Since February 2022, every home in Scotland, owned or rented, has been expected to meet the same alarm standard. It catches a lot of people out, because a house that felt perfectly well protected under the old rules often doesn’t comply with the new ones.
What the standard requires
To meet the Scottish standard, a home needs:
- one smoke alarm in the most-used living space (usually the living room),
- one smoke alarm in every hallway and landing, on each storey,
- one heat alarm in the kitchen, and
- all of those alarms interlinked, so when one sounds, they all sound.
On top of that, a carbon monoxide alarm is required in any room with a carbon-fuelled appliance (a gas boiler, a wood-burning stove, an open fire) or a flue running through it.
What “interlinked” actually means
Interlinking can be done two ways: sealed-battery alarms that link wirelessly, or mains-wired alarms with an interlink (wired or wireless). Both meet the standard when the right alarm types are in the right rooms. Mains-wired systems suit rewires and bigger refurbishments, where the wiring is accessible anyway; wireless sealed-battery systems can be fitted with far less disruption in a finished home.
What doesn’t comply is the old approach: a lone battery smoke alarm on the landing that works independently of everything else.
Landlords take note
For rented homes this isn’t just guidance. Alarm provision forms part of the repairing standard a rental property must meet, and it sits alongside the EICR duties we’ve covered separately.
Getting it done
We supply and fit interlinked smoke, heat and CO alarms as a standard service across Dundee and the surrounding area. See the smoke, heat and CO alarms service page or ask us for a free quote for your property.
Summarised from Scottish Government guidance current at the time of writing. Check gov.scot for the latest detail.