Fire alarm standard - alarms for deaf and deafblind people: guidance

2. Changes to the law on fire and smoke alarms

The law on fire alarms has changed, meaning all homes in Scotland need standard interlinked smoke and heat alarm systems (which make audible alerts) from February 2022.

You can read the changes in the law on the Scottish Government website at Fire and smoke alarms: changes to the law - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

For film clips with BSL (British Sign Language) and subtitles (captions), please see the links below:

Scottish Government new Fire Alarms Standards advert, includes voice-over (30 seconds; August 2021)

Scottish Government Fire Alarms leaflet (nine minutes; August 2021)

2.1 What does this mean?

Every home in Scotland must have interlinked standard fire alarms since February 2022. These can be either mains-wired or tamper-proof sealed battery alarms. Being interlinked means if one alarm goes off, they all go off. The legislation is intended to improve fire safety by alerting an occupant more quickly to a fire in another part of their home.

If an existing fire alarm system is not interlinked or doesn't have alarms in all the prescribed areas, it will not meet the new rules.