Smoke Alarms

Hi, it’s Phil from Sunshine. I’d like to talk to you about smoke alarms. Given we’re in winter, there are three types of smoke alarm you need to be aware of. There’s the hardwired with battery backup, which was introduced into all new properties built since 1996. There is the sealed unit with a 10 year life battery, and there is the old fashioned battery operated smoke alarms.

A smoke alarm has to be fitted on every floor within a building that’s let out. That can include the attic, a roof space, it can include a half landing if a bathroom or toilet is situated off it, and it is deemed as living space. It’s very important that as a landlord you appreciate that one smoke alarm on the ground floor is not sufficient, and if you have flats, which we’ll come to in another video, then it’s a totally different set of rules that can apply.

With regards to hardwired, you do need to make sure you check the date on the side of the actual alarm, because they only have a 10 year lifespan. And a lot of landlords have found that whilst the alarm works, it doesn’t actually comply with the current regulations brought in, in 2015.

It is also very important, and I can’t understate this enough, that when you do set a tenancy, the day the tenancy starts, the smoke alarm, witnessed by the tenant has to be tested on that day. Failure to do so will actually cause you immense legal problems if you wanted to go for a notice to evict with a section 21 notice.