Requirement for Fire alarms to be hard wired / interlinked

[Guest Tom]

Hi Guys, 

 

can anyone just help with a quick question, i have a house i let out it currently has two battery fire alarms and a carbon monoxide alarm. The tenant said to the estate agent one of the fire alarms was beeping ( assume the battery was flat ) 

It is a sealed unit so you cannot change the battery, the estate agent sent out an electrician who has said i need to have it upgraded to mains / hardwired interlinked system with a heat detector in the kitchen to comply with current regulations 

Is this correct, i cannot see anywhere online where it says this is current law in England ( i understand it is in Scotland / Wales ) ?

Thanks and Regards

[Tom Sutton]

The only legislation in England is The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 which it does not state it has to be linked to the mains but it is good advice and worth considering.

[green-foam]

In short it is good advice, but the electrician is wrong in what he said and probably saying so to get extra work.

 

[AnthonyB]

Agreed - chasing work if not in Scotland where the rules are tighter. Mains (grade D1/2) is better but battery (grade F1/2) is legal.

If you need a rewire however it would have to include the new main powered alarms as it's subject to Building Regulations which require mains alarms as a minimum.