Smoke and fire alarms
By February 2022 every home in Scotland needs to have interlinked fire smoke and fire alarms. This change is being made to strengthen the current standards in place for smoke and heat alarms following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
Being interlinked means that if one alarm goes off, they all go off. You may not always hear the alarm closest to the fire, especially if you’re somewhere else in your house. An interlinked system will alert you immediately.
Every home will need to have:
- one smoke alarm in the room you spend most of the day, usually your living room
- one smoke alarm in every circulation space on each storey, such as hallways and landings
- one heat alarm in the kitchen
All smoke and heat alarms should be mounted on the ceiling and be interlinked.
Further information
- Go to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for householder information on fire and smoke alarms in Scottish homes
- Visit the mygov.scot website for home fire safety
- The Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (Tolerable Standard) (Extension of Criteria) Order 2019