Smoke Alarms

Amendments were made to the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 and the Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019 on 23rd March 2020, meaning that there is an increased responsibility for landlords (and by virtue, real estate agents) to maintain smoke alarms in rental properties.

Under the new laws, a landlord must ensure that the smoke alarm in a rented property is in working order by:

• Carrying out annual checks
• Replacing the removal battery annually (if applicable)
• Repairing or replacing a defective smoke alarm within 2 days of identification
• Replacing smoke alarms that are over 10 years old

These new rules apply to all residential rental properties, including stand alone houses.

Rental properties that are under a strata scheme may have a fire contractor for the Annual Fire Safety Statement (AFSS), but most fire contractors do not meet the criteria above. As a landlord, you will need to engage a separate smoke alarm inspector.