Scottish Smoke/Fire/Heat Alarm Legislation.

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Agree or disagree (I agree), the time is nigh that those of us living in Scotland will soon have to have interlinked smoke/fire and heat alarms. There are no exceptions, we have to have them.


I think it is a good thing. The only thing I disagree with is that there is no help for funding them, we have to pay for them oursleves. I don't mind that personally as we are in a position to buy them, I do feel for people that might struggle to afford them though. That is of course, another story, it's just an opinion I have.

Anyway, I'm now looking into the regulations and what we'll need. We're in a 3 bedroom bungalow, with 1, L shaped hallway, with 1 kitchen and 1 living space. The way I see it, we will need a heat detector for the kitchen, a smoke alarm for the hallway and 1 for the living room. Me being me, I would also put one (smoke) in 2 of the 3 bedrooms, (ours and my daughter's). The smoke and heat alarms will have to be able to talk to each other as well as be hardwired or have a 10 year, sealed battery.

People will also need a carbon monoxide alarm but we have 2 already and they don't need to be interlinked to each other or to the smoke/heat alarms.

I think I have all bases covered correctly, in reality, we will just be replacing what we already have, minus the carbon monoxide alarms as we already have them.

One of our current smoke detectors (hallway) is hardwired, I'd like to keep it that way.

Any recommendations for packs please, something that will cover at a minimum, the legislstion? Any brands to go for or avoid?

ta muchly.
 
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ecoleman said:
Who’s going to police it?
Sturgeon and her Stazi going to do house calls?

anyway, what about Nest. They all link together.
Click to expand...

Could you not have just commented on the actual subject without dragging this pettishness into it?
 
Dale. said:
Agree or disagree (I agree), the time is nigh that those of us living in Scotland will soon have to have interlinked smoke/fire and heat alarms. There are no exceptions, we have to have them.


I think it is a good thing. The only thing I disagree with is that there is no help for funding them, we have to pay for them oursleves. I don't mind that personally as we are in a position to buy them, I do feel for people that might struggle to afford them though. That is of course, another story, it's just an opinion I have.

Anyway, I'm now looking into the regulations and what we'll need. We're in a 3 bedroom bungalow, with 1, L shaped hallway, with 1 kitchen and 1 living space. The way I see it, we will need a heat detector for the kitchen, a smoke alarm for the hallway and 1 for the living room. Me being me, I would also put one (smoke) in 2 of the 3 bedrooms, (ours and my daughter's). The smoke and heat alarms will have to be able to talk to each other as well as be hardwired or have a 10 year, sealed battery.

People will also need a carbon monoxide alarm but we have 2 already and they don't need to be interlinked to each other or to the smoke/heat alarms.

I think I have all bases covered correctly, in reality, we will just be replacing what we already have, minus the carbon monoxide alarms as we already have them.

One of our current smoke detectors (hallway) is hardwired, I'd like to keep it that way.

Any recommendations for packs please, something that will cover at a minimum, the legislstion? Any brands to go for or avoid?

ta muchly.
Click to expand...

Did mine a year or so back when it was first mooted, then the legislation got delayed by covid.

It's a good idea but the alarms that you need to get are very specific i.e. must be wifi linked*, if battery operated the battery must be a 10 year non replaceable one. Heat alarm for kitchen, smoke alarm in every hallway and in your most used room. These things are not cheap (until they save your life then worth every penny).

I got a set of FireAngel alarms, from amazon.

* /edit, not wifi linked, radio linked..
 
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Legislation linky

www.gov.scot

Fire and smoke alarms: the law

Every home in Scotland must have interlinked fire and smoke alarms. Find out what you need to keep your home safe and compliant with regulations.
www.gov.scot www.gov.scot
 
I really like the Aico kit. You can buy radio interconnected bases from Screwfix for £55 (less in some other places). These take a mains feed which you can spur off a light fitting. Then you can slot your choice of detector . Ionisation (£20) for bedrooms, optical (£30) for landings / living rooms, heat (£40) for kitchens. If one of them is faulty or reaches end of life you can remove and fit a new one in <2 mins.

To do everything including your 3 bedrooms would be about £415 and a couple of hours. If you can hardwire the interconnects then you can bring that down to about £140.

I've also been looking at the Nest detectors which have some very nice features - not least that they take AAs as backup not antiquated 9v. They also have built in CO monitors. You can mix battery and mains on the same system so if one place is awkward to run power it's easier. £515 for 5 / £576 for 6 direct from Google (may be cheaper elsewhere)
 
Steep said:
Did mine a year or so back when it was first mooted, then the legislation got delayed by covid.

It's a good idea but the alarms that you need to get are very specific i.e. must be wifi linked*, if battery operated the battery must be a 10 year non replaceable one. Heat alarm for kitchen, smoke alarm in every hallway and in your most used room. These things are not cheap (until they save your life then worth every penny).

