The Residential Services department is responsible for enforcing fire safety precautions and means of escape in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in Swindon. HMOs are inspected when they are identified and a plan is drawn of the property. A specification of fire precautions and means of escape, in addition to works relating to amenity provision, is then prepared and sent to the Chief Fire Officer for consultation. The Chief Fire Officer then considers the proposed scheme and comments formally on our proposals. The resultant scheme then forms the basis of the Schedule of Works enforced at the property.

Although every property is assessed individually, and consultation carried out for every individual case, many houses in Swindon are identical in layout and construction and can be treated similarly for fire precautions and means of escape in the absence of complicating factors.

We have produced some generic fire safety plans, for the most common forms of HMO and layout found in Swindon. They are reproduced below as a guide only to that which may be specified as a result of an inspection by this department.  

It cannot be over-stressed however that each HMO identified is individually inspected and consulted on with the Chief Fire Officer, and many different factors are considered before a property-specific scheme of works is detailed. The plans below outline the fire safety schemes most commonly specified by this department and can be used as a guide for general principles of fire safety in HMOs.

The Residential Services Department would strongly advise existing and prospective landlords in Swindon to contact us for advice and guidance relating to amenity provision, fire precautions and means of escape relating to Houses in Multiple Occupation. Works can then be scheduled in a controlled and considered manner, often without formal enforcement procedures.

Generic Fire Safety Plans

The following leaflets are available as downloadable pdf files:

Bedsit (Category A) Generic Fire Plan

Shared House (Category B) Generic Fire Plan

Self Contained Flat (Category F) Generic Fire Plan