Hello friends, I need some advice regarding a problem I am having with my landlord/agent.
We moved into a new build property one month ago, we are renting. The wooden bed frame (which broke days after moving in) and mattress (and old school ‘checkered’ mattress, open coil, basically hard to sleep on) do not have any fire safety labels, of any kind, attached to them.
We have purchased our own mattress, but the agent/landlord is refusing to dispose of the old mattress. As I understand it, it is against the law for beds and mattresses not to have any indication of fire safety on it.
I’m finding this situation somewhat hilarious because the agent is simply ignoring our concerns regarding keeping an additional, old mattress, which has no indication of fire safety in our small one bedroom apartment.
Long story short, my question is, are they breaking the law by forcing us to keep a wooden bed frame and old mattress WITHOUT FFR labels in the property?
The mattress does not have this label, can I basically demand the agent to dispose of it (or even replace it…) because they are responsible for the furnishing?
I’ve already requested today and they’re refusing. They are saying we can dispose but will be charged at the end of the tenancy. Surely if the furnishing itself is illegal, then refusing to dispose of it is also illegal?
I guess the only other option is to just dispose, then fight it later if they try charging us…
According to NRLA mattresses are except. See below.
Fire-safe furniture and furnishings
Landlords must ensure that any furniture and furnishings provided meet and are made from fire-resistant materials. This information can usually be found by checking that the manufacturer’s label carries a fire-safety symbol. The only items that don’t have to meet these standards are mattresses, bed-bases, pillows, cushions and bed covers, but of course it is best to go above and beyond minimum requirements and do all you can to make sure that any you are meeting high safety standards. Landlords are not responsible for tenant-owned furniture and appliances – everything the tenant brings inside the property is their own responsibility.
Lesson learned, never assume. I think a grovelling call to the agent is in order
Why am I NOT surprised that the agent is ignoring you?
Oh that’s because they’re agents! And this is what they do all the time.
Don’t even bother with agent who never cares about any tenant!
I have read mixed things also, but my overriding finding is that a mattress at the very least does need a BS7177 label or the agent/landlord needs to be able to prove the mattress fulfils the BS7177 requirements by testing or other means.
Regardless I think given the mattress is old and stained anyway, it would be silly not to just dispose of it, it’s not fit for a tenant…
Just to quote another source which explicitly says no label required. (Firesafe-org-uk)
Summary
The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989, 1993 and 2010) are UK law and are designed to ensure that upholstery components and composites used for furniture supplied in the UK meet specified ignition resistance levels and are suitable labelled. There are six main elements contained within the Regulations:
Filling materials must meet specified ignition requirements
Upholstery composites must be cigarette resistant
Covers must be match resistant (with certain exceptions as outlined in Section 8.2 and Appendix A5)
4. A permanent label must be fitted to every item of new furniture (with the exception of mattresses and bed-bases)
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Just to add I don’t agree with this if this is the case, we are talking regulation requirements.
Quick question if the bed hadn’t broken days after you moving in and if you found that the mattress was comfy would you still be complaining (rightly or wrongly) that there is no label on them as they would STILL be in the property and still pose a risk etc but would be used
It’s definitely a grey area because the act you are quoting is also talking about furniture ‘supplied in the UK’, the law is not just talking about tenancies but also the sale of mattresses.
I would imagine the law is tighter for tenancies but it’s so convoluted it is impossible to tell…
Obviously not, but the two things aren’t mutually exclusive Gary.
My assumption is that the reason there isn’t a label, is because the mattress is so old. It’s an old style checkered mattress that looks like it was bought from our local market days before the tenancy. Fact of the matter is, which I stated to LL from the beginning the mattress simply is not fit for a tenancy. I can sleep on a card, hold floor if need be but the mattress is a joke haha.
If LL/agent doesn’t want to remove when it’s clearly a load of rubbish, then I will be particular about the laws and call them out as such (tit for tat…)
I only realised about the lack of fire safety label when I did a proper inspection of the inventory report and mattress itself. I am having to store it on a balcony, so why would I want something that isn’t safe for fires sitting on a mattress where people smoke from above?