I got a set of FireAngel alarms, from amazon.

* /edit, not wifi linked, radio linked..
Click to expand...

Steep said:
Legislation linky

www.gov.scot

Fire and smoke alarms: the law

Every home in Scotland must have interlinked fire and smoke alarms. Find out what you need to keep your home safe and compliant with regulations.
www.gov.scot www.gov.scot
Click to expand...

JonathanRyan said:
I really like the Aico kit. You can buy radio interconnected bases from Screwfix for £55 (less in some other places). These take a mains feed which you can spur off a light fitting. Then you can slot your choice of detector . Ionisation (£20) for bedrooms, optical (£30) for landings / living rooms, heat (£40) for kitchens. If one of them is faulty or reaches end of life you can remove and fit a new one in <2 mins.

To do everything including your 3 bedrooms would be about £415 and a couple of hours. If you can hardwire the interconnects then you can bring that down to about £140.

I've also been looking at the Nest detectors which have some very nice features - not least that they take AAs as backup not antiquated 9v. They also have built in CO monitors. You can mix battery and mains on the same system so if one place is awkward to run power it's easier. £515 for 5 / £576 for 6 direct from Google (may be cheaper elsewhere)
Click to expand...


Thanks for that, interesting stuff.

As we're a bungalow, I think, if I'm understanding it correctly, the bare minimum for us is a heat alarm in the kitchen, smoke detector in the hallway and living room.

I would add to 2 more smoke detectors to that, one in our bedroom and one in my daughter's room, so I need, 4 smoke detectors and 1 heat detector. I would like to replace our current hard wired smoke detector in the hallway with a hardwired one. We already have 2 carbon monoxide, which I understand (?) don't need to be linked to the heat/smoke detectors.

I was suprised to read that the Nest system isn't compatible with the legislation. :jawdrop:

Again, thanks for the input, now to decide on a brand. (y)
 
For those short of cash the Scottish Government is offering help I think. £400+ is a lot to pay for most people (though you can do it for much less).
 
Dale. said:
I was suprised to read that the Nest system isn't compatible with the legislation. :jawdrop:
Click to expand...

Ooo that's interesting - where did you read that?

I know the battery ones won't comply with current English legislation (which only applies to certain classes of rental properties) but assumed the wired ones would be OK.
 
We just moved into an old property and whilst it does have a few smoke alarms and I just installed a CO alarm, we will be rewiring the house and getting a linked system at the same time.

If you have a potential source of CO in your home please make sure you have a working CO alarm. I gave my father one some years ago and two years later it saved his life. We got an extra fourteen years with him that we wouldn't have had.
 
Dale. said:
Find out about the new smoke and heat alarm regulations in in Scotland – Which? News


I found this an interesting read, it goes on later in the article about the Nest issues.
Click to expand...

Very interesting - thanks.

It looks like another example of a badly written law. Traditional alarms in kitchens are a bad choice because toasters set them off. The "old" solution is to use a heat alarm instead - which is actually worse at spotting fires but much less prone to false alarms. Google come and invent something that the *claim* is better - a smoke alarm that can figure out it's actually the toaster but we have a law that says "no, you must only use this specific solution".

But none of that helps you. For the Scottish legislation I'd go with Aico. For my own house (which is in England) I'll probably fit Nest.
Steep said:
For those short of cash the Scottish Government is offering help I think. £400+ is a lot to pay for most people (though you can do it for much less).
Click to expand...

Indeed you can. I just looked on Amazon and you can buy a pack of 3 interlinked sealed battery alarms for 58 quid. Sadly they don't have a heat alarm either but I bet there's a bundle that do. Looks like things have moved on in the 2-3 years since I last looked at this. At the time interconnected sealed 10 year smoke alarms didn't exist so the only option was mains.
 
moggi1964 said:
We just moved into an old property and whilst it does have a few smoke alarms and I just installed a CO alarm, we will be rewiring the house and getting a linked system at the same time.

If you have a potential source of CO in your home please make sure you have a working CO alarm. I gave my father one some years ago and two years later it saved his life. We got an extra fourteen years with him that we wouldn't have had.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. 14 quid for a 10 year sealed one should be a no brainer for anybody. Great news that one saved your father.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Very interesting - thanks.

It looks like another example of a badly written law. Traditional alarms in kitchens are a bad choice because toasters set them off. The "old" solution is to use a heat alarm instead - which is actually worse at spotting fires but much less prone to false alarms. Google come and invent something that the *claim* is better - a smoke alarm that can figure out it's actually the toaster but we have a law that says "no, you must only use this specific solution".

But none of that helps you. For the Scottish legislation I'd go with Aico. For my own house (which is in England) I'll probably fit Nest.


