Scottish government delay smoke alarm legislation until 2022

I wonder if it will be as straightforward as a 12 month delay. Now that there is a greater awareness of what is required in terms of cost and disruption, will MSPs come under pressure to 'water down' the legislation? Conveniently, they have put it off until after the election.

Is it really necessary to have interlinked alarms in a flat where a single alarm can easily be heard troughout, as anyone who has burnt the toast will be able to testify?

Since I've never heard of anything like this anywhere else, then they are probably right. The issue for many is that the fire service fit thousands of free smoke alarms for the elderly, of the battery operated kind you glue to a wall or ceiling. This has resulted in a massive reduction in the deaths of older people in fires. To ask everyone to fit a system which might be more capable by law would simply result in fewer installations of any kind of alarm. One has to be pragmatic. Brian

It's certainly a supply problem. There are 2.48 million households in Scotland. Say roughly a minimum of 3 alarms are required per household.

I think I'd need 5 . I already have 2 compliant CO . The smoke alarms I have are non-compliant That's a minimum of 7.5 million devices to be found by February.

Something for the Xmas stocking ?

Brian

no way am I replacing my toast smoke alarms

my guess is it will never happen ......

It gets better. Somewhere in the small print it says the smike alarms fitted by Scottish Fire and Rescue are not compliant.

Is this the first time a safety regulation has been made compulsory (in the normal domestic situation)? I thought most building regulations only applied to new builds and alterations, not to existing structures.

Tim

Were Ascot water heaters banned?

you are getting mixed up with days when things made sense ....

If the Scottsh Fire and Rescue service have been fitting non-compliant smoke alarm systems after Feb 2019 that is something to complain about as that is when the change appeared in the legislative pipeline. I have seen reference to "£870,000 each year for two years funding to the SFRS" but not which two years...

Alarms fitted before Feb 2019 may well not be compliant, no reason to be, the legislation was not in the pipeline.

Good point. Have you been able to locate these regulations? I haven't. I assume they are subordinate legislation as I have been through the Acts of the Scottish Parliament. Unhelpfully, none of the guidance seems to provide a link.

The legislation won't help you much.

... continue my search

Thanks

They come under Gas Safety regulations not Building Standards (or housing law, which is the legislation the Scottish Govt are using).

Open flue gas heaters were defined as unsatisfactory in bathrooms and I think bedrooms, so would fail a gas safety inspection. Concealed flues have also been declared unsatisfactory and this is catching a lot of people out in flats.

Owain

I take it you mean your wife ? :-)

Some new 2-bed houses built near me had the kitchen in the middle of the property (don't ask !), with a lounge facing the front and 'dining' room facing the rear. This required the boiler flue from the central kitchen to pass through the lounge and out of the front wall. All boxed in with a 'cat flap' every 1.5 metres where a flue connection was !.

That's okay in a single house. The problem is where the concealed flue runs through a different flat, and the other owner/occupier is not amenable to having it opened up.

Owain

What does 'concealed' mean in this context? My three downstairs neighbours' flues pass through my flat to reach the chimneys. They are behind a wall but I know where they are.