There are over 20,000 house fires in Australia every year and statistics show that 1 in 3 homes serviced for the first time don't have properly working smoke alarms.
When it comes to smoke alarm maintenance, property owners need to adhere to two types of regulations Federal requirements which apply Australia- Wide and Individual requirements for their state. Federal Requirements are contained in two set of regulation rea together: The building code of Australia 2016 and Australia Standard AS3786-2014.
New South Wales Requirements
- Similar to other states, a Landlord is required to maintain the residential premises in a reasonable state.
of repair, having regard to the age of, rent payable for and prospective life of the premises.
- In NSW, smoke alarms in residential premises must be installed and maintained in accordance with the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (EPA) and Regulations.
- As per guidelines published by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, for any type of sleeping accommodation, landlords must:
- Have at least one working smoke alarm on every level of in the building.
- Maintain the smoke alarms.
- Prohibit people from removing or interfering with the smoke alarms.
- For battery smoke alarms, the landlord must replace the battery at the commencement of a tenancy. The tenant is responsible for replacing the battery during the tenancy.
- For hard-wired smoke alarms, the landlord is to replace the back-up batteries.
- As per the EPA and the New South Wales Fire Brigade guidelines, smoke alarms installed after 1 May 2006 must be functioning and comply with Australian Standards AS 3786 or be listed with the Scientific Services laboratory.
- The EPA Regulations provide that functioning smoke alarms installed in a class 1a or class 2 building, a relocatable home or a class 4 part of a building before 1 May 2006 are taken to comply until such time as the alarm is removed or ceases to function.
More information can be found in the: https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/regulations/2006-177.pdf
Why should you use a third-party provider?
Detector Inspector is one of the original service providers in the industry, leading the way in the annual servicing, maintenance and installation of smoke alarms in residential rental properties. Their smoke alarm service provides peace of mind to landlords by reducing the likelihood of a negligence claim. Detector Inspector's annual maintenance includes:
- Record keeping to show that a property is complaint with current state bases smoke alarm legislation.
- Verification that smoke alarms are positioned according to the Building Code of Australia and comply with the Australian Standard AS 3789.
- Clean the detector and surrounding area.
- Battery replacement.
- Decibel testing.
- Smoke test to ensure detector is working effectively.
- Replacement of faulty and expired smoke alarms.
- Time, date and location stamped photos of each smoke alarm showing the position and expiry date.
- 12-month guarantee with free callouts to fix any issue that arise between annual services.
To know more about Detector Inspector, visit: https://www.detectorinspector.com.au/services/smoke-alarm/