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Un-sprinklered apartment units
need fire extinguishers - It's the law. |
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All un-sprinklered apartment units in the city limits of Houston need fire extinguishers by the beginning of 2001. They are to be placed "at the kitchen entryway, accessible and no closer than five feet from the cooking appliance (that means the stove)."
The rule requires a 1-A, 10- B:C extinguisher. They cost around eight bucks. They do not have to be rechargeable. They do not need any sort of inspection tag. They are required to have a gauge showing they're charged (all the ones we've seen do). They do not have to be mounted. They can go inside a closet or cabinet, as long as they're easily accessible.
Some owners are mounting them, on the theory that they're less likely to disappear at the end of the lease term. Others are merely handing them to residents when they move in, and having them sign a lease addendum promising to keep their extinguishers in the right place.
(available from Houston Apt. Assn. Form Sales)
You are allowed to charge a fee if you want, or you can deduct from a resident's security deposit for a missing extinguisher.
In exchange for this, the Fire Department no longer requires large, outdoor-mounted extinguishers along sidewalks and breezeways.
You still need extinguishers in your leasing office, laundry rooms and other indoor common areas.
Do you need something to keep your spirits up as you're buying boxes of extinguishers?
As property insurance rates continue to skyrocket, many owners are raising per-incident deductibles.
One manager who installed extinguishers earlier this year already has had a resident squirt out a substantial grease fire with her $8 extinguisher, probably saving the owner more in a few seconds than the cost of all the fire extinguishers purchased for the entire company several times over.