Healthy Homes NZ Advise on Smoke Alarms

The Residential Tenancies Act requires that smoke alarms be installed within 3 metres of each bedroom, and with at least one on every storey of the property.  

Any new smoke alarms installed must photo electric and have a long-life battery, or be hardwired. If a property has older style ionised alarms with 9-Volt batteries these can continue to be used until they reach their expiry date.  

This is the minimum requirement rental properties must meet.  

Fire and Emergency New Zealand recommend long-life photoelectric smoke alarms. 

Photoelectric and Interconnected smoke alarms, as they are far more effective