The answer is yes!

In Scotland, we have very stringent fire safety regulations that are in place to help reduce injury and death caused by fire. New, tighter regulations were due to come into force in February 2021, however, enforcement has now been delayed until 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions. This gives people a little longer to update their fire protection systems. These new regulations are to protect you and your family so we would advise installing or updating your smoke and fire alarm system as soon as possible.  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.

Fire Alarm Rules for Homeowners in Scotland

Since February 2019 the law in Scotland states that all homes must have a smoke detection alarm.  The rules were tightened up after the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London. The rules are in place to help prevent injury, loss of life and damage to property.

What Are The Fire Alarm Rules for Homes in Scotland?

Every domestic property must have:

  • 1 smoke alarm installed in the most frequently used daytime living room.
  • 1 smoke alarm in each circulation space on each storey. In other words, in the hall or landing of each floor.
  • 1 heat alarm in every kitchen.

It is no longer acceptable just to stick a battery-operated alarm on the ceiling of each room as detailed above as they must all be interlinked.  This means that if a fire starts in the kitchen when you are asleep upstairs, the alarm nearest your room will also be triggered to warn you.

At Safe Simple Secure, we are BAFE Accredited to design, install and maintain the best smoke and heat detection systems for your home.  This can even be connected to your alarm system.  Our fire detection systems can be monitored so that if a fire does break out the fire services will be notified directly.

Fire Alarm Rules for Landlords and Tenants

The rules for rented properties are exactly the same as those documented above for homeowners.

It is the landlord’s responsibility to ensure their properties meet the required standards.

The landlord should also ensure that smoke and heat detectors are regularly maintained.

Fire Detection Rules for Commercial Premises in Scotland

Every business owner must ensure their premises are safe for staff and customers.  Fire safety is extremely important to protect the lives of your staff and customers but also your assets and livelihood.

Building Standards state:

‘Every building must be designed and constructed in such a way that in the event of an outbreak of fire within the building, the occupants are alerted to the outbreak of fire’.

The Scottish Government provides detailed Fire Safety Regulations for all types of commercial premises.  For instance, a 1 storey office where everyone can practice fire evacuation procedures will require a different system than a venue such as a pub or night club that can be highly populated with visitors that won’t be familiar with all the fire escape routes. Residential businesses such as Care Homes will have other considerations that must be met in a suitable fire detection system.

At Safe Simple Secure our experienced team can design and install a fire safety system for your business that meets all Scottish Government Regulations for your building and commercial use. We are BAFE Accredited for the design and installation of fire detection systems and our systems will also meet British Standards BS5839 (Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings).  We hope this level of accreditation gives you the reassurance that any fire system we install will meet all the necessary regulations.

Along with an effective fire alarm system to warn everybody in the building, our design can also include direct alerting to the fire service.

To ensure this system is kept in good working order at all times we offer service and maintenance contracts.