Smoke alarm installation, upgrades and testing
Make sure your investment property or home meets the new government regulations
In an effort to improve safety for homeowners and tenants, the Queensland Government is rolling out new legislation for smoke alarms in homes.
The new regulations will affect both landlords and homeowners. You must make sure your rental property complies before 2022, and your own home before 2027.
Jaric Electrical will be happy to help you make sure your property complies well before the deadline, to ensure you, your family, and your home stay safe.
What are your smoke alarm obligations as a landlord?
Smoke alarms are crucial for your own home too. Find out more
Queensland’s smoke alarm legislation for all residential properties is changing in an effort to provide a higher standard of safety. Simply put, your rental property must be compliant before the 1st of January 2022.
Many South East Queensland homes don’t currently have smoke alarms installed inside bedrooms. For most landlords, that means you must arrange installation of a new photoelectric smoke alarm before the deadline.
Your Queensland rental property’s smoke alarms must be:
- Installed in every bedroom of a home
- Powered by 240 volt or a 10 year lithium battery – 9v alarms will not be allowed
- Photoelectric alarms – which means that ionisation alarms (which your rental property most likely has installed) will not be allowed
- Interconnected so that if one smoke alarm sounds, they all do
- Compliant with Australian Standard AS3786:2014
Why choose Jaric Electrical to install smoke alarms in your rental property?
Property management is never straightforward. That’s why at Jaric we work hard to make sure your smoke alarm installation is hassle-free. We have extensive experience working with landlords and property managers with all aspects of electrical and air conditioning work.
We understand how busy life is for your tenants, so we won’t just ‘arrive’ on their doorstep unannounced (and cause you problems). Instead we’ll liaise with your tenants to find a time that works for them – and we’ll be there when we promise!
Our expert smoke alarm installers will treat your tenants with courtesy, and make sure that the entire process runs smoothly for everyone. Once the job is complete, they’ll ensure all the required paperwork is squared away for your records.
Jaric Electrical will install a brand name 10 year lithium battery – not a cheap import – and cover our work with a 5 year replacement guarantee.
To make sure your rental property is compliant before the smoke alarms deadline, call Jaric Electrical on 1300 452 742 or contact us online.
What smoke alarms do you need installed as a homeowner?
From the 1st of January 2017, you must replace your existing smoke alarms (that are more than 10 years old) with new photoelectric smoke alarms.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) recommend that smoke alarms be either hardwired or powered by a non-removable 10-year battery. All smoke alarms should be interconnected so that if one goes off, all go off.
QFES advise that for the best protection, you should install a smoke alarm on each storey:
- in every bedroom
- in hallways which connect bedrooms and the rest of the dwelling
- if there is no hallway, between the bedrooms and other parts of the storey; and
- if there are no bedrooms on a storey, at least one smoke alarm should be installed in the most likely path of travel to exit the home.
Though these are QFES’s strong recommendations now, they’ll become law by the 1st January 2027.
To make sure your home is compliant before the deadline, call Jaric Electrical on 1300 452 742 or contact us online.
What is a photoelectric smoke alarm?
Photoelectric smoke alarms detect visible combustion particles (such as smoke) using a photo cell and light beam. The alarm is triggered when smoke particles enter the test chamber and scatter some of the light beam.
They’re good at detecting smoky and smouldering fires – a common type of house fire. Dust or insects can sometimes cause a false alarm, so you should clean your photoelectric smoke alarm from time to time.
Photoelectric smoke alarms offer many benefits. They:
- Are good for smouldering fire and dense smoke
- Aren’t as prone to cooking nuisance alarms
- Contain no radioactive material
- Are suitable for general household use.
When your home is protected by photoelectric smoke alarms, in the unfortunate event of a fire you’ll be alerted early, so that you and your family can escape safely.
Professional smoke alarm services
If you’d like to find out whether your current smoke alarm setup is compliant, or what you need to do, call Jaric Electrical. Our expert electrician will:
- Assess your current smoke alarm setup
- Test your existing smoke alarms
- Advise you if any upgrade is needed, and
- Install new photoelectric smoke alarms as required
Contact Jaric Electrical for advice and help with smoke alarms
If you’re unsure of your responsibilities either as a homeowner or a landlord, Jaric Electrical can help.