Fire alarm inspection?

I got a note from my building owner that they were going to carry out fire alarm inspections, asking people to be try to be home and available between 10:30 and 16:30. I’m not exactly enthusiastic about using up a vacation day just to sit home and wait for someone to visit my apartment for 5 minutes. The slip didn’t mention any repercussions from not being available, but since they do ask everyone to be available…. Has anyone had a similar thing with their landlord? Think it would be fine to slip out of it?

12 comments
  1. I would think you could just let your landlord know you’re unavailable and that they have permission to open your residence in your absence?

  2. They obviously can’t force you to be home. Tell the landlord that you can’t be there and you give them permission to do the check while you’re gone.

  3. Meh. I always play the I can’t read Japanese card for stuff like that. From what I’ve seen/heard in my building a lot of people don’t hang out for stuff when asked.

    (And yes, before anyone loses their shit I can read Japanese well enough. It’s not that kind of situation.)

  4. Don’t take a day off for this. My guess is that if they can’t get to you on that day you’ll find a paper in your mail box telling you next time they’ll come on a Saturday. If you can’t make that happen, you need to talk to your landlord.

  5. We had this a few months ago. But they said that there will be a Saturday afterwards if we weren’t able to be home on that day

  6. I get that it’s inconvenient for you, but regular fire inspections are strictly enforced law here, and I would not compromise my own and everyone’s safety just because I was too bothered to sit at home.
    If you slip out of it, there’s a possibility that the building is not going to pass the fire inspection this time, and your landlord is going to face repercussions. I think there is also a clause in your rental contract that pretty much obliges you to cooperate with safety inspections.

  7. They are going to try to lease a picopico smoke sensor. You can reject it and you should. I ignored it until it caught me at home like 3 months after leaving many notes in my inbox, just to let him take an old smoke sensor and saying him NO to a new picopico. I mean, its fucking useless as nobody will notice it if you are not home and if you are home you better notice the problem before picopico does.

  8. They do these fire inspections in my building once every few months, and they always provide a phone number to call if you’re not going to be available on the day and time they are going to come, so you could just call to make sure.

  9. Thanks for all the suggestions, I’ll give my landlord a call and see if they’ll be able to come back another time, or do the check without me being home.

  10. You don’t have to be present! It’s just a notice, it’s not like they can fine you or anything.

    If anything you’ll just make there day longer and have them keep coming back😅

    The owner doesn’t want to keep paying for the inspectors to keep coming back.

    They will leave another letter in you mail box or they wi call you to ask for a specific time and day, once you agree to that then you really have to be waiting in your room 👍🏽

  11. Just call the landlord and say you pressed the test button and it made the sound.

    But like actually check it.

    Maybe it’s because I’m from a small building but when I told the guys I can check it myself I haven’t got another notice.

  12. I have made myself available for every inspection for the last 5 years. Always the same inspector (top bloke, good banter). Couldn’t make myself available this year though. Made it known that we would be out of town for it as we already had plans. Haven’t been punished for it yet, and it’s been 3 months. Of course we’re open to the inspection, however I was given less than a week’s notice for the last one and already had plans.

    Just be nice about it, be open to reschedule, and it will most likely be ok.

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