Home fire safety
Heat and smoke alarms
We are introducing new standards for heat and smoke alarms in all homes from February 2022.
From this date, every home must have:
- a smoke alarm in the living room and in circulation spaces such as hallways and landings
- a heat alarm in every kitchen
- all alarms ceiling mounted and interlinked
- a carbon monoxide alarm where there are fixed combustion appliances such as boilers and wood burners
The new rules mean the standard which currently applies to private rented property and new-builds is being extended to all homes in Scotland.
The Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 will be amended to reflect the new requirements.
We ran a public consultation on fire and smoke alarm in homes in September 2017 which led to the development of the new rules.
We have produced a guide for homeowners about the fire and smoke alarm standards.
Fire safety in high-rise flats
We are committed to improving the safety of those living in high-rise flats in Scotland.
In December 2019 we published an information leaflet which gives residents of high rise buildings information on how to prevent fires and what to do if there is a fire in their building.
We also published practical fire safety guidance for existing high rise domestic buildings (revised February 2022). This guidance is aimed at those responsible for high rise domestic buildings and provides practical fire safety advice on how to prevent fires and reduce the risks from fires in high rise domestic buildings.
These actions are aimed at delivering recommendations contained in the Review of the Fire Safety Regime for High Rise Domestic Buildings in Scotland. These were agreed by the Scottish Government Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety that was set up following the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017.
Specialised housing
We published new fire safety guidance for specialised housing and similar premises (revised February 2022). It is primarily for those who are responsible for specialised housing and similar premises and for those who provide care or support services in such premises. It provides practical fire safety advice on how to prevent fires and reduce the risk from fires.
Its purpose is to strengthen fire safety for people who receive care or support in specialised housing or similar premises. It will also be useful for those receiving “care at home” services or support in “general needs” housing.
This guidance delivers on another of the recommendations from the review of fire safety that was carried out following Grenfell.