Scottish legislation has changed whereby all homes in Scotland must have interlinked Fire and Smoke alarms installed along with an adequate Carbon Monoxide Detector by February 1st, 2022. The new law was due to come into force in 2021 but its implementation has been delayed by a year due to the pandemic.
This legislative change covers homes in the private and social housing sectors.
All homes now require a fully interconnected ‘Category LD2’ Fire and Smoke alarm system. This means every home in Scotland, by law, should feature:
One smoke alarm installed in a living room – ideally the room that is most frequently used during the day.
One smoke alarm in every circulation space on every floor – i.e. a hallway or landing.
One heat alarm installed in every kitchen.
One of the requirements is that the alarms but be interlinked, so that if one goes off, they will all respond. This can be either via traditional cabling or wirelessly using radio frequency technology.
You are required to fit a heat alarm in your kitchen – this is better suited as a smoke alarm could be set off by smoke from cooking. Heat alarms are designed to react to rapidly rising temperatures which could indicate a fie.
You will also need to install a Carbon Monoxide detector where there is a fuel-burning appliance including boilers, fires, heaters and stoves, or where there is a flue.
Any alarms fitted in your home cannot run off replaceable batteries as these won’t meet the new Scottish regulations. Smoke and heat alarms will need to be mains powered or come with a sealed tamper-proof long life (up to 10 years) battery.
If you already have Fire and Smoke alarms installed in your property, it is essential that you determine whether they are interlinked – you can test this by pressing the test button on one alarm, if they are interlinked they should all sound.
If you live in rental accommodation, the responsibility for fitting the alarms will fall on the landlord. If you are renting your property and your alarms don’t meet the new regulations you are entitled to apply to the first-tier tribunal (Housing and property Chamber), which was set up to deal with landlord and tenant issues.
Find out more about this new legistation and your requirements
Clyde Property is a leading independent, multiple award-winning estate and letting agent with more than 30 years’ experience in selling and letting property in Scotland. Just call your local Clyde Property branch today for friendly, impartial advice on finding your next dream home.