By 
March 20, 2026
Why deathwatch beetle is more than a pest problem
You should treat deathwatch beetle as a repair-risk issue first, because hidden timber damage can become statutory liability with very little warning. RICS
If you get this wrong, the problem is not the beetle alone. It is the claim, the unsafe floor, and the question of why you did not act sooner. Once timber attack is linked to dampness, fungal decay, weakened joists, unsafe floors, failing roof timbers, or compromised beams, you are in repair territory, not just pest-control territory.
That matters even more in Sussex and the South East. Older properties, solid walls, historic oak, and awkward roof details create exactly the conditions in which hidden moisture problems sit behind visible holes.
“The key to controlling insect infestations is controlling moisture.” — Mike Parrett, building pathologist and chartered building surveyor, Michael Parrett Associates / RICS
Why you should not file this under “ordinary woodworm”
The conservation view is blunt: old buildings are often sprayed unnecessarily because historic holes are mistaken for active infestation. If the signs are historic and the timber is dry and sound, your response may be limited to monitoring and records. If the same signs sit alongside damp, fresh frass, soft sapwood, movement underfoot, or visible loss of strength, your exposure changes fast. SPAB
“I thought I had a pest issue; then the survey showed damp joist ends and suddenly it was a repair liability.” — a period property landlord in East Sussex
The real risk is what the beetle often points to
Technical conservation guidance says the first question is whether the problem is current or historic, and whether treatment is needed at all. In practice, the deeper issue is usually moisture. Miss that and you can pay for treatment, leave the cause untouched, and still face a disrepair complaint later when the same timber continues to fail. That is why deathwatch beetle belongs in your repairs workflow, not just your pest-control budget. Historic England
When Section 11 actually applies to deathwatch beetle damage
Section 11 usually matters when timber attack affects parts of the structure or exterior that you must keep in repair during the tenancy. Legislation.gov.uk
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 applies to most residential tenancies in England, including private and social tenancies, but not licences or lodger agreements, and generally not fixed terms of seven years or more. It requires you to keep the structure and exterior in repair, and you cannot contract out of that duty by wording the tenancy differently. Shelter
In a deathwatch beetle case, the question is not whether insects exist in the abstract. It is whether the affected timbers form part of the building’s structure and have fallen into disrepair. Roof timbers, joists, beams, lintels, floor structures, stair elements, and timber embedded in walls can all matter if deterioration has affected the fabric you remain responsible for maintaining.
Which tenancies are covered and which are not
This duty usually applies to assured, assured shorthold, secure and similar residential tenancies. It usually does not apply to licences, lodger arrangements, business tenancies, or most fixed terms of seven years or more, although some social-sector exceptions exist.
What counts as “structure” in a beetle case
If infestation affects a tenant’s freestanding wardrobe, that is not usually your Section 11 problem. If it affects joists beneath a bedroom floor, a beam carrying load, a stair flight, or roof timbers allowing water in, that is different. Section 11 is concerned with the building fabric, not every timber item inside the dwelling.
| Situation | Why it matters | Likely Section 11 position |
|---|---|---|
| Deathwatch beetle in a structural beam | Beam forms part of the structure | Usually within scope if in disrepair |
| Joists weakened under a tenant’s floor | Structural safety and floor integrity | Usually within scope |
| Historic holes in dry, sound oak | May not show current disrepair | Not automatically a breach |
| Beetle in tenant-owned furniture | Not part of the structure | Usually outside scope |
| Communal roof timber above a flat | May involve common parts control | Can be within scope if you have interest/control |
Common parts matter too. If you have an estate or interest in them, and the defect affects the dwelling or areas your tenant is entitled to use, the duty can extend beyond the flat itself. That matters in converted houses, blocks, and leasehold structures where the roof void or stair core is not inside the let flat but still affects it.
Infestation, disrepair, or unfitness: which legal box are you in?
A beetle sighting does not prove breach by itself; your real test is whether disrepair, hazard, or unfitness is actually present.
Flight holes alone do not tell you whether you are looking at a live problem or old damage. You can see the holes and still not know whether you are looking at a historic curiosity, an active structural problem, or both. A survey that finds old exit holes in dry, stable timber is not the same as one that finds fresh frass, damp conditions, fungal decay, and measurable loss of strength.
