Making Sure Your Fire Extinguishers Can Help Cool Things Down for Your Tenants

Making Sure Your Fire Extinguishers Can Help Cool Things Down for Your Tenants

As an apartment owner or a property manager, ensuring fire safety for your residents is critical. A fire safety plan for apartment buildings involves considering several things such as availability of fire extinguishers, evacuation procedures, fire control and smoke movement, and more.

Ensuring that the rental unit is safe and habitable begins not just with equipping them with fire extinguishers but also ensuring that they are up-to-date and in working condition. A certified professional must carry out the annual maintenance of a fire extinguisher. A non-inspected fire extinguisher in apartment buildings is a serious defect that can prove to be extremely dangerous in the event of a fire. Tenants are also within their rights to withhold rent in the absence of such inspections as it counts as a habitability issue.

Fire Safety Tips for Apartment Buildings

Here are some of the aspects to be mindful of when making a fire safety plan for apartment buildings:

1. Apartment building fire extinguisher requirements demand that fire extinguishers be installed on every floor, as well as in the parking garage and basement. It is extremely important to ensure that they are easily accessible in times of crisis.
2. You need to have apartment fire alarms and sprinklers in place. It is prudent to have smoke detection facilities in the hallways, laundry rooms, and other common areas. Due consultation with a fire protection company will ensure that you are well covered. Additionally, ensuring that all fire safety tests and inspections are carried out periodically is a key aspect that cannot be ignored.
3. You need to have a fire safety plan for apartment building residents, which must be well communicated to them. It will be prudent to post the fire safety plan for apartment buildings on the front door of each apartment, in addition to handing it to each tenant at the start of their lease. 
4. All exits and access areas need to be well-marked and kept free and uncluttered. 
5. Any flammable liquids need to be stored appropriately. All storage areas also need to be well-organized.
6. Due care needs to be taken to see that the installation of any security gate is approved by the fire department and does not require any keys or special tools to open it. This is to ensure that fire rescue operation isn’t hampered and that tenants aren’t trapped in case of a fire, on account of any unauthorized security gates.
7. You could also consider appointing employees to carry out specific fire safety duties and appropriate fire drills from time to time for the additional safety of the tenants.
8. It is also important to know all the regulations and codes so that you remain compliant with the local laws at all times.

As a landlord or property manager, while you need to take these measures, the residents also have a very strong role to play when it comes to fire safety. Fire prevention is the best way to promote fire safety. If you own or manage an apartment building, it is important to screen tenants carefully to ensure that you do not rent out to someone negligent.  A tenant who respects regulations and follows through on the fire safety plan for apartment buildings is crucial to your success.