Fire Prevention in Your Rented Business

Renting a building means you operate out of someone else’s owned space. You might own the business assets, but someone else owns the building. If something catastrophic happens, like a fire, it could damage both parties’ assets. If the fire was your fault, the property owner might expect help repairing the property. Your liability insurance’s property damage coverage might prove helpful in these situations. Even so, what can you do to prevent fires in the first place?

Most liability insurance allows you to repay others if you damage their property. Nevertheless, you don’t want to cause problems if you can help it. Take steps today to reduce your fire risk.

Fire Prevention in a Rented Business
Perhaps you leave a candle burning at your workstation. Ordinarily, this isn’t a good idea in the first place. The next thing you know, a fire breaks out. It spreads into the business’s walls and ceilings, which is the property of your landlord. It might even spread into other businesses, damaging the possessions of other proprietors.

Because you left the candle burning, investigators might deem the fire your fault. As a result, you might need to offer compensation to others affected by the burn. So, others might have a right to use your liability insurance to pay for their own repairs.

Payouts, and liability lawsuits might prove extremely expensive, even devastating, for your business. Therefore, do everything you can to prevent fires in your rented space.

• Verify that all smoke alarms, fire extinguishers or sprinkler systems work appropriately. If your property owner maintains these items, let them know if malfunctions occur.
• If you have flammable items like chemicals, keep them in appropriate spaces. Usually, you need to keep these items away from sources of heat, and should not try to mix them.
• Don’t keep sensitive flammable items like candles, in the space. More appropriate items include scent diffusers or gel sticks.
• If you sell sensitive items like light fixtures or electrical appliances, operate them with care. Don’t leave these items turned on when you close for the night. Apply the same scrutiny to personal electronics like computers or desk lamps.
• Don’t use items that appear faulty. Shut them down until you can repair them.
• Do not overload wall sockets or the electrical system. This could lead to sparking, blown fuses and more. Do not keep these items near water.
• Post clear warnings that you do not allow smoking or the use of other flammable items in the business.

With a little care, you can go a long way towards protecting your business against fire risks. As a result, you’ll protect not only yourself, but also other parties who own the property. That’s a big reduction in liability risks.