Indeed you can. I just looked on Amazon and you can buy a pack of 3 interlinked sealed battery alarms for 58 quid. Sadly they don't have a heat alarm either but I bet there's a bundle that do. Looks like things have moved on in the 2-3 years since I last looked at this. At the time interconnected sealed 10 year smoke alarms didn't exist so the only option was mains.
Click to expand...
That was the problem I found as well, it's hard to find a linked set including a heat alarm.

/edit found this set on amazon, meets the spec and not expensive - https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAFE-TECH-Wireless-Interlinked-Battery-AJ718/dp/B09P861593
 
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Steep said:
That was the problem I found as well, it's hard to find a linked set including a heat alarm.

/edit found this set on amazon, meets the spec and not expensive - https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAFE-TECH-Wireless-Interlinked-Battery-AJ718/dp/B09P861593
Click to expand...
This company let you choose exactly what you need.
Based in Scotland and free delivery.
£108 for 3 smoke alarms and 1 heat alarm....

www.linkedupalarms.com

Linked Up Alarms | Wireless Smoke, Heat & CO Alarms

Stay safe & connected with Linked Up Alarms. Wireless Interlinked Smoke, Heat & CO detectors. Scotland & UK Free Delivery. Easy install. Shop now!
www.linkedupalarms.com www.linkedupalarms.com
 
JonathanRyan said:
But none of that helps you. For the Scottish legislation I'd go with Aico. For my own house (which is in England) I'll probably fit Nest.
Click to expand...
It sounds as if you know a lot more about this than I do, but the exclusion of Nest, is because of a British Standard that requires a heat alarm in the kitchen (according the links people have given above). Assuming this legislation eventually comes to England, I would assume the same British Standard would need to be met.

But, as I said I'm only going on the Scottish Government link above.
 
My CO alarm is interlinked with the other alarms.
 
I am not decided as to what brand I will install. I have Fire Angel alarms at present and got them because they are not suppose to be triggered by making toast, They are not perfect in that respect.
Whatever I get I will continue to keep a stout walking stick handy. When the low battery/fault bleep sounds at 0300 (that only happens during sleeping hours) it is easier to smash the alarm off the ceiling than go climbing up steps !
 
I got the FireAngel FS2126-T and FireAngel FS1226-T heat detectors.

You need to add a FireAngel FS1521W2-T RF module to each for them to interlink.

They have been in six months so far with no problems.
 
arclight said:
I am not decided as to what brand I will install. I have Fire Angel alarms at present and got them because they are not suppose to be triggered by making toast, They are not perfect in that respect.
Whatever I get I will continue to keep a stout walking stick handy. When the low battery/fault bleep sounds at 0300 (that only happens during sleeping hours) it is easier to smash the alarm off the ceiling than go climbing up steps !
Click to expand...
Hah, this new legislation solves your main problem. You need to fit a heat alarm, not a smoke alarm in the kitchen.

...unless you make toast in the bedroom??
 
tarric said:
No but I'm pretty sure that your insurance company would use it as an excuse not to pay out in any event.
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Only if their policy specifically lays out the type/brand of acceptable alarm.
I'm not against smoke/CO alarms. I'm against the ever encroaching government dictating every element of our lives.

I have Nest alarms in my house. It was my choice. I'm a sensible adult and don't need some tinpot dictator telling me what I should and shouldn't do in my own home.
 
We got Sentinel ones from this company here.

Interlinked Wireless Alarms | Wireless Smoke & Heat Alarm System

Wireless Interlinked Alarms is a Scottish provider of high quality, cost effective wireless fire, heat and smoke alarms.
interlinked-wireless-alarms.co.uk interlinked-wireless-alarms.co.uk

They only sell in Scotland. They were quite easy to set up and make sure they were talking to each other. We are likely to be rewiring in the next 2 years, so will look at it again then.
 
ecoleman said:
Only if their policy specifically lays out the type/brand of acceptable alarm.
I'm not against smoke/CO alarms. I'm against the ever encroaching government dictating every element of our lives.

I have Nest alarms in my house. It was my choice. I'm a sensible adult and don't need some tinpot dictator telling me what I should and shouldn't do in my own home.
Click to expand...
You may not like a tinpot dictator telling you what to do but that won't be any defence when your insurance company refuses payment as you didn't comply with all regulations and statutory conditions in the new fire safety guidelines.

Shona Robertson, partner at Aberdeen insurance broker H&R Insurance, said: “Generally, insurers have written in their policy conditions that policyholders must comply with all regulations and statutory conditions which, as of February, will include the new fire safety guidelines.
 
tarric said:
You may not like a tinpot dictator telling you what to do but that won't be any defence when your insurance company refuses payment as you didn't comply with all regulations and statutory conditions in the new fire safety guidelines.

