Blink Property
From 1 January 2022, all Queensland residential properties leased or sold are required to meet new smoke alarm legislation.
Under the new laws, landlords will need to ensure their rental properties are fitted with photoelectric, interconnected smoke alarms in all bedrooms of the home, plus in hallways or between areas containing bedrooms.
The new year’s day deadline is part of the second phase of the state government’s 10-year plan to roll out the new smoke alarms. This phase includes all domestic dwellings leased and sold. The first phase happened back in 2017, when all brand new or substantially renovated properties were fitted with the new high tech safety devices.
The final phase, in 2027, will bring in the remaining domestic dwellings, meaning owner-occupiers will need to be compliant.
The new alarms are seen as safer because they are all connected throughout the property. When one goes off, they all go off simultaneously in various bedrooms, hallways and across multiple storeys, meaning everyone is alerted to danger at the same time.
Landlords are responsible for ensuring each of their properties is correctly fitted with the required number of working smoke alarms, complying with the Australian Standard 3786:2014 and installed as outlined by the Building Code of Australia (BCA).
From January, Queensland landlords will need the newest model smoke alarms to be compliant.
By 1 January 2022, Queensland rental properties are subject to the following requirements:
-Smoke alarms must be installed in every bedroom of the home
-All smoke alarms must be powered by either 240 volt or 10 year lithium battery
-All smoke alarms must be interconnected to each other
-All smoke alarms must be photoelectric rather than ionisation
-All smoke alarms must comply with Australian Standard 3786:2014 (complying alarms will have their bodies marked with ‘AS3786-2014’)
If you have a significant portfolio of investment properties, or your rentals are located in different parts of Australia, it may not be realistic to personally check all required alarms in all properties.
You may also find it difficult to trawl through legislation to make sure you are compliant.
If it suits you, there are companies out there who will take care of all of that for you for a reasonable fee.
Property managers are required to have a certificate of compliance issued by a suitably licensed trade.
If you have property managers looking after your investment property, they are likely to have an agreement with a company that offers upgrades, maintenance, testing and compliance for smoke alarms.
For example, Blink Property’s preferred partner is Smoke Alarm Solutions, who, according to their website, offer their services to landlords, property managers and tenants for as little as $99 per year.
But there are others out there too, who may or may not have a deal that is more suitable to your situation. At the very least, ensure your property managers have a readily accessible certificate of compliance for you to view.
Disclaimer: Some information in this article was sourced from Smokealarmsolutions.com.au. This article is not the opinion of Blink Property and the information is general only and not to be taken as individual advice.
The legislation in this article covers the state of Queensland only. Laws may vary or not apply in other states and territories.
