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The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (links to draft as not published yet) will commence from 1 October 2022. The regulations amend The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015.
The duty to install carbon monoxide alarms is extended to any living room (including a bathroom or lavatory) containing a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. These must be installed before 1 October.
Following a report made by a tenant (or representative) to the landlord, if an alarm is found not to be in proper working order, the alarm is to be repaired or replaced.
Whether the alarm is in proper working order and any required repair or replacement must be done as soon as reasonably practicable.
If the local authority serves a remedial notice on the landlord concerning an alarm, the landlord may make representations regarding the notice within 28 days. The amendment provides that the local authority must consider those representations.
The notice is suspended until the local authority has considered the representations and decided whether to confirm or withdraw the notice. The local authority must inform the landlord within seven days of making a decision, and if they fail to do so, the remedial notice is withdrawn. If confirmed, the landlord (or representative) must complete the action contained in the notice within 21 days.
A landlord is not to be taken to be in breach of taking the necessary action if the landlord can show they have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the duty.
Suppose a tenant or occupier prevents the landlord from entering the premises. In that case, the landlord will not have failed to have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the notice solely because of a failure to bring legal proceedings to secure entry to the premises.
The Secretary of State must review the regulations and publish a report setting out the review's conclusions from time to time.