Scottish Smoke/Fire/Heat Alarm Legislation.

ecoleman said:
I suggested Nest as I have them and they work well, not my fault the SNP don’t accept them.
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But Nest doesn't comply with the British Standard for fire alarms in kitchens, and the Regulations have used British Standards to specify the alarm requirements.

Is there a reason why the Scottish Government should have ignored the British Standards for fire alarms?
 
ecoleman said:
Did that really bother to so much. Touched a nerve maybe?
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I think it's important that this thread does not get moved to Hot Topics, with that in mind could you maybe move on now? Your point is made and you have nothing more to contribute to the discussion since you are not affected by it.
 
ecoleman said:
they work perfectly, just don’t position them directly above your toaster or your frying pan. Never had a false alarm on mine.
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Maybe I do a bit more cooking than you as I'm forever poking the one in the kitchen with a stick.
 
Steep said:
I think it's important that this thread does not get moved to Hot Topics, with that in mind could you maybe move on now? Your point is made and you have nothing more to contribute to the discussion since you are not affected by it.
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I think it’s important to remember that you’re not a moderator.

I made a remark in post 2, the rest are just replies to people who seem to have been offended by that. I was prepared to leave at 2
 
ecoleman said:
I think it’s important to remember that you’re not a moderator.

I made a remark in post 2, the rest are just replies to people who seem to have been offended by that. I was prepared to leave at 2
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It's nothing to do with being offended.
It's to do with you needlessly trying to stir things with comments that you know only too well will provoke a response, and in areas that don't even have any impact on you.
 
Steep said:
I think it's important that this thread does not get moved to Hot Topics, with that in mind could you maybe move on now?
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ecoleman said:
I think it’s important to remember that you’re not a moderator.
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Maybe not, however my "crew" agree with him..
That leaves me with 2 choices either I :lock: it, or "manage reply bans"..
lets see how it goes with the latter.
 
arclight said:
You must have caused a stampede. Now got the dreaded Amazon CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE sign up !
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It shows for me as being available on 15th Jan.
 
I think it will be Sentinel for us.

I was hoping to get a hardwired one too but I could just leave our current one in situ so that I don't have to remove the old cabling, make it safe and redecorate the ceiling, which will then lead to her indoors wanting the whole hallway done. :rolleyes::LOL:

So, I'll be getting 1 heat alarm, for the kitchen, a bare minimum of 2 smoke detectors for the living room and hallway but also one for our bedroom and one for my daugther's bedroom. Should come to about £160, if my maths are correct.
 
Steep said:
It shows for me as being available on 15th Jan.
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Yip - showing that now (order within about 14 hours for delivery on 26 January ............... maybe on a slow plane from Wuhan).
 
arclight said:
Yip - showing that now (order within about 14 hours for delivery on 26 January ............... maybe on a slow plane from Wuhan).
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Or an even slower boat from France.
 
Fireguard Plus get good reviews and I'll probably use them, probably with the 3M tape and cover the holes where the current detectors are. I think they are starting to run low on stock though.

I don't see the point in getting any hardwired ones as I think they still need to be changed every ten years and unless they have a battery backup then they won't work during a power cut.

FireGuard+ - Interlinked Smoke & Heat Alarms Made Easy

fireguardplus.co.uk fireguardplus.co.uk
 
Gone with Fireguard, expected posting date 22nd Jan now, circa £20 a year cost, house insurance due next month and all seem to be requiring (Scottish gov?) alarms to be fitted when getting quotes.
 
mj4456 said:
Gone with Fireguard, expected posting date 22nd Jan now, circa £20 a year cost, house insurance due next month and all seem to be requiring (Scottish gov?) alarms to be fitted when getting quotes.
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That looks a really good choice and the price isn't bad at all.
 
mj4456 said:
Gone with Fireguard, expected posting date 22nd Jan now, circa £20 a year cost, house insurance due next month and all seem to be requiring (Scottish gov?) alarms to be fitted when getting quotes.
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My Father-in-Law was texting me saying that he called his Bank of Scotland Home Insurance and they said that not having them wouldn't affect his insurance. I advised that he get that in writing! lol

He said that there's nothing in any of the policies/documentation about any sort of smoke detectors never mind interlinked ones, but again they may change this come February and all you might get is an email or letter with an update in terms which I suspect is often ignored (kinda like the never ending bank fine print updates which keep coming in).

I also advised him to check that there's no small print about policy holders have to adhere to current regulations etc, i.e. a blanket rule.

