarehouse.co.uk/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1432

Link one of those up to the smoke detector. You won't have a problem hearing it.

 

[Hoover]

master blasters are loud at 127 db

 

[E999]

Agreed with previous posts.....Get an approved fire installer.

Normally if it was soley owned I would say fit a powermax alarm with smoke and heat detectors and connect to a Klaxon Master blaster BUT as its technically a commercial property, I would not do this......

At least if you use a pro, the liability is taken away from you..

Rgds
Matt

 

[Hoover]

exactly that, its the liability that concerns me the most in that situation

 

[AlanE]

Again advise contact local fire brigade they are free and will give good advise.

Consulting with them might also save complications further down the line should you ever have a fire in the building.