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Fire Safety

Fire prevention within your home is of the highest priority for CBH and is monitored through visits from our service engineers and repair teams. Mentioned below are a few simple actions you must take to ensure the safety of you, your family and anyone else within the property and surrounding areas.

Your home should have a smoke alarm fitted. If it hasn’t, tell us straight away and we will fit one for you. Never paint over or remove an alarm. Please be aware that you should never remove a working battery from a smoke alarm. Make sure that the alarm is dusted regularly.

Never

  • Leave a chip pan on the cooker
  • Smoke in bed
  • Cover storage, convector or fan heaters
  • Leave an open flame, such as candles, unattended
  • Leave clothes to dry in front of a radiant heater
  • Remove a door closer (a special hinge found on the fire door)

Always

  • Keep doors closed at night
  • Unplug all electrical equipment when you are not using it and at night
  • Get rid of matches and cigarettes carefully
  • Use a fireguard with coal, electric and gas fires
  • Test your smoke alarm once a month, ensuring that it is clean and dust free
  • Report any broken or damaged electrical sockets or outlets to CBH
  • Allow access to CBH’s operatives or contractors to complete necessary inspections or maintenance works

TOP TIP – Plan an escape route

If fire breaks out in your home, leave the building as quickly as possible, close all doors (if possible) as you go and phone 999 for the fire brigade. Do not re-enter the building in any circumstance until the fire service advise you that it is safe to do so.

If there is a fire within the communal area or another flat in your block and there is no immediate danger, unless otherwise instructed, you are encouraged to stay in your flat, keep your fire door closed and call the fire service on 999. You will need to wait until they advise you it is safe to evacuate your property.

There are lots of things you can do to keep you and your neighbours safe and reduce the risk of a fire. If you live in a block of flats, it’s really important and a requirement of our Fire Safety Policy and Tenancy Agreement that you don’t store any of your items in any of the communal areas so that you and your family can escape safely. To help with this Stroud District Council in partnership with Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service have produced a video highlighting why these actions are so vital to ensure the safety of our customers and how we can all work together to keep each other fire safe – check it out here.

Please familiarise yourself with the Fire Action notice within your block, usually located on the noticeboard in your particular scheme.

See the Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service safety advice web page for more information.

We carry out fire risk surveys on all the properties we manage. If you’d like to see a copy of the fire survey for your home please contact us 0800 408 0000 | technical.services@cbh.org

E-bike battery fire safety

E-bike and e-scooter batteries can cause fires if not used correctly. Find out more about lithium-ion battery safety.

Electrical testing

We have a responsibility to make sure the electrics in your home are safe. Every 5 years we must carry out an EICR (Electrical Inspection Condition Report) at your property. Find out more about the EICR.