Fire Precautions Act 1971 (repealed)

Premises for which fire certificates are required

Uses of premises for which fire certificate is compulsory

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Premises exempt from s. 1

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Short title, extent and commencement.

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Right of appeal against, and coming into force of, notices under s. 3

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Fire certificates

Application for, and issue of, fire certificate

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Contents of fire certificate

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Offences in relation to foregoing provisions

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Change of conditions affecting adequacy of certain matters specified in fire certificate, etc.

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Right of appeal as regards matters arising out of ss. 5 to 8

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Premises involving excessive risk to persons in case of fire

Court's power to prohibit or restrict use of certain premises until excessive risk to persons in case of fire is reduced

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Building and other regulations about fire precautions

Building regulations as to provision of means of escape in case of fire etc., and related power to amend local Acts

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Power of Secretary of State to make regulations about fire precautions

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Exercise of certain powers of fire authority in England and Wales where building regulations as to means of escape apply

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Exercise of certain powers of fire authority in Scotland where building standards regulations as to means of escape apply

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Consultation between fire and other authorities

Duty of local authority to consult fire authority before dispensing with or relaxing certain requirements of building regulations

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Duty of local authority to consult fire authority in certain cases before passing plans

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Duty of fire authorities to consult other authorities before requiring alterations to buildings

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Enforcement

Enforcement of Act

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Powers of inspectors

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Exercise on behalf of fire inspectors of their powers by officers of fire brigades

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Restriction on disclosure of information

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Offences, penalties and legal proceedings

Falsification of documents, false statements etc.

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Offences by bodies corporate

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Offences due to fault of other person

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Defence available to persons charged with offences

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Appeals to magistrates' courts

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Appeal from order made on complaint

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Power of county court or sheriff, where notice under s. 3 is in force, to modify agreements and leases and apportion expenses

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Amendments of other Acts

Extension of ss. 24 and 33 of Fire Services Act 1947

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Provisions as to ss. 59 and 60 of Public Health Act 1936 and certain similar enactments

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Suspension of terms and conditions of licences dealing with same matters as fire certificates or regulations

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Provision for securing exercise of local Act powers in conformity with this Act

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Amendment of Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963

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Modification of Rent Act 1968 and corresponding Scottish Acts

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Miscellaneous and general

Power to apply Act to vessels and movable structures

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Power of local authorities to make loans to meet expenditure on certain alterations to buildings occasioned by this Act

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General provisions as to regulations

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Service of documents

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Expenses

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Application to Crown, etc.

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Application to premises occupied by U.K. Atomic Energy Authority

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Powers of Parliament of Northern Ireland

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Interpretation

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Short title, extent and commencement

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SCHEDULE

PART I — Modifications of Rent Act 1968

Steps mentioned in certain notices under this Act to count as improvements for certain purposes of Rent Act 1968

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• (1) The following provisions of this paragraph apply where a dwelling which is the subject of a regulated or controlled tenancy consists of or is comprised in premises with respect to which there has been issued a fire certificate covering (in whatever terms) the use of the dwelling as a dwelling.

• (2) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, the amount of any expenditure incurred by the landlord or a superior landlord in taking in relation to the relevant building a step mentioned in a notice served in connection with the premises under section 5(4), 8(4) or (5) or 12(8)(b) of this Act shall for the purposes of the Rent Act 1968 be treated (whether or not apart from this paragraph it would be so treated) as expenditure incurred by the landlord or superior landlord on an improvement effected in the dwelling.

• (3) If from the taking in relation to the relevant building of any such step as is referred to in sub-paragraph (2) above there accrues benefit not only to the dwelling but also to other premises of the landlord or superior landlord comprised in the relevant building, the amount to be treated as mentioned in that sub-paragraph shall be so much only of the expenditure as may be determined, by agreement in writing between the landlord and the tenant or by the county court, to be properly apportionable to the dwelling, having regard to the benefit accruing, from the taking of the step, to the dwelling and to the other premises.

• (4) Any apportionment made by the county court under sub-paragraph (3) above shall be final and conclusive.

• (5) For the purposes of this paragraph the amount of any expenditure shall be treated as diminished by the amount of any grant paid in respect of that expenditure under any enactment.

