Are There Fire Hazards Lurking in Your Rental Properties?
You’ve worked hard to build up your rental property business, and you’ve made considerable investments in the units. The last thing you want to see is a fire destroy everything you’ve worked for—and possibly harm your tenants as well. Consult a fire protection company about potential fire hazards and solutions for your rental properties. The following are some of the most common problems.
Nonfunctional Smoke Detectors
All structures need multiple functioning smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on every floor. Even when landlords follow this requirement, it’s difficult to ensure that the tenants will. They might disconnect the detectors after burning something on the stove, and forget to reconnect them after the smoke has cleared. It’s also difficult to make sure that tenants test the alarms monthly and replace the batteries every six months. Consider mailing out a friendly reminder to your tenants when it’s time to change the batteries. You could even provide the new batteries yourself and offer to change them for your tenants. It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Unsafe Grill Usage
If you allow residents to use gas or charcoal grills, you can include safety requirements in the lease agreement. The agreement should specify exactly where tenants are allowed to operate grills. This location should be at least 10 feet away from the building. The location should be free of any combustible material like brush.
Clogged Clothes Dryers
Lint is one of the most common causes of structural fires. If your apartment complex has laundry facilities, you should prominently post notices reminding residents to clean out the lint traps after every load of laundry, and to double-check the lint trap before starting a new load.
Kazal Fire Protection, Inc. offers a complete suite of fire protection services, including sprinkler system installations and repairs. Our team works on both new construction projects and retrofitting projects. Call our office in Tucson, AZ at (520) 323-1518 to get the process started.