UK Broken Fire Alarm due to leak

[AlexBuz]

Hi everyone,

I apologise if I post this in the wrong place but I could really use some professional advice on this.

I live in a rented house and the fire alarm started beeping continuously, like when it needs the battery replaced. Which me and another tenant replaced and then it started beeping again. The landlord came over and realised this is happening because of a water leakage from the bathroom above and decided to take the fire alarm down completely and doesn't look like he's going to do anything else about it.

My question is, will this present a risk in terms of short circuiting the mains or potentially starting a fire if water is leaking on live wires from the fire alarm in the ceiling?

I would really appreciate some professional advice from an electrician in regards to this.

Many Thanks,
Alex

 

[timhoward]

There are 3 flavours of fire alarm;
-battery
-mains, one or more, interlinked
-panel system, where circuit is 24v

Most likely you have middle one.
Short answer is yes this needs sorting, ideally of course fix leak and reinstate, otherwise circuit should be turned off and/or temp disconnected with due considerations to risks of having no fire detection until it is sorted.

 

[Dustydazzler]

The smoke alarm could be dropped down and left to hang freely on the cables no problem. The ceiling can then be left to dry before screwdriving the alarm back up

 

[littlespark]

It’s part of any rental agreement that the property must have smoke alarms. Is the landlord doing anything about it?

it’s not going to break the bank getting a new one.

 

[AlexBuz]

The smoke alarm could be dropped down and left to hang freely on the cables no problem. The ceiling can then be left to dry before screwdriving the alarm back up

Well he's not planning on sorting out the leak. Leaving aside the fact that the fire alarm won't be working, if you get water on the cables and the circuit is not turned off could that cause any other problems?

 

[littlespark]

A non working smoke detector could be the least of your problems if a damp ceiling comes down.

I think we may be presuming too much here. Is it possible to photograph how he’s left the cables? They may be temporarily made safe, or turned off at the board.
photograph the consumer unit as well, there may be a dedicated detector circuit which he’s turned off.

 

[AlexBuz]

A non working smoke detector could be the least of your problems if a damp ceiling comes down.

I think we may be presuming too much here. Is it possible to photograph how he’s left the cables? They may be temporarily made safe, or turned off at the board.
photograph the consumer unit as well, there may be a dedicated detector circuit which he’s turned off.

I've made some photos how the fire alarm was left and the watermarks formed from the bathroom upstairs

 

[littlespark]

The socket there may still be live, but as it is, it’s safe. (As long as no one stands on a chair and pokes about)

is above here a separate property?

 

[AlexBuz]

The socket there may still be live, but as it is, it’s safe. (As long as no one stands on a chair and pokes about)

is above here a separate property?

Thanks for the reply. It's the same property, it's just that the landlord doesn't seem to want to spend money on fixing things when they break.

I was more worried about short circuiting the mains and frying my pc or starting a fire rather than the fact that he might have to change the plasterboard and paint it when that will start falling...