Either way, I suspect that come a big claim and you don't have the appropriate detectors, then whether or not it's in the policy I'm quite sure they can and will use, abuse and hide behind the law. After all, insurance companies aren't exactly known for their integrity.
 
gman said:
My Father-in-Law was texting me saying that he called his Bank of Scotland Home Insurance and they said that not having them wouldn't affect his insurance. I advised that he get that in writing! lol
He said that there's nothing in any of the policies/documentation about any sort of smoke detectors never mind interlinked ones, but again they may change this come February and all you might get is an email or letter with an update in terms which I suspect is often ignored (kinda like the never ending bank fine print updates which keep coming in).
I also advised him to check that there's no small print about policy holders have to adhere to current regulations etc, i.e. a blanket rule.

Either way, I suspect that come a big claim and you don't have the appropriate detectors, then whether or not it's in the policy I'm quite sure they can and will use, abuse and hide behind the law. After all, insurance companies aren't exactly known for their integrity.
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I think that you are on solid ground with that forecast.

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

Compliance with the new standard​

Compliance checks​

Most home owners want to make their homes as safe as possible and compliance will in time form part of any Home Report when they come to sell their home.

As this will be a minimum standard for safe houses, local authorities will be able to use their statutory powers to require owners to carry out work on substandard housing. However, as is the case for other elements of the Tolerable Standard, any intervention must be proportionate, rational and reasonable and where owners are unable to meet the standard, it is not a criminal offence.
 
gman said:
Either way, I suspect that come a big claim and you don't have the appropriate detectors, then whether or not it's in the policy I'm quite sure they can and will use, abuse and hide behind the law. After all, insurance companies aren't exactly known for their integrity.
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Hmm I don't know about that. The regulators take a very dim view of insurers not paying out for "immaterial" reasons. For example, they couldn't deny a burglary claim because you didn't have smoke detectors because even though you may have breached a term it clearly had no bearing on the claim. Now smoke detectors are there to protect life not property. Advice from the fire brigade is if they go off, get out and call the experts.

So....even if there's a clause requiring you to have them and you don't and your house burns down I think there's a good chance an ombudsman would rule they have to pay.

But that's all irrelevant of course. Get the best fire detectors you can afford. If you can't afford any then look for grants. They are remarkably cheap when you think what a difference they could make.
 
gman said:
I don't see the point in getting any hardwired ones as I think they still need to be changed every ten years
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The two hardwired ones I took out were due or overdue their 10 year replacement. As I was going to have to add more I just went for battery ones as it saved me from having to add the cost of wiring in more.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Hmm I don't know about that. The regulators take a very dim view of insurers not paying out for "immaterial" reasons. For example, they couldn't deny a burglary claim because you didn't have smoke detectors because even though you may have breached a term it clearly had no bearing on the claim. Now smoke detectors are there to protect life not property. Advice from the fire brigade is if they go off, get out and call the experts.

So....even if there's a clause requiring you to have them and you don't and your house burns down I think there's a good chance an ombudsman would rule they have to pay.

But that's all irrelevant of course. Get the best fire detectors you can afford. If you can't afford any then look for grants. They are remarkably cheap when you think what a difference they could make.
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Well obviously it has to be relevant, like not using the multi point locks on a upvc door or something like that re. Burglary.

I suppose that they would have to argue that having no interlinked smoke detectors caused a delay with informing the fire service and subsequently meant that more damage occurred? I don't really know and not sure I'd want to find out lol

What about if someone died in a house fire and there was no interlinked alarms. Could any life insurance become invalid?

Unfortunately, I have little faith with insurance companies, although this is based mainly on the commercial side of things.
 
In the course of looking at renewals all, or at least almost all ask if smoke detectors are fitted, if you say yes and you haven’t got them I think they would/could then cancel your policy regardless of the type of claim you are making due to fraudulent declaration?
 
gman said:
Unfortunately, I have little faith with insurance companies, although this is based mainly on the commercial side of things.
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They will loan you an umbrella when it is not raining.
 
Well, my smoke and heat alarms (Sentinel) are here, only ordered on Saturday past.

Top service.
 
Dale. said:
Well, my smoke and heat alarms (Sentinel) are here, only ordered on Saturday past.

Top service.
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They look very attractively priced. Will be good to know how you get on setting them up.
 
gman said:
They look very attractively priced. Will be good to know how you get on setting them up.
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4-30PM Wednesday. 3rd working day after ordering (although ordered 5 days ago on a Saturday) and the alarms are installed and working.

4 smoke alarms and one heat alarm, fitted and linked in under 40 minutes.
 
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Dale. said:
4-30PM Wednesday. 3rd working day after ordering (although ordered 5 days ago on a Saturday) and the alarms are installed and working.

