Alasdair says there has been low awareness

Changes to the law on fire and smoke alarms went through the Scottish Parliament at the beginning of 2019 and are due to take effect from February 2021. These changes were brought about after the tragic events at Grenfell Tower and mean that from February 1 every home must have:

A smoke alarm in the living room and in circulation spaces such as hallways and landings

A heat alarm in every kitchen

All alarms ceiling mounted and interlinked

A carbon monoxide alarm where there are fixed combustion appliances such as boilers and wood burners

The islands MSP has received a number of queries from concerned constituents since a leaflet from a private company advertising services to comply with this legislation was delivered to households last week.

Commenting, Alasdair said: “I have received a number of enquiries from constituents over the course of the last week who were unaware of the upcoming changes to the regulations for fire and smoke alarms in homes. The understandable media and government focus on the pandemic has meant that publicising these regulations has been difficult to do in the normal way.

“These changes are important. The tragic events at Grenfell Tower emphasised just how important building and fire safety is, and these changes would see private homes subject to the same standards that already exist in the private rented sector.

“However, there is very low public awareness of these changes and the pandemic will cause difficulties trying to get tradespeople in. Given this, I have written asking whether it is reasonable to expect households to be compliant by February.”