• (6) Any such step as is referred to in sub-paragraph (2) above shall for the purposes of the following provisions, namely—

• (a) sections 25(3) and 59 of the Rent Act 1968 (right of tenant in certain cases to challenge amount of expenditure on improvements); and

• (b) section 53 of the Housing Act 1969 (by virtue of which the provisions of sections 21(5) and 25(1) of the Rent Act 1968. as to the effect of improvements on the limit of rent before registration do not apply to improvements with respect to which a grant under Part I of the Housing Act 1969. is payable or has been paid),

be treated (whether or not apart from this paragraph it would be so treated) as an improvement; but no application shall be made under section 25(3) or 59 of the Rent Act 1968 on the ground that an improvement consisting of such a step was unnecessary.

• (7) The power of the Lord Chancellor under section 106 of the Rent Act 1968 to make rules and give directions for the purpose of giving effect to certain provisions of that Act shall extend to the provisions of this paragraph.

• (8) Expressions used in this paragraph and in the Rent Act 1968 have the same meaning in this paragraph as in that Act.

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• (1) In relation to a dwelling-house consisting of or comprised in premises—

• (a) with respect to which there has been issued a fire certificate covering (in whatever terms) the use of the dwelling-house as a dwelling ; or

• (b) which are the subject of an application for a fire certificate specifying as a use of the premises which it is desired to have covered by the certificate a use such that, if a certificate covering that use were issued, it would cover (in whatever terms) the use of the dwelling-house as a dwelling,

section 45 of, and Schedule 7 to, the Rent Act 1968 (which relate to certificates of fair rent) shall have effect as if in subsection (1)(a) of that section the reference to making improvements in the dwelling-house included a reference to taking in relation to the relevant building any steps mentioned in a notice served, in connection with the premises under section 5(4), 8(4) or (5) or 12(8)(b) of this Act; and any step mentioned in such a notice shall for the purposes of the said section 45 and Schedule 7, in their application to such a dwelling-house, be treated (whether or not apart from this paragraph it would be so treated) as an improvement.

• (2) In this paragraph " dwelling-house " has the same meaning as in the Rent Act 1968.

Modification of Rent Act 1968 in cases where rent is increased by virtue of section 28(3)(b) of this Act

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• (1) Where, in the case of any premises consisting of a dwelling-house let on a protected tenancy which is a regulated tenancy, the rent payable in respect of the premises is increased by an order of a court made by virtue of section 28(3)(b) of this Act and that increase takes effect while a rent for the dwelling-house is registered under Part IV of the Rent Act 1968, being a rent that was so registered before the completion of the alterations or other things falling within section 28(3) of this Act of which the expense was taken into account by the court in making the order, then—

• (a) the contractual rent limit for any contractual period beginning while the registration of that rent continues to have effect shall be what it would be for that period under section 20(2) of that Act if the rent so registered had been simultaneously increased by the same amount (and the reference in section 47(3)(a) of that Act to the limit imposed by section 20(2) shall be construed accordingly); and

• (b) if the regulated tenancy of the dwelling-house becomes a statutory tenancy, section 22(2) of that Act (limit of rent during statutory periods of regulated tenancy, and provision for increase up to that limit) shall have effect, in relation to any statutory period of that tenancy beginning while the registration of that rent continues to have effect, as if the rent so registered had been simultaneously increased by the same amount.

• (2) Where, in the case of any premises consisting of a dwelling-house let on a protected tenancy which is a regulated tenancy, the rent payable in respect of the premises is increased by an order of a court made by virtue of section 28(3)(b) of this Act and that increase takes effect while no rent for the dwelling-house is registered under Part IV of the Rent Act 1968, then for any contractual period for which the contractual rent limit is that specified in section 20(3) of that Act, the contractual rent limit shall be increased by an amount equal to the increase effected by the order in the rent payable for that period.

• (3) Where, in the case of any premises consisting of a dwelling-house let on a protected tenancy which is a regulated tenancy, the rent payable in respect of the premises is increased by an order of a court made by virtue of section 28(3)(b) of this Act, the contractual rent limit shall not be increased under section 21(5) of the Rent Act 1968 by reference to any expenditure taken into account by the court in making the order.