4 smoke alarms and one heat alarm, fitted and linked in under 40 minutes.
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Nice. I'm still waiting for my Fireguard Plus ones. I don't think they will even be dispatched until next week! lol Oh well. I've got an array of unlinked smoke, heat and CO2 detectors at the moment. They are loud enough to wake a small village in the Amazon, so I'm not overly concerned.
 
So with 5 smoke alarms plus 1 heat detector as part of a 24 x 7 monitored burglar detection system apparently I'm not compliant with the current regulations due to the fact that the detectors do not have 10 year batteries ... in my system they are changed every year as part of the service contract. They are not interlinked, if one sensor activates, the sensor siren goes off, the monitoring service immediately calls and also activates a bedside alarm. So should I change or do nothing ... for me do nowt.
 
Chevin said:
So with 5 smoke alarms plus 1 heat detector as part of a 24 x 7 monitored burglar detection system apparently I'm not compliant with the current regulations due to the fact that the detectors do not have 10 year batteries ... in my system they are changed every year as part of the service contract. They are not interlinked, if one sensor activates, the sensor siren goes off, the monitoring service immediately calls and also activates a bedside alarm. So should I change or do nothing ... for me do nowt.
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I wouldn't worry too much, I did read some reports that they now won't be enforcing it. (one such link) Of course who knows if/when they will change their mind on this and there's still the insurance problem about having to comply with regulations.

This article says that insurance companies won't make customers instantly meet new regs, but that word "instantly" kind of stands out at me. (link).

It's all a bit of a mess as usual.
 
Chevin said:
So with 5 smoke alarms plus 1 heat detector as part of a 24 x 7 monitored burglar detection system apparently I'm not compliant with the current regulations due to the fact that the detectors do not have 10 year batteries ... in my system they are changed every year as part of the service contract. They are not interlinked, if one sensor activates, the sensor siren goes off, the monitoring service immediately calls and also activates a bedside alarm. So should I change or do nothing ... for me do nowt.
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I'd be talking to the installers/monitors to see if they have any imminent plans to get compliant. If not, I'd be looking for a cheaper deal on a burglar alarm only system and deal with the fire/smoke alarms elsewhere.
 
gman said:
Nice. I'm still waiting for my Fireguard Plus ones. I don't think they will even be dispatched until next week! lol Oh well. I've got an array of unlinked smoke, heat and CO2 detectors at the moment. They are loud enough to wake a small village in the Amazon, so I'm not overly concerned.
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I got mail from the company today, should have been dispatched late last week but now will be with me on Thursday, DPD dependent.
 
mj4456 said:
I got mail from the company today, should have been dispatched late last week but now will be with me on Thursday, DPD dependent.
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Nice, after reading your post I've just checked my email and they've got me down for delivery this Wednesday. Very happy with that!
 
I'd an electrician in yesterday to see what I needed.

I was a bit puzzled at 1 thing he said - I have a ventaxia in my kitchen but other than that no smoke detector or heat detector . My cooker is gas BUT I mainly use my combination Microwave . I'm happy at fitting a carbon monoxide thingie but has anyone else got a smoke detector in their kitchen. There will be a smoke thingie just outside the door from the kitchen into the rest of the house.

Your thoughts please ?
 
camerassassin said:
I'd an electrician in yesterday to see what I needed.

I was a bit puzzled at 1 thing he said - I have a ventaxia in my kitchen but other than that no smoke detector or heat detector . My cooker is gas BUT I mainly use my combination Microwave . I'm happy at fitting a carbon monoxide thingie but has anyone else got a smoke detector in their kitchen. There will be a smoke thingie just outside the door from the kitchen into the rest of the house.

Your thoughts please ?
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IF you are in Scotland the requirements are:-

What each home needs​

By February 2022 every home must have:

  • one smoke alarm in the living room or the room you use most
  • one smoke alarm in every hallway or landing
  • one heat alarm in the kitchen
All smoke and heat alarms should be mounted on the ceiling and be interlinked.

If you have a carbon-fuelled appliance – like a boiler, fire, heater or flue – in any room, you must also have a carbon monoxide detector in that room, but this does not need to be linked to the fire alarms.

(The Fire Service will provide a free home visit and give advice on what you need)
 
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Thank you - you have confirmed what I thought.

It's still going to cost me plenty :(
 
That's my three kits arrived today. I noticed a fourth remote control, one of them is making a funny "boing" noise when you tap it so I suspect they've chucked an extra on in for free just in case it doesn't work. The instructions look very straightforward, so hopefully all goes well when installing.
 
Mine arrived this am, installed and working, gathering drill etc took as long as putting them up, what is everyone doing with the remote? Do you keep it upstairs, downstairs, not wanting to put it somewhere ‘safe’ and forget where.
 
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