Historic holes versus live activity
Active attack tends to leave fresher signs: new frass, crisp-edged emergence holes, and conditions that still support larvae. Old damage usually looks duller and may sit in timber that has long since dried out. Where the picture is unclear, monitoring can be sensible. You need proof before prescription.
“The second option is to take a little time and to consider the problem.” — Brian Ridout, author of Timber Decay in Buildings and its Treatment, Historic England Source
When it becomes disrepair
Once the issue moves from visible holes to deterioration in joists, boards, beams or roof timbers, you are in repair territory. Structural defects can create or worsen other housing problems, and the legal issue becomes whether part of the building fabric is no longer sound.
When it also becomes unfit
A property can also be unfit for human habitation if there is a health and safety hazard, even where the issue is not framed only as classic disrepair. In a deathwatch beetle case, the sharper route to unfitness is often not direct health harm from the beetle itself, but collapse risk, unsafe floors, falling material, damp-related conditions, or prolonged unsafe occupation.
You may get a report showing old holes in a medieval oak beam and no live activity. That is one problem. A damp, crumbling bedroom floor joist under an occupied room is another.
There is also a practical safety point. Insect attack in housing often signals underlying damp, and weakened joists or boards can become an injury risk. That is why a beetle report can trigger both a repair analysis and a hazard analysis at the same time.
When your duty starts: notice, inspection, evidence, and reasonable time
Your repair clock usually starts when you have notice, and your records often decide whether a later dispute becomes expensive.
You may not know exactly when “concern” becomes “legal notice”, and that uncertainty is where costly delay often starts. You are not normally liable to carry out Section 11 works until you have been put on notice, although common-parts cases can differ. Notice does not need to be formal. A text, email, phone call, inspection note, or contractor observation can be enough if it would cause a reasonable landlord to investigate.
What counts as notice in practice
If your tenant says there is fresh dust around a beam, the floor feels springy, or a ceiling below is cracking beneath a roof void, you should treat that as notice requiring inquiry. You may also be treated as knowing about the issue if you saw it during inspection or if your contractor reported it to you. Waiting for a perfectly worded formal complaint is usually a strategic mistake.
What “reasonable time” really means
There is no fixed statutory timetable under Section 11. Reasonable time depends on the extent of the disrepair, availability of parts, whether the tenant is in occupation, and what temporary measures are in place. In a timber-infestation case, that usually means immediate make-safe action if there is danger, early specialist inspection, then permanent repair without drift.
Your tenant texts on Friday about wood dust by the stairs. On Monday your contractor sees damp staining and movement in the tread. You cannot sensibly argue later that you knew nothing.
The file you should build from day one
Start a chronology. Save the first report. Photograph the affected area. Record occupancy risk. Log inspection dates, moisture readings, survey findings, access attempts, temporary works, and the repair decision. If the matter later becomes a council complaint or County Court claim, your file may be the difference between “prompt, proportionate response” and “landlord delay”.
A good file also helps you distinguish active infestation from historic damage, isolate the moisture source, and justify localised repair rather than wholesale replacement. Evidence shows process, not panic.
What your tenant can do if you delay or get it wrong
If you delay after notice, your tenant can escalate through court, local authority enforcement, complaints, and sometimes pressure over alternative accommodation.
Your tenant’s options are broader than many landlords assume. The main routes are a County Court claim for breach of the Section 11 implied term, specific performance to force repairs, damages, and a request for local authority inspection where the condition creates a hazard. In serious cases, council action can move from advice to enforcement.
For social housing, the timing picture is tighter. From 27 October 2025, Awaab’s Law applies to social landlords for emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazards, with fixed response requirements including 24-hour action for emergency hazards. As of 28 March 2026, those statutory timeframes do not yet apply to the private rented sector, as the government response explains on GOV.UK.
The possession landscape is also shifting. The government’s implementation roadmap says the first phase of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 comes into force on 1 May 2026, abolishing section 21 and moving the private rented sector into the new tenancy regime. On 28 March 2026, section 21 still exists, but it is close to the end. Delay already creates leverage against you. Soon it will do so in a system with fewer escape routes.
| Tenant route | What triggers it | Risk to you |
|---|---|---|
| County Court disrepair claim | Delay after notice | Damages and repair order |
| Council HHSRS complaint | Hazard or unsafe condition | Improvement or prohibition action |
| Housing Ombudsman | Social landlord complaint | Formal findings and maladministration risk |
| Move-out / temporary accommodation dispute | Major unsafe works or uninhabitable rooms | Cost, complaint, and rent dispute |
What you should do in practice: diagnose, make safe, repair, then treat
The safest response is to diagnose activity, remove moisture, make the structure safe, and only then specify repair and treatment.