Shona Robertson, partner at Aberdeen insurance broker H&R Insurance, said: “Generally, insurers have written in their policy conditions that policyholders must comply with all regulations and statutory conditions which, as of February, will include the new fire safety guidelines.
Click to expand...
Stop going on about my insurance company. You have no idea what my contract with my insurance company says.

Did you not read the bit where I said I had alarms?
 
tarric said:
You may not like a tinpot dictator telling you what to do but that won't be any defence when your insurance company refuses payment as you didn't comply with all regulations and statutory conditions in the new fire safety guidelines.

Shona Robertson, partner at Aberdeen insurance broker H&R Insurance, said: “Generally, insurers have written in their policy conditions that policyholders must comply with all regulations and statutory conditions which, as of February, will include the new fire safety guidelines.
Click to expand...
Not only insurance but if you ever come to sell the house a lack of the correct alarms will affect the price.
If your house burns down and neighbouring property is damaged or people hurt you could end up in court.
We all know Insurance co.s are not there to pay up if we have a disaster, they do and will jump on any excuse not to pay out.
 
ecoleman said:
Stop going on about my insurance company. You have no idea what my contract with my insurance company says.

Did you not read the bit where I said I had alarms?
Click to expand...

Correct I have know idea what your contract with your insurance company says but I'm pretty sure if they can get out of paying they will.

You may have alarms but they do not meet the new regulations, so while they may save you if the unthinkable happens they might not cover you with your insurance company.

From a Google Nest Manager.
I appreciate everyone’s patience as they’ve shared their feedback and questions regarding the pending Scottish legislation changes. We’re aware of the proposed legislation changes to the fire and smoke alarm standard in Scotland requiring households to have interlinked heat and smoke alarms. Nest Protect cannot function as a heat alarm due to specific hardware and functional requirements of those devices. So, beginning February 2022, Nest Protects will not meet these new requirements due lack of interconnection with a compatible heat alarm.

At this time, there are no current plans to produce a heat alarm and we do understand this is not ideal for many of our Scottish customers, but you can still use your Nest Protect as a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm as an addition to your interconnected system. We understand these options may not be suitable for everyone so we ask if you have any additional questions around next steps for your Nest Protect, you can contact support to get additional details.

We ask that you continue to refer to the guidance of your fire and local authorities and we’ll also share any updates and changes as they arise.
 
ecoleman said:
I'm a sensible adult and don't need some tinpot dictator telling me what I should and shouldn't do in my own home.
Click to expand...
I'm in about 20 houses a week and come across a lot that don't have smoke /co alarms, and quite a few where the batteries have been removed.
Hopefully this legislation may make these people a bit more sensible and potentially save a few lives.....
 
Keep the advice coming guys, need to do something soon, they stuff we have at the moment aren’t linked but do let the neighbours know when herself has burnt the toast, again.
 
Our local Fire service have an advice page and they should know about these things!
 
Seriously guys?
Some of you could argue in an empty room.
Let's keep it civil, Ta.
 
ecoleman said:
Yes, they do. I don't live in Scotland.
Anything else you'd like to assume?
Click to expand...
So why bother with posts like this if it doesn't effect you, or were you just looking for an argument.
ecoleman said:
Who’s going to police it?
Sturgeon and her Stazi going to do house calls?
Click to expand...
I assumed that someone so bothered about legislation that only effects Scotland would at least live there, but hay-ho I suppose it takes all sorts.
 
tarric said:
So why bother with posts like this if it doesn't effect you, or were you just looking for an argument.

I assumed that someone so bothered about legislation that only effects Scotland would at least live there, but hay-ho I suppose it takes all sorts.
Click to expand...
I suggested Nest as I have them and they work well, not my fault the SNP don’t accept them.

I also asked how they planned to police it. It’s you and others that appear to have taken issue with that. I couldn’t give a s*** and was just pointing out the unnessary over reaching of our governments.

but hey, if you’re happy with it.
 
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ecoleman said:
I suggested Nest as I have them and they work well, not my fault the Scottish don’t accept them.
Click to expand...
Probably because they are not capable of doing the job required as they cannot function as a heat alarm due to the specific hardware and functional requirements that google can't or will not do.

ecoleman said:
Who’s going to police it?
Sturgeon and her Stazi going to do house calls?
Click to expand...
I would of thought you would of had enough with Drakeford to keep you amused.
 
tarric said:
Probably because they are not capable of doing the job required as they cannot function as a heat alarm due to the specific hardware and functional requirements that google can't or will not do.
Click to expand...

they work perfectly, just don’t position them directly above your toaster or your frying pan. Never had a false alarm on mine.

I think I’d prefer a smoke detector that may warn me of an issue before a fire is large enough to generate enough heat to trigger a heat sensor.
 
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