Residential Fire Alarms
Every home in Scotland must have interlinked fire alarms by February 2022.
Interlinked means if one goes off, they all go off, so you will always hear an alarm wherever you are in your home.
What homeowners need to know about changes in legislation relating to fire and smoke alarms.
Q: What types of housing will be covered by the new standard?
A: All homes will be covered by the new standard, as it is important that all homes should be safe for occupants regardless of tenure. It will be the property owner’s responsibility to meet the new standard, however, the legal duty to enforce the standard rests with local authorities. Where owners are unable to meet the standard, it is not a criminal offence.
Q: Why are you introducing this legislation now?
A: Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London, a Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety was established to review Scotland’s building and fire safety regulatory frameworks. This legislation will ensure that everyone in Scotland has the same level of protection whether they own or rent their home.
Q: How many alarms are required to meet the standards?
A: The standard requires:
One smoke alarm installed in the room most frequently used for general daytime living purposes
One smoke alarm in every circulation space on each storey, such as hallways and landings
One heat alarm installed in every kitchen
All alarms should be ceiling mounted and interlinked.
Where there is a carbon-fuelled appliance (such as boilers, fires (including open fires) and heaters) or a flue, a carbon monoxide detector is also required which does not need to be linked to the fire alarms.
Q: I already have smoke alarms fitted in my home but they are not interlinked – do I need to change these to interlinked ones?
A: Yes – the requirement is to have all alarms interlinked. You may not hear the alarm closest to the fire but, by having an interlinked system, you will be alerted immediate
Optical Smoke Detector
The Ei650iRF optical Smoke Alarm powered by a sealed 10-year lithium battery that is non replaceable is fitted with a proprietary photoelectric sensor to quickly sense low energy smoke particles. This optical Alarm is sensitive to all domestic fire types but is especially sensitive to smouldering fires. The Ei650 range features a high performance optical chamber protected by a sealed mesh screen to reduce insect and dust contamination and EMC protection to reduce false alarms. In addition the Ei650iRF has an automatic dust compensation feature reducing further the risk of false alarms caused by dust build up. The Ei650iRF communicates wirelessly via its preinstalled Ei600MRF RadioLINK+ module.
Location : Living Room, Gr Fl Hallway, Upstairs Landing
Heat Detector
The Ei603RF Battery Heat Alarm With is activated by heat from a fire, not smoke, which makes it ideal for kitchen installations where smoke alarms are prone to nuisance alarms. The Ei603RF is powered by a sealed 10-year lithium battery that is non replaceable. It is designed to last for the working life of the alarm. When depleted it will give an audible and visual warning. The Ei603RF is fitted with a Radiolink Module and this will allow the alarm to be interconnected to other devices.
Location: Kitchen
Carbon Monoxide Detector
The Ei208WRF Carbon Monoxide Alarm is supplied with a powered-for-life sealed lithium battery.
The Ei208WRF Carbon Monoxide Alarm has a high performance, proven electrochemical sensor to sense CO presence. The sensor is individually calibrated and tested in Carbon Monoxide (CO) gas to ensure accuracy.
Location : Where there is a carbon-fuelled appliance (such as boilers, fires (including open fires) and heaters) or a flues.