That methodology is decisive. Treatment may not be necessary, and dry timber is effectively resistant to further attack. If you lead with spraying, you can miss the water ingress, miss the decay, and miss the real repair duty. In older rentals, the common failure is simple: the insect gets blamed, but the leak, blocked gutter, poor subfloor ventilation, or damp wall is what keeps the problem alive.
Step 1: inspect and make safe
Your first job is safety. If floors are spongy, stairs are failing, a ceiling is sagging, or a tenant is exposed to falling material, make safe first. That may mean temporary propping, isolating an area, limiting access, or arranging urgent structural review before full remedial scope is agreed. Short-term inconvenience is manageable. Structural collapse is not.
Step 2: establish whether the attack is active
You need a proper timber inspection, not a sales visit dressed up as one. Check for fresh frass, current emergence, moisture conditions, extent of sapwood loss, fungal decay, and whether strength has been compromised. The first question is whether the problem is current or historic. Ambiguous cases may need monitoring rather than instant treatment.
Step 3: find the moisture source
Look for leaking gutters, failed flashings, plumbing leaks, poor subfloor ventilation, condensation, defective masonry, or long-term water ingress into embedded joist ends. If you do not cure the dampness, you do not cure the case. The beetle is a symptom. The water path is the case file.
Step 4: specify the repair properly
Repair does not always mean wholesale replacement. In old buildings, localised splice repair, strengthening, bearing repairs, selective replacement, and moisture control may be the right answer. The repair should be proportionate to actual loss of strength, not to the level of alarm in the room.
| Stage | What you do | Why it protects you |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge | Confirm the report and inspect | Shows prompt response after notice |
| Make safe | Deal with immediate risk | Reduces injury and enforcement exposure |
| Diagnose | Confirm activity, decay, and moisture | Avoids wrong scope |
| Repair | Fix structure and root cause | Meets the real duty |
| Review | Reinspect and document completion | Helps close out dispute risk |
Step 5: treat only where justified
Targeted chemical treatment, heat treatment, or monitoring can be appropriate in some cases, but these are secondary measures, not substitutes for drying. Chemical treatments can also create separate issues in heritage structures and may affect bats in roof spaces. That is another reason to start with diagnosis, not product choice.
Heritage, listed buildings, and the Sussex problem
Older Sussex and South East buildings add complexity because heritage value changes how you repair, not whether you must act.
Southern England’s older stock is exactly where this problem often becomes both technically and legally awkward. If you manage period stock, this is often the point where confidence drops. You know you need to act, but you also know the wrong repair can damage historic fabric, trigger consent issues, or waste money. Historic timber can show centuries of old attack, while moisture moves differently through traditional fabric.
What listed status changes
Listed status may affect method, approvals, and materials, but it does not excuse drift. Like-for-like repair can be treated differently from more substantial or character-affecting work. Once you move into extensive timber replacement, altered detailing, or loss of historic fabric, consent issues become much more likely. That distinction is explained in Historic England.
What listed status does not change
You still need to inspect, assess risk, make safe, and plan the repair path promptly. Waiting because “it might need consent” is rarely a defensible response if a tenant is living above unsafe timber or active water ingress is continuing. Method may be constrained. Inaction is not protected.
If your listed rental has active water ingress into old oak joists, your duty is not to freeze. It is to investigate immediately, protect occupants, and then coordinate the right repair method.
In older buildings, the right answer is often conservative repair with moisture control and limited replacement. That protects the building and strengthens your position because it shows you acted proportionately.
Your landlord action plan: the steps that protect your property, your tenant position, and your file
You protect your position by showing prompt investigation, clear communication, and proportionate repair grounded in evidence rather than guesswork.
By this stage, you do not need another warning. You need a clean sequence you can follow under pressure. Use this checklist if deathwatch beetle is reported in one of your rented properties:
- Acknowledge the report immediately.
