A fire or any other safety emergency in a rental property can be devastating the tenant and the landlord. It is in the best interest of both parties to know all about the fire protection and building safety measures that are in place for your property, so that in the event of an emergency, you and your tenants know what to expect and how to respond.
All residential property owners must present this Washington State Fire & Life Safety Disclosure Form to each tenant. The document offers a series of yes or no questions that will give the tenant proper fire protection and safety information for your property. This form includes information on what kind of smoke alarms are in the unit and whether they are battery powered or hard-wired. The rest of the questions refer to multi unit buildings. Other fire-related questions pertain to fire sprinklers, fire alarms, and whether or not there is a smoking policy in place. In additional questions, the landlord will disclose whether or not emergency notification, emergency relocation, and emergency evacuation plans exist for the property. If those plans do exist, they must be attached to the Fire & Life Safety Disclosure Form.
This disclosure should be given to the tenant prior to their occupancy. Both the property owner or agent and the tenant must sign this straightforward disclosure form. In addition to being required by state laws, distributing this form and any associated emergency plans will help to educate the tenant on the plans that a landlord has created and put into place. As a landlord, completing and distributing this form as required may give you peace of mind knowing that the measures that you have put into place in the event of fire or other emergency will be known to your tenants. This will hopefully aid everyone in your property in the event of any emergency.