The Importance of the New Fire Alarm Laws when Selling a House in Scotland

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The Importance of the New 
Fire Alarm Laws when 
Selling a House in Scotland 
Changes to the fire alarm law in Scotland 
from February 2022 
The Scottish Government carried out a review of Scotland’s building 
and fire safety legal framework following the tragic fire at Grenfell 
Tower in London.  This resulted in legislation* being passed in 
January 2019 which will come into force in February 2022. The new 
legal requirements were originally due to come into force in 
February 2021, but in light of difficulties caused by COVID-19 the 
Scottish Parliament agreed to delay implementation for 12 
months.  With only 5 months left, it is important for all homeowners 
to start taking any action needed to ensure compliance with the new 
requirements in time.  There is of course no need to wait until the 
deadline, and improved fire safety in our homes will undoubtedly be 
beneficial and in some cases life-saving. 
 
 
Fire & smoke alarm rules for homes 
 
All residential dwellings, whether owned or rented, will be required 
to have: 
• one smoke alarm installed in the room most frequently used for 
general daytime living purposes; 
• one smoke alarm in every circulation space on each storey, such 
as hallways and landings; and 
• one heat alarm installed in every kitchen. 
These alarms must be ceiling-mounted and interlinked. 
A carbon monoxide detector is also required where there is a 
carbon-fuelled appliance (such as a boiler, fire or heater) or a 
flue.  This does not need to be linked to the fire alarms. 
There are two types of alarms that comply with the new 
requirements: 
1.    tamper-proof long-life lithium battery alarms, which can be fitted 
by individuals themselves; or 
2.    mains-wired alarms, which are cheaper but should be installed 
by a qualified electrician and may require a building warrant for 
installation in a flat. 
In tenements or blocks of flats, it is not necessary for individual 
properties to be linked to each other, and there is no requirement 
for alarms to be fitted in communal areas such as entrance halls and 
stairways. 
The owner of the property is responsible for ensuring compliance, 
and Local Authorities have statutory powers to deal with properties 
that do not meet the tolerable standard.  Private tenants may be 
entitled to raise an action against their landlord at Tribunal for failure 
to comply.  It may be a condition of household insurance policies 
that the new standards are met. 
How the new fire alarm law affects selling 
your home 
Compliance with the new legal requirements will be important in the 
context of selling your property and will be covered in the Home 
Report which is made available to prospective purchasers. 
Electricians and qualified trades companies will be able to advise in 
individual cases, and information from the Scottish Government with 
full details of the requirements, along with relevant questions and 
answers, can be found on the Scottish Government website. 
Further Scottish Government information on fire safety can be found 
on the Safer Scotland Facebook page and on their ‘Fire safety for 
home owners‘ webpage. 
If you are considering selling your property and would like to speak 
to one of our estate agency team, please do contact us 
at property@elpamsolicitors.co.uk or 0131 312 7276. 
 *  The Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (Tolerable Standard) (Extension 
of Criteria) Order 2019