Smoke Alarms

The NSW Parliament has now enacted legislation which requires, from 1 May 2006, the installation of smoke alarms in existing buildings in which people sleep.

The legislation requires owners affected by the new law to be responsible for ensuring smoke alarms are installed. It is already mandatory for smoke alarms to be installed in all new homes. Smoke alarms suitable for installation in homes are either hard-wired to mains power or battery powered. All smoke alarms need to be checked on a regular basis. If you have installed or are about to install battery powered smoke alarms, we suggest you check, at least twice a year, say at the start and end of daylight saving time, that the batteries and thus the smoke alarms are working. Kidsafe does though recommend that in existing homes, hard-wired alarms be retrofitted. It is also recommended that a suitable number of alarms be installed and that the alarms can be heard throughout a large house.

The NSW Government Department of Planning has developed guidelines setting out the type of smoke alarms to be installed in each type of building. Detailed information regarding the smoke alarm requirements and the legislation can be found on their website at www.planning.nsw.gov.au. Information on smoke alarms can also be found on the NSW Fire Brigades website at www.fire.nsw.gov.au