To be read in conjunction with the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 No 203, Building Legislation Amendment (Smoke Alarms) Act 2005 No 57, Residential Tenancies Act 2010 No 42 and Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019.
The New Standard
Smoke alarms must comply with the Australian Standard AS3786. The current standard is the AS3786:2014 standard.
Smoke alarms must be installed on or near the ceiling in the following areas:
On any storey that has a bedroom or another room defined as a sleeping area, an alarm must be installed in every corridor or hallway associated with a bedroom or sleeping area, and if there’s no hallway or corridor then between the part/s of the home containing the bedroom or sleeping area and the rest of the dwelling.
On all storeys that don’t contain a bedroom at the most likely exit point from that storey
e.g. if the lower level of a two storey home has no bedrooms a smoke alarm should be located between the nearest exit door and the stairwell.
Smoke alarms must be checked every year to ensure they are working, and any smoke alarm that has expired or is found to be faulty must be replaced.
Where the smoke alarm runs on a replaceable battery or has a replaceable battery as a backup, the battery must be replaced annually.
All high set homes with an enclosed room under the house must have a smoke alarm installed in that room.
Property managers and principals have obligations to ensure smoke alarms are both installed and properly maintained under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW).
The relevant fire authority will ask property managers to provide documented evidence following a fire in a rented property to confirm the smoke alarm requirements were met.
