If you’re applying for an HMO licence, renewing one, or just want to know you’d pass an inspection tomorrow, this is the checklist we work through with landlords across Hounslow. None of it is exotic. Licensing failures are almost always one of these items missing or undocumented.
1. A current fire risk assessment
The foundation everything else sits on. Required under the Fire Safety Order 2005, expected by the council at licensing, and it should be reviewed within the last 12 months (or after any significant change). It must reflect the property as it is now, with the current tenants and current layout. More on fire risk assessments →
2. The right grade of fire alarm, working and tested
Your alarm system should match what BS 5839-6 and your licence conditions specify for the size and type of your HMO. That means interlinked mains alarms for smaller shared houses, panel systems for larger or higher-risk buildings, and heat (not smoke) detection in kitchens. Just as important: the weekly test, recorded in a logbook. An untested system is an inspection failure with a perfect system installed. Which grade do you need? →
3. Protected escape route
Tenants must be able to get from any bedroom to the final exit without passing through a high-risk room. In practice that means the hallway and staircase are kept clear (no stored bikes, prams, or mattresses), doors along the route are sound, and any glazing in the route is appropriate. This costs nothing, and it’s one of the first things an inspecting officer looks at.
4. Fire doors that actually work
Bedroom and kitchen doors onto the escape route typically need to be FD30 fire doors with working self-closers, intact intumescent seals, and gaps within tolerance. A fire door propped open with a wedge, or with the closer removed “because it slams”, provides no protection at all. Get them inspected periodically and after every tenancy change. Fire door inspections →
5. Emergency lighting (where required)
Larger HMOs and those with complex or windowless escape routes generally need emergency escape lighting to BS 5266, function-tested monthly with an annual full-duration test. Recorded, as always. Smaller two-storey HMOs with borrowed light may not need it; your risk assessment will say.
6. Records, records, records
The pattern by now is obvious: for licensing purposes, an undocumented precaution barely counts. Keep in one place (a physical logbook at the property, or a folder your agent maintains):
- Fire risk assessment and review dates
- Alarm installation/servicing certificates and weekly test log
- Emergency lighting test log
- Fire door inspection reports
- PAT testing certificates for any appliances you supply
- Gas safety (CP12) and EICR while you’re at it, because inspectors ask for the lot
If keeping the weekly and monthly rhythm going is the hard part, that’s exactly what our scheduled testing visits exist for.
7. Appliances and ignition sources
Any appliance you supply, such as fridges, washing machines and microwaves, should be PAT tested with certificates on file. Beyond that, the risk assessment should have considered the usual ignition suspects: overloaded sockets, tenant use of portable heaters, smoking, and cooking arrangements in rooms. PAT testing →
8. Smoke control where it exists
If your building has AOVs (automatic opening vents) in a communal stairwell, which is common in larger converted buildings and blocks, they need servicing like any other life-safety system. A seized vent is invisible until the day it matters. AOV servicing →
Want the honest version of where your property stands? We’ll survey it, tell you what’s fine, what’s missing, and what it’ll cost to fix, with no obligation. Request a free quote from A Class Alarms, serving Hounslow, Feltham, Isleworth, Brentford, Chiswick and the wider West London area.