- Inspect quickly or appoint a competent surveyor.
- Assess safety before debating treatment.
- Record photos, moisture readings, and access notes.
- Decide whether the issue is historic, active, structural, or all three.
- Trace and fix the moisture source.
- Specify structural repair before cosmetic treatment.
- Keep your tenant updated in writing.
- Reinspect after works.
- Retain the full file.
When you write to your tenant, keep it simple: confirm the issue has been logged, explain what inspection is being arranged, say whether any immediate safety measures are needed, give a realistic next update date, and avoid promising a treatment outcome before diagnosis is complete. Clear communication buys time. Vague reassurance does the opposite.
“We start with moisture, timber condition, and structural role first, because treating the beetle without diagnosing the cause leaves your risk in place.” — our senior timber surveyor, Sussex Damp Experts
If your property is in Sussex or the wider South East, and you need a specialist view on whether you are dealing with active beetle attack, damp-driven timber decay, or both, Sussex Damp Experts can inspect the building fabric, identify the moisture source, and help you move from suspicion to defensible repair scope. We focus on cause first, so you can make the right repair decision with evidence behind it.
The point is simple. You do not resolve a deathwatch beetle case by reacting to the beetle alone. You resolve it by understanding the chain: notice, safety, moisture, structure, repair, and evidence. That is how you protect your property, reduce tenant dispute risk, and stop a silent defect becoming a very public liability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does buildings insurance usually cover deathwatch beetle damage and the cost of repairs?
Buildings insurance may pay for some resulting damage or emergency works, but it often excludes infestation, gradual deterioration, rot, and long-running moisture defects.
The key issue is how your insurer classifies the chain of events. If a storm dislodges tiles, rain enters, and an emergency inspection then exposes hidden timber decay and beetle damage, the insurer may consider part of the claim under storm or escape-of-water provisions. If the same roof has leaked quietly for years because gutters were not maintained, flashings failed, or ventilation was poor, the insurer may say the real cause was lack of maintenance rather than an insured peril. In practice, that often means you recover some associated losses but not the full remedial package.
Before you authorise major works, read three sections of your policy carefully:
– Exclusions — insects, vermin, rot, fungus, wear and tear, defective design, and gradual deterioration
– Trace and access — useful where ceilings, floors, or linings must be opened to find the moisture source
– Loss of rent or alternative accommodation — relevant if the property cannot be safely occupied during structural repairs
When you notify the insurer, do not describe the issue loosely as “woodworm”. Send a structured pack instead:
1. first report from your tenant or contractor
2. dated photographs
3. a short chronology
4. survey findings
5. a cost breakdown separating moisture-source repairs, structural repairs, temporary safety works, and any treatment element
That separation matters because insurers often reject blended scopes where everything is labelled “beetle damage”. The adjuster needs to see what may be insured, what is maintenance, and what is betterment or improvement.
Two mistakes weaken claims again and again: authorising a full treatment package before notifying the insurer, and disposing of damaged timber before it has been recorded. Notify early, preserve evidence, and assume you may still need to fund at least part of the project yourself.
Who is responsible for deathwatch beetle damage in a flat or converted building: you, the freeholder, or the managing agent?
Responsibility in flats usually depends on the lease structure, because the damaged timber may legally sit in one title while physically supporting several homes.
That is why converted buildings create so many disputes. You may be the landlord of one flat, but the affected timber could sit in the roof, a communal stair, a floor between flats, or a beam buried in a wall that serves more than one demise. Your tenant sees one home and one landlord. Legally, you may be dealing with your tenancy agreement, your long lease, the freeholder’s covenants, the service charge machinery, and the managing agent’s authority to commission works.
Start with four documents:
– your tenancy agreement
– your lease, if you own a leasehold flat
– any management agreement or handbook
– the service charge and major works clauses
Then answer two questions. First, where is the timber legally located? Second, who has authority to inspect and instruct repairs? A suspended floor entirely within your demise may be yours. A roof timber above your flat may belong to the freeholder. A staircase in shared circulation space may be a common-parts issue funded through service charge.
Even if the freeholder is ultimately responsible, you should not simply forward the complaint and wait. If your tenant reports a potentially unsafe defect, you remain the first point of response. That means acknowledging the issue, making safe if necessary, notifying the freeholder or managing agent in writing, and recording every chase.
