Under the new Scottish Legislation, by February 2022 every Scottish home will need to have:

1 smoke alarm in the room you spend most of the day, usually your living room or it could be your office if you work from home.

1 smoke alarm in every circulation space on each floor, such as hallways and landings.

1 heat alarm in the kitchen.

All smoke and heat alarms should be mounted on the ceiling and must be interlinked or connected together.

If you have a carbon-fuelled appliance, like a boiler, gas fire or gas hob you must also have a Carbon Monoxide detector.

This does not need to be interlinked with the smoke and heat alarms but in order to be compliant with the legislation, battery powered alarms need to come with long life tamper proof batteries, which means you can't remove the batteries for the lifetime of the product.

The British Standard BS 5839-6:2019 recommends that smoke and heat alarms be installed:

• On the ceiling, as central as possible in the room
• Sited 300mm from walls and light fittings - this ensures the alarm is out of any 'dead air' spaces where the airflow may be blocked
• Placed within 3m of every escape door and bedroom door to ensure audibility
• Positioned between high risk rooms and bedrooms
• For peaked and sloped ceilings - make sure there is a maximum of 600mm vertically down from the apex for smoke alarms, and 150mm vertically down for heat alarms

The standard also recommends that CO alarms should not be installed:

• In an enclosed space
• Where it can be obstructed
• Directly above a sink
• Next to a door, window, extractor fan, air vent or similar ventilation opening
• Where the temperature may drop below -5℃ or exceed 40℃

Examples



If you live in a 3 bedroom, 2 floor house, you will need 3 smoke alarms and one heat alarm. You may also need at least one Carbon Monoxide alarm.

3 linked smoke alarms - one on the upstairs landing, one in the downstairs hall and one in the main living area.

1 linked heat alarm in the kitchen.

1 Carbon Monoxide alarm in any room where you have a carbon-fuelled appliance like a boiler or wood-burning fireplace.



If you live in a 1 bedroom flat, you will need 2 smoke alarms and 1 heat alarm. You may also need one Carbon Monoxide alarm.

2 linked smoke alarms - one in the hall and one in the main living area.

1 linked heat alarm in the kitchen.

1 Carbon Monoxide alarm in any room where you have a carbon-fuelled appliance like a boiler or wood-burning fireplace.