• (4) Part III of the Rent Act 1968 (rents under regulated tenancies) shall be amended by the insertion of the words "and paragraph 3 of Part I of the Schedule to the Fire Precautions Act 1971 —

• (a) in section 20 (limit of rent during contractual periods), after the words " section 47(3) of this Act" in subsection (2), and after the word " below " in subsection (3); and

• (b) in section 22 (limit of rent during statutory periods), after the words " section 47(3) of this Act" in subsection (2).

• (5) Expressions used in this paragraph and in Part III of the Rent Act 1968 have the same meaning in this paragraph as in that Part.

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• (1) Where, in the case of any premises consisting of a dwelling let on a protected tenancy which is a controlled tenancy, the rent payable in respect of the premises is increased by an order of a court made by virtue of section 28(3)(b) of this Act then—

• (a) the rent limit under any controlled tenancy of the dwelling for any rental period beginning with or after the date on which that increase takes effect shall be increased by an amount per annum equal to the amount per annum of the increase effected by the order in the rent payable in respect of the dwelling ; and

• (b) the increase effected by the order in the rent payable in respect of the dwelling for any rental period shall, notwithstanding anything in section 53 of the Rent Act 1968 (procedure for increasing rents under controlled tenancies) be recoverable without the service of any notice of increase.

• (2) Where, in the case of any premises consisting of a dwelling let on a protected tenancy which is a controlled tenancy, the rent payable in respect of the premises is increased by an order of a court made by virtue of section 28(3)(b) of this Act, the rent limit shall not be increased under section 56 of the Rent Act 1968 by reference to any expenditure taken into account by the court in making the order.

• (3) In section 52(3) of the Rent Act 1968 (which mentions the provisions of that Act under which the rent limit is subject to adjustment), after the word "below" there shall be inserted the words " and paragraph 4(1) of Part I of the Schedule to the Fire Precautions Act 1971 ".

• (4) Expressions used in this paragraph and in Part V of the Rent Act 1968 (rents under controlled tenancies) have the same meaning in this paragraph as in that Part.

PART II — Modifications of Acts Applicable to Scotland which Correspond to the Rent Act 1968 until the Rent (Scotland) Act 1971 comes into force

Steps mentioned in certain notices under this Act to count as improvements for certain purposes of Acts applicable to Scotland which correspond to the Rent Act 1968 until the Rent (Scotland) Act 1971 comes into force

1

• (1) The following provisions of this paragraph apply where a dwelling-house which is let on or subject to a regulated or an existing controlled tenancy consists of or is comprised in premises with respect to which there has been issued a fire certificate covering (in whatever terms) the use of the dwelling-house as a dwelling.

• (2) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, the amount of any expenditure incurred by the landlord in taking in relation to the relevant building a step mentioned in a notice served in connection with the premises under section 5(4), 8(4) or (5) or 12(8)(b) of this Act shall be treated (whether or not apart from this paragraph it would be so treated)—

• (a) in the case of a dwelling-house let on or subject to an existing controlled tenancy, as expenditure on the improvement or structural alteration of the dwelling-house for the purposes of section 2(1)(a) of the Act of 1920, and

• (b) in the case of a dwelling-house let on or subject to a regulated tenancy, as an amount expended on an improvement effected in the dwelling-house for the purposes respectively of sections 4(5) and 6(6) of the Rent Act 1965.

• (3) If from the taking in relation to the relevant building of any such step as is referred to in sub-paragraph (2) above there accrues benefit not only to the dwelling-house but also to other premises of the landlord comprised in the relevant building, the amount to be treated as mentioned in that sub-paragraph shall be so much only of the expenditure as may be determined, by agreement in writing between the landlord and the tenant or by the sheriff, to be properly apportionable to the dwelling-house, having regard to the benefit accruing, from the taking of the step, to the dwelling-house and to the other premises.

• (4) Any apportionment made by the sheriff under sub-paragraph (3) above shall be final and conclusive.

• (5) For the purposes of this paragraph the amount of any expenditure shall be treated as diminished by the amount of any grant paid in respect of that expenditure under any enactment.

• (6) Any such step as is referred to in sub-paragraph (2) above shall for the purposes of the following provisions, namely—

• (a) section 6(7) of the Rent Act 1965 (right of tenant of regulated tenancy to challenge amount of expenditure on improvements on ground that expenditure was unnecessary or unreasonable);