If responsibility is disputed, work through a strict sequence:
1. stabilise any immediate risk
2. notify every relevant party the same day
3. ask each party to identify the lease clause they rely on
4. confirm who is arranging inspection
5. keep your tenant updated with dates, not vague assurances
In older conversions, a building-wide defect log is often a better management tool than treating each flat as a separate timber problem.
What happens if your tenant refuses access for timber inspection or repair works?
A tenant’s refusal of access can slow the job, but it does not remove your duty or automatically excuse later delay.
You still need to show that you acted reasonably, repeatedly, and in a way that would stand up if the matter later reached court or the local authority. Most tenancy arrangements allow access for inspection and repairs on reasonable notice at a reasonable time, except in genuine emergencies. Timber defects often sit in a difficult middle ground: not always dramatic enough for forced emergency entry, but risky enough that waiting too long becomes hard to defend.
Your first step is clarity, not confrontation. Send a dated written request that explains:
– what needs inspecting
– why the visit matters
– whether there is any immediate safety concern
– who will attend
– how long access is likely to take
– what alternative appointments you can offer
If access is refused, keep a record of the refusal. Offer fresh dates. If opening-up is needed, explain what will be disturbed and how reinstatement will be handled. If the defect could affect safety, say so directly. Vague wording invites more delay.
A practical escalation ladder looks like this:
– Low immediate risk — keep offering reasonable appointments and recording attempts
– Moderate risk — increase the urgency, explain the possible consequences, and narrow the visit scope if that makes agreement easier
– High risk — take legal advice quickly about an injunction or other route to secure access
Shelter’s repairs guidance confirms that tenants are generally expected to allow reasonable access after notice, and that repeated refusal can affect how a later disrepair claim is viewed Shelter.
Do not retaliate, bluff about your powers, or leave long gaps between contact attempts. If your record shows sensible, persistent efforts by you and repeated obstruction by your tenant, your position is usually much stronger if the dispute later escalates.
How much should you expect to spend, and how long do deathwatch beetle remediation works usually take in a period property?
Costs and timescales vary widely, because the real price is usually driven by access, moisture defects, and structural repair scope rather than the beetle alone.
That is the shock many landlords get after the first quote. A smaller case may involve a survey, minor opening-up, localised repair, and fixing one damp source. A larger case may involve scaffolding, floor lifting, plaster removal, structural engineering input, specialist joinery, drying time, listed-building coordination, and staged reinstatement. Two properties with “deathwatch beetle” in the subject line can end up in entirely different cost bands for entirely sensible reasons.
The easiest way to budget is to split the job into layers:
-
Investigation
Timber inspection, damp diagnosis, and possibly structural engineering advice. -
Immediate safety works
Propping, temporary support, access restriction, or temporary coverings. -
Root-cause repairs
Gutters, flashings, plumbing leaks, masonry defects, ventilation improvements, or drainage work. -
Timber repairs
Splice repairs, local strengthening, bearing repairs, selective replacement, or larger structural renewal. -
Reinstatement
Ceilings, floors, plaster, joinery, finishes, and redecoration.
Timescales usually extend for three practical reasons. First, old buildings cannot always be opened, repaired, and closed in one visit. Second, drying takes time. Third, specialist trades and approvals often dictate the pace more than the defect itself. In occupied period properties, access arrangements alone can add weeks.
If you want realistic cost control, ask for staged pricing rather than one single lump sum:
– investigation budget
– make-safe budget
– root-cause budget
– timber repair budget
– reinstatement budget
That approach helps you make decisions as evidence improves. It also reduces the risk of agreeing too early to a treatment-led package that later expands sharply once concealed timber ends, floor voids, or wall bearings are exposed.
What records should you keep if you need to prove you handled a deathwatch beetle report properly?
You should keep a dated, decision-led file that shows what you knew, when you knew it, what options you considered, and what you did next.
That file matters for far more than court. It can become important for insurers, lenders, freeholders, managing agents, environmental health officers, future buyers, and even your accountant if major works need to be categorised correctly. The strongest files are not the thickest. They are the clearest. Someone new to the matter should be able to read them and understand the timeline without guesswork.
