Scottish homes required to have carbon monoxide alarms

Since 1 February 2022, all Scottish homes have been required to have a carbon monoxide alarm in every room where there is a fixed combustion appliance, excluding an appliance used solely for cooking, or a flue¹. In rented properties, landlords are responsible for supplying the alarm¹. The alarms must meet the relevant British Standards, EN 50291-1, and must have a sealed battery for the duration of their lifespan, to prevent tampering or the need for battery changes¹.

The Scottish requirement is the first of a set of UK-wide changes. In England, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 come into force on 1 October 2022, following debate in the Second Committee for Delegated Legislation on 20 June and approval in the House of Commons on 21 June¹. Those changes require carbon monoxide alarms in all rented accommodation and new build properties where there is a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers, and when such an appliance is first installed in any home; private and social sector landlords will have a duty to repair or replace alarms once informed they are faulty¹. The Welsh Government has said it will bring forward changes from 1 December 2022, delayed from 15 July, under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, requiring landlords to ensure working carbon monoxide detectors are fitted where there is any gas appliance, an oil-fired combustion appliance or a solid fuel burning combustion appliance¹. In Northern Ireland, alarms have been mandatory in all homes where a new fossil fuel appliance is installed since a change to The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 came into operation on 31 October 2012, and the Private Tenancies Act, which requires alarms in privately rented homes and places a duty on landlords to repair them, received Royal Assent on 27 April 2022¹.

The change follows years of campaigning by the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group, which has formally called for alarms in many more homes since 2017¹. Its chair, Barry Sheerman MP, said:

"By making carbon monoxide alarms a legal requirement, governments are sending a strong message, carbon monoxide is seriously harmful. If you don't have an alarm, you need to get one for your home as soon as possible."

The charity CO-Gas Safety, which has lobbied on carbon monoxide awareness and testing since its launch in 1995, states that alarms to EN 50291 bought direct from manufacturers or from reputable retailers do save lives, and adds that alarms are no substitute for regular servicing by qualified people and chimney or flue cleaning, and are not health monitors². The NHS states that severe carbon monoxide poisoning causes around 60 accidental deaths in England and Wales every year, and exposure at sub-lethal levels causes common, non-specific symptoms such as headaches, nausea and dizziness, and is therefore thought to be under-reported¹.

Why it matters for households

Carbon monoxide cannot be detected by human senses, so an alarm is the only way a household is alerted to dangerous levels in the home¹. For a home's energy independence, the practical effect is that the safety equipment attached to the appliances a household already runs, whether a gas boiler, an oil-fired appliance or a solid fuel fire or stove, is now a legal requirement in Scotland rather than a matter of choice¹. Where a home is rented, the duty to supply, and in England and Northern Ireland the duty to repair or replace a faulty alarm once informed, sits with the landlord rather than the occupant¹. The requirement applies to rooms with a fixed combustion appliance or flue, not to the whole property, and appliances used solely for cooking are excluded in Scotland and England¹. Guidance on where an alarm should be fitted is set out in where a carbon monoxide detector should be fitted, and the wider safety context is covered in carbon monoxide and home heating safety.

What happens next

The Carbon Monoxide Alarms Save Lives campaign launched on Monday 11 July 2022 and runs until 28 August, sponsored by Britain's four gas distribution networks: Wales & West Utilities, SGN, Northern Gas Networks and Cadent¹. It is publishing new digital resources each week². The English regulations take effect on 1 October 2022 and the Welsh changes from 1 December 2022¹. No further dates for Scotland have been reported beyond the 1 February 2022 commencement¹.

Sources2 cited

1. Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations: Are you ready? | CO-Gas Safety, co-gassafety.co.uk
2. Statement of Support for CO Alarms to EN 50291 | CO-Gas Safety, co-gassafety.co.uk