Upstairs windows

[marsh frog]

We are buying a property in the UK which we complete on in 13 days and hope to furnish and equip it asap to let out. We are new to self catering lets and were wondering if there are rules and regs on upstairs windows.

In the bedroom that would be used by children the window opens almost fully - enough for a child to get through. Initially we were going to put a lock on this window and the other bedroom but we are worried this would contravene fire safety and prevent an escape in case of fire.

Are there rules set in stone in the UK or is it left to the individual?

It seems to me that whatever we do we are not going to win. The risk assessment would be more likely a child could fall from the window IMHO but what to do?

Any advice would be most welcome

[wendyj]

You can buy special blocks and window locks from lots of places including Ikea for this problem

[greenbarn]

The legal requirements for a risk assessment are contained in here , which is essential reading for anyone providing any sort of accommodation, but it doesn't cover much about the building itself, so I don't think it answers your particular question.

The fire safety and means of escape aspect is something that will fall under the regs for Change of Use, and may well depend on the views of your local Buildings Control Office. It might be worth a chat with them. IIRC there are various factors such as how many storeys; one of our properties has a third floor bedroom, but an external fire escape was not required (something to do with where the staircase lands I think). If you get a fire safety consultant to produce a report for you, the BCO will probably simply accept that; the flip side is that the consultant needs to cover his own backside in what he recommends, and it may be OTT

I think you're right to identify the child falling risk as higher than the fire risk (personal opinion, FWIW!), but if you do need to ensure that a window can be used as an emergency exit it should still be possible to find a lock that would be childproof but not require a key. Any door that is a fire exit will almost certainly be required to be opened without the use of a key, so a Yale type lock is okay, but not a mortice lock (even if you put a key in a break-glass box right by the door )

Good luck, but thinking of these aspects now is a whole lot better than being bitten - or worse - later.

If you haven't already done so, it might be worth forking out the £30-£40 to give you access to the information on the Accommodation Know How (AKH) website - The Pink Booklet Online - which does have some useful (if incomplete) information on a number of topics, despite being run by Visit Britain. (Cynical? Me??)
Here's a link. Or sometimes if you google a topic you'll find the same information reproduced by a local tourist board and you can get it for free. (But don't tell anyone I told you.)

BTW, to keep up with changes that affect us your best bet is to join EASCO; this is a shameless plug for an organisation which actually does something for us as members, but I have no other connection

[marsh frog]

Thank you very much - really helpful replies and will look into that

[wallypott]

I have the ikea ones on the beach house and they work really well - apart from I need to use pliers to get them to open fully (or my teeth) and I wouldn't want to be in a panic trying to open them.

When my kids were going through their peter pan stage, I brought locks in the uk - which have a key and you can choose various lengths of plastic coated wire, for how far you can open the window. That said these have largely trashed the windows, but would be easier to open in a panic. They are a good choice for velux windows.