Quick reference · Fire detection and alarm systems in domestic premises
How fire detection and fire alarm systems are designed, installed, commissioned and maintained in homes: single-family houses, houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), sheltered and supported housing and self-catering accommodation.
The rules for smoke and heat alarms in people's homes, rented flats and shared houses.
BS 5839-6:2019+A1:2020. The 2019 edition removed grades B and E and split grades D and F. Amendment 1 (November 2020) updated the model certificates and added a warning that some children may not wake to an alarm.
Confirmed two or more sources agree, or a source quotes the standard. Check one source, or a detail that could not be confirmed. Check it against the standard.
Design, installation, commissioning and maintenance in domestic premises, including single-family homes, HMOs, sheltered housing, supported housing and self-catering. Boarding houses are outside it.
It is the standard for alarms in homes, shared houses and sheltered housing. Boarding houses use the non-domestic standard.
Grade A is detectors, sounders and control equipment to BS EN 54 with standby power. Grade C is detectors and sounders on a common power supply with central control. Grade D1 is mains-powered alarms with a tamper-proof standby battery. Grade D2 is mains-powered with a user-replaceable standby battery. Grade F1 is battery-only with tamper-proof batteries. Grade F2 is battery-only with user-replaceable batteries.
A is a full fire alarm system. C is a smaller system on one power supply. D is mains-powered alarms with a backup battery. F is battery-only alarms. The 1 means the battery cannot be taken out, the 2 means it can.
LD1 is detection in all circulation areas on escape routes and in all rooms except those with negligible risk. LD2 is circulation areas on escape routes plus rooms with high risk, such as the kitchen and the principal habitable room. LD3 is circulation areas on escape routes only.
LD1 is detectors nearly everywhere. LD2 is the hallways and stairs plus the higher-risk rooms like the kitchen and living room. LD3 is the hallways and stairs only.
An extract of the standard's Table 1 gives Grade D1 with LD2 for new or materially altered rented single-family homes up to three storeys, and Grade A with LD1 for rented houses of four or more storeys. For owner-occupied new homes up to two storeys it gives Grade D2 with LD2. Existing owner-occupied homes can be lower, for example F2 with LD3.
A rented house gets mains alarms with a tamper-proof battery (D1). A bigger house needs a full system (A). Owner-occupied homes can use a simpler grade.
From a third-party extract of the standard. Check the standard for a given property.
Small HMOs (one or two storeys, no floor over 200 m²) get D1 with LD1 when new or altered and D1 with LD2 when existing. Larger HMOs get D1 with LD1 in the units, with Grade A and LD2 in the communal areas. Sheltered housing was raised from LD2 to LD1 in 2019.
Shared houses need alarms in nearly every room in the units. Bigger ones need a full system in the shared areas. Sheltered housing now needs LD1 instead of LD2.
From a third-party extract and maker guides. Check the standard.
Table 1 says heat alarms go in every kitchen, and a smoke alarm goes in the principal habitable room. A carbon monoxide fire detector is allowed in the lounge but not the kitchen. Bathrooms and toilets should not have alarms. Detectors may normally be left out of roof voids.
Put a heat alarm in the kitchen and a smoke alarm in the main living room. Do not put alarms in bathrooms or toilets.
On the ceiling, at least 300 mm from walls or light fittings, and within 3 m of every bedroom door. On sloping ceilings, smoke alarms go no more than 600 mm down from the apex and heat alarms no more than 150 mm down.
Fit alarms on the ceiling, well clear of walls and lights, and close to bedroom doors. On a sloping ceiling, near the top.
From maker guides. Check the standard.
On the ceiling, 1 to 3 m from the appliance. If the appliance is in a cupboard, put the alarm just outside. Siting follows BS EN 50292.
Put a CO alarm 1 to 3 m from the boiler or fire. If it is in a cupboard, put the alarm just outside the door.
Alarms in a property should be interlinked by cable or radio, depending on the grade. Mains-powered CO alarms to BS EN 50291 may be interlinked with the fire system if the maker allows.
Alarms should talk to each other, so that when one goes off they all do. This can be by cable or by radio.
D1 and F1 have tamper-proof batteries. D2 and F2 have user-replaceable batteries. If there is doubt about whether the battery in a D2 or F2 system will be replaced, the standard steers you to a tamper-proof version. A rewire should trigger Grade D.
In D1 and F1 the battery is sealed in, so it cannot be removed. In D2 and F2 you can replace it. If in doubt, choose the sealed version.
No. The 75 dB(A) at the bed head is from BS 5839-1 for non-domestic sleeping areas. BS 5839-6 sets its own domestic sound levels, which could not be confirmed here.
The bed head figure comes from the non-domestic standard, not this one. Check BS 5839-6 for the home figure.
Grade A: users test weekly, and a competent person services at 6 months or less, following BS 5839-1. Grades C, D and F: users test monthly by pressing the test button, and service intervals are set by the maker, with 12-monthly servicing for sheltered housing and telecare systems. Grade A, and sheltered and supported housing, need a log book. A servicing certificate is issued on completion.
Full systems are tested weekly and serviced twice a year. Smaller alarms are tested monthly by pressing the button. A log book and certificate are needed for full systems and sheltered housing.
Grades B and E were removed, grade C was redefined, D and F were split into D1 and D2 and F1 and F2, Table 1 was revised, the text was aligned with BS 5839-1:2017, and a new table on testing and servicing by grade was added. Sheltered housing went from LD2 to LD1.
The 2019 edition tidied up the grades, split D and F into two each, and raised sheltered housing to LD1.
Two things: a recommendation to warn householders that some children may not wake to an alarm, and updated model certificates for Grade A acceptance and for Grade C, D and F design, installation and commissioning.
It added a warning that some children sleep through alarms, and new certificate forms.
Under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended in 2022 (from 1 October 2022): at least one smoke alarm on every storey used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance, except gas cookers. Alarms must be checked as working at the start of a tenancy, and the landlord repairs or replaces a faulty alarm once told. Local authorities can issue a civil penalty of up to £5,000 after a 28-day compliance window. It applies in England only, and social landlords are now covered.
Landlords in England must fit a smoke alarm on each floor people live on, and a CO alarm wherever there is a fuel-burning appliance. They must check alarms work at the start of each tenancy and fix faulty ones.
No. The regulations set a legal minimum, which is lower than the grade and category BS 5839-6 gives for many properties. The standard is a code of practice, not law.
The law is the least you must do. The standard describes good practice and often asks for more.
Nothing in this guide matches. Search all the guides.
Other guides: BS 5839-1, BS 5266-1 and BS EN 1838, BS 5306 (extinguishers), BS EN 50131-1 and PD 6662, BS 8418, BS EN 62676-4, BS EN 60839-11-1, BS 7273-4, BS 7671 (for alarm and CCTV work). Not sure what a word means? Explain this text or see the glossary.
For guidance only. Always check against the current edition of the standard and the manufacturer's data.
Built by the engineer behind Kerova, certificate software for fire and security firms.