NEARLY half of Scots are not complying with a law change which requires that every home in Scotland should have interlinked smoke alarms.
Scotland is the first UK nation to legally require every home to have interlinked smoke alarms.
But as the law came into force on Tuesday, a new survey of 1000 Scots found that 49% had not installed interlinked fire alarms yet.
The survey of 1000 Scots carried out for Toolstation between January 26 and 28 also found that 82% did not know that there was a grant available to help install fire alarms in the homes of the elderly and disabled too.
Ministers have said people will not be penalised if they need more time to install the alarms.
But opposition parties called for the scheme to be delayed and said the new legislation had not been properly publicised.
Scottish ministers have rejected the calls and announced that an extra £500,000 was available to help vulnerable people install the alarms.
The new regulations mean every home in Scotland should have a smoke alarm fitted in the living room, in order for the property to meet “tolerable standards”, as well as in circulation spaces such as hallways and landings.
Ministers have said the alarms can be installed within a “reasonable period” after the February 1 deadline.
The half a million doubles the funding already given to Care and Repair Scotland to help older and disabled people to install alarms.
Care and Repair Scotland is a charity which offers advice and assistance to help homeowners repair, improve or adapt their homes.
Housing secretary Shona Robison said there were discussions with Care and Repair to ensure support continues beyond February 1 so that elderly and disabled people in particular can make this fire safety improvement.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has already received £1m to install alarms in homes of people at highest risk.
The new research states that Scots households have been "unprepared" for the law change.
The study found 54% have installed or are planning to install sealed battery alarms, and that just over one in five are opting to install mains-wired fire alarms. One-in-five plan to have a combination of both.
Toolstation electrical category manager Colin Freeland said: “It is important everyone gets to grips with the changes to the law, and that all retailers and bodies do a good job of explaining it so Scottish households don’t get caught out."
The legislation, which came about as a result of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, were expected to come into place in February last year, however this was delayed due to the pandemic.
The fire which destroyed Grenfell Tower in June 2017 was one of the UK's worst modern disasters and 72 people died.
New build and privately-rented homes have been required to have interlinked smoke alarms for more than a decade.
Concerns have been raised about the availability of interlinked alarms and the number of households still to undertake the work.
The new rules apply to owner-occupied homes and those in the social rented sector, placing a legal duty on councils to monitor how many homes are compliant.
Scottish Labour had called for the introduction of the new standards to be delayed, citing supply chain problems with the new alarms.
Ms Robison said she hoped that at an expected average cost of around £220 "and often less", fire alarm standards will be viewed as part of ongoing improvements for people who own their homes.
The delays came after the Herald revealed concern in October, 2020, that new Scottish Government legislation made it a legal requirement for all homes to have interlinked smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in four months.
The row over the timetable erupted after leaflets from companies began circulating warning of the February 1 deadline and leading to fears that they would cash in on panic-buying.
Private companies had been known to quote up to £600 to fit a system of alarms.
Under the terms Scottish homeowners had to have a ceiling-mounted smoke alarm in their living room, hallways and landings and a heat alarm in every kitchen.
The alarm system must be interlinked.
And carbon monoxide alarms should be fitted where there is a fuel burning appliance or a flue.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel