From February 2022 every home in Scotland must have interlinked fire alarms. This means if one goes off, they all go off to ensure you get up!
Of course audible alarms are not that great for members of the deaf community but flashing and vibrating alarms are available. You can speak to the sensory services team at your local council to find out about help and support on this.
However, if you are a homeowner, it’s your responsibility to make sure your home meets the new fire alarms standard.
By February 2022 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.
Fire and Smoke Alarms – interlinking
Every home in Scotland must have interlinked fire alarms by February 2022. These can be either mains-wired or tamper-proof battery alarms.
Being interlinked means 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 the house. An interlinked system will alert you immediately.
Please see information for home owners, tenants (private), tenants (public sector and council) and fire safety for new build homes at: Make sure your home is fire safe – mygov.scot
Help with costs
· Older and disabled homeowners on low incomes can get help with costs, contact your local Care and Repair service
· If you are a private tenant, your landlord is responsible.
· If you are a council or housing association tenant, local authority and housing association landlords are aware of the new standard and have been working to ensure that the new alarms are in place, where needed.
Under the Equality Act, tenants (both social and private renting) can ask their landlord to make certain changes to the property that are needed to avoid the disabled person being at a disadvantage, and appropriate fire and smoke alarms for deaf or deafblind people fit into that category.
For further information go to :
Fire and smoke alarms: changes to the law – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) can install alarms in the homes of people assessed to be at high risk from fire as part of a home fire safety visit.
For advice on fire safety or to request a Home Fire Safety Visit, contact The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on 0800 0731 999 or visit the Scottish Fire and Rescue service website
If you have a carbon-fuelled appliance, like a boiler, fire, heater or flue you must also have a carbon monoxide detector. This does not need to be linked to the fire alarms.
There is lots of advice for homeowners and tenants on the Scottish Government website here https://www.mygov.scot/home-fire-safety
Smoke alarms and deafness
One in five of the Scottish population have a deafness or hearing loss and many of them may not be awoken by a conventional fire and smoke alarm system in their home due to their hearing loss. Deafness or hearing loss refers to people who are deaf, deafblind, deafened or hard of hearing.
There are many different fire and smoke alarm systems available for people with deafness or hearing loss, some feature high intensity flashing strobe lights, vibrating pads or vibrating pager alerts, which will alert you should there be a fire.
There are many local organisations or arrangements with local authorities across Scotland, to assist with providing fire and smoke alarm systems for people who have a deafness or hearing loss. You can contact your local Care and Repair service, community fire station or your local authority for more information.
Specialist Smoke Alarms
If an existing fire and smoke alarm system is not interlinked, or doesn’t have alarms in all the prescribed areas, then additional standard fire and smoke alarms are required to meet the new rules. New tamper-proof battery and existing mains-wired fire and smoke alarms can be interlinked if they are compatible with a radio link in the additional alarms.
The legislation does not apply to specialist fire and smoke alarms.
The legislation does not require removal or replacement of existing specialist fire and smoke alarms e.g., alarms that feature high intensity flashing strobe lights and wired vibration pillow pads. If someone has an existing specialist fire and smoke alarm, they may want the required additional standard fire and smoke alarms to connect to it. There are companies which manufacture compatible specialist accessories already available e.g., Fire Angel and Aico, and these standard interlinked fire and smoke systems may also be compatible with existing specialist fire and smoke alarms, depending on the type of installation. Currently, the standard fire and smoke alarms available through Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) cannot be connected to an existing specialist fire and smoke alarm.
If you need additional standard fire and smoke alarms to meet the new standard, it is important to choose ones that will work with your existing specialist fire and smoke alarms. This will avoid having to have two separate systems and ensure that you are protected.
You can contact your local Health and Social Care Partnership Sensory Loss / Impairment services or equipment services, who should be able to advise you. They may also be able to help if you do not already have fire and smoke alarms and need specialist equipment and can assess your needs in order to provide suitable products.
BSL Information
Information is also available in this Scottish Government video which includes BSL for the Deaf community. Stay safe and stay aware of the law.
Where to buy a fire and smoke alarm system?
There are many suppliers and manufacturers that you can get in touch with directly at the links shown below:
RNID Connevans
www.RNIDconnevans.co.uk
FireBlitz
www.fireblitz.co.uk
Fireco
www.fireco.uk
Safe Fire Direct
www.safefiredirect.co.uk
Wireless Alert Solutions
www.wasol.co.uk
Safelincs Ltd
www.safelincs.co.uk
MDH Wireless
www.mdh-uk.co.uk
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