HHSRS demands: Look at the overall picture

DECENT’ NOW MEANS SAFE

Many readers may not be aware that the Decent Homes fitness standard was replaced last year by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), and it is still early days to judge how it will actually be interpreted on the ground. Gerald Jones considers the implications – particularly for fire and carbon monoxide poisoning, two of the more challenging of 29 hazards identified in the HHSRS.

HHSRS replaces the old fitness standard that dated back to 1919 and is a risk assessment procedure introduced by the Housing Act 2004. It took effect in England last year, followed by Wales and, probably, Northern Ireland later after its impact has been assessed. The HHSRS Regulations prescribe the manner of inspections and method of assessing hazards in homes, with inspections generally carried out by Environmental Health Officers or other surveyors. The aim of the inspection is to record ‘faults’ – in other words, the failure of building elements to meet certain ‘ideals’ identified in HHSRS, the potential they have to cause harm (i.e. ‘hazards’), any remedial action required and the likelihood of an occurrence over 12 months which could harm a vulnerable group such as the young or elderly. HHSRS considers ‘Ideals’ to be the standards cited in appropriate British Standards or Building Regulation Approved Documents. Several different faults can contribute to a single hazard but those that do not form part of the property, such as tenants’ fittings, are excluded from HHSRS. The inspector develops scores for each hazard within a property, which are then banded and divided into Categories 1 and 2. The first of four tests for a ‘Decent Home’ requires that it meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing and dwellings that fail to meet this criterion are those containing one or more ‘Category 1’ hazards.

 THEORY INTO PRACTICE

Just how inspectors will allocate hazard scores remains unclear and there are real concerns that ‘faults’ are either not recognised or discounted as the tenant’s responsibility. Some hazards are obvious and tangible, such as a trip step, but others are far more complex in nature and difficult to identify: fire and carbon monoxide poisoning – each specifically identified as one of the 29 hazards in HHSRS – provide clear examples. Smoke and CO alarms are cited as ‘ideals’ and the absence of working alarms considered an important factor in establishing hazard scores. With no Building Regulations covering CO alarms – unfortunately - the current BS provides the benchmark. But with fire, there is a fundamental conflict between the new Building Regulations Approved Document Part B, which calls for just smoke alarms in circulation areas in many cases, and the current BS Code of Practice, which requires additional heat alarms in living rooms and all kitchens - the sources of most house fires. HHSRS fails to guide us on which should be used as the ‘ideal’ here. But we should remember that Building Regulations are intended for new buildings, probably with better fire resistant construction than older properties, and therefore less appropriate.

THE SILENT HIDDEN KILLER

Carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the most difficult hazards for an HHSRS inspector to assess. CO is odourless and colourless, and it comes from a surprisingly wide variety of sources - generally produced by any fuel burning appliances resulting from the incomplete combustion of carbon based fuels including bottled or mains gas, coal, oil and wood - so the dangers are often far from obvious. As the UK government’s Chief Medical Officer has stressed, CO poisoning can occur in any type or age of property, including brand new, owner-occupied housing. The idea that it is limited to just older buildings, poorer households and student ‘digs’ is entirely false. It is not enough for HHSRS inspectors just to look for obvious signs such as damaged or blocked flues, or smoke staining. One of the most recent, tragic cases involved the death of a schoolgirl following installation of a new gas fire by a CORGI recognised engineer. Today, things are also being made worse by moves towards air-tight buildings with controlled ventilation making the domestic environment more sensitive to air pressure changes, so increasing the risk of CO from heating appliances and integral garages. Indeed, HHSRS specifically cites the need for a ventilated lobby between garage and living area, invariably not provided in the most modern homes: perhaps these would not be considered as ‘Decent Homes’?

REDUCING HAZARDS

Unfortunately, faults that are not the responsibility of the landlord or owner are specifically excluded from the HHSRS inspection. So, a dangerous mobile heater that could pose a serious risk of CO poisoning would be discounted. Similarly, most of the sources of domestic fires - such as smoking, misuse of kitchen equipment and tenant’s defective electrical equipment - are also excluded. But do we really expect responsible inspectors to simply ignore these dangers if seen? Easy to achieve ‘ideals’ such as smoke, heat and CO alarms should help to resolve many of these issues and there are early indications that HHSRS inspectors might push for them as proactive solutions. A lack of effective smoke, heat or CO alarms is cited as one of the ‘relevant matters’ affecting the likelihood and harm outcome, so high hazard scores are appropriate in their absence, even where an obvious risk cannot be identified. Similarly, installation of interconnected hard-wired smoke, heat and CO alarms should substantially reduce a hazard rating - perhaps from Category I requiring mandatory action - at a much lower cost than other remedial measures.

Kidde Fyrnetics HHSRS Guide for Landlords, Housebuilders etc may be requested via the Contact Us Page.

A pdf copy can be obtained by clicking on image above.