A good evidence pack usually has six sections:
-
Initial report
first tenant email, text, call note, inspection note, and exact date received -
Condition evidence
dated photographs, defect location plans, notes on movement, cracking, staining, and any visible dust or frass -
Inspection records
who attended, when they attended, what they could and could not inspect, moisture readings, opening-up notes, and access problems -
Professional opinion
survey reports, contractor findings, engineering advice, and conservation input where relevant -
Decision trail
why you chose monitoring, opening-up, make-safe works, treatment, or repair, plus emails to freeholders, agents, insurers, or tenants -
Completion evidence
invoices, completion photos, follow-up visits, and confirmation that the moisture source was addressed
If you manage several properties, turn this into a standard template. That saves time and improves consistency. Historic England’s broader conservation approach stresses understanding the building before intervening, and your records should reflect that logic: evidence first, intervention second Historic England.
The practical test is simple. If someone hostile opened the file six months later, would they see a rational sequence of report, inspection, risk assessment, scope, works, and follow-up? If not, your documentation needs work before the next case lands.
Does preventive beetle treatment count as a repair, an improvement, or a recoverable management cost?
Preventive beetle treatment is often closer to an improvement or discretionary maintenance measure than to a recoverable repair cost.
That distinction matters if you are deciding whether to recharge the cost through service charge, absorb it as planned maintenance, or include it within a wider remedial package. The answer usually depends on what the treatment is actually doing. If structural timber is already affected and targeted treatment forms part of a justified repair strategy, the cost may sit naturally within the repair project. If you are spraying dry, sound timber “just in case”, you are much closer to improvement or preventive asset management.
A useful test is to ask four questions:
1. Is there current structural disrepair?
2. Is the treatment tied to diagnosed active risk rather than suspicion?
3. Has the moisture source already been dealt with or clearly specified?
4. Would you still propose the same treatment if no live activity were found?
If the answer to the fourth question is yes, you are probably not dealing with pure repair.
This becomes especially important in blocks and mixed-ownership buildings. A broad “whole-building timber treatment” specification may look tidy, but it can be difficult to justify if only one area is actually affected. Leaseholders may challenge it. Managing agents may query recovery. Surveyors may ask why preventive spraying was chosen over monitoring and moisture control.
The safest administrative approach is to separate scopes and invoices:
– investigation
– make-safe works
– structural repair
– moisture-source repair
– justified targeted treatment
– optional preventive works
That separation protects your paper trail and helps with budgeting. It also reduces arguments later about what was necessary, what was optional, and what was intended to enhance the building rather than repair it. If you blur those categories, you create unnecessary risk in service charge disputes, reimbursement arguments, and future compliance reviews.
Do HMOs create extra obligations if deathwatch beetle affects stairs, escape routes, or shared structural areas?
In an HMO, timber defects affecting shared routes and structural safety can escalate faster because the risk is multiplied across several occupiers.
That changes your practical response even if the underlying beetle biology stays the same. In a single-let property, a weakened stair tread or floor zone is already serious. In an HMO, the same defect may affect escape, circulation, and daily use by several unrelated occupiers. That raises the pressure on inspection, make-safe decisions, and communication.
Your first question should not be “is this definitely deathwatch beetle?” It should be “does this affect a shared route or a safety-critical area?” Think staircases, landings, entrance halls, floors below bathrooms or kitchens, and roof structures above occupied rooms. If the answer is yes, treat the issue as a building-safety problem first and a species-identification problem second.
The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 require common parts, fixtures, fittings and appliances to be kept in good and clean decorative repair and safe working condition Legislation.gov.uk. If decayed or insect-damaged timbers affect common parts, the management implications can sharpen quickly.
A practical HMO response should include:
– immediate inspection of similar shared elements, not just the first reported spot
– temporary restriction, support, or route changes if safety is in doubt
– checks for linked moisture sources in bathrooms, kitchens, roof spaces, and service penetrations
– written updates to occupiers where access, noise, or movement is affected
– coordination with fire-risk management if escape stairs or protected routes are involved
There is also a management point many landlords miss: one visible defect may indicate a pattern of concealed deterioration elsewhere in the building. In HMOs, shared occupation increases wear, reporting delays, and scrutiny from local authorities. Your safest position is to inspect wider, document every decision carefully, and treat any defect on an escape route as a priority rather than a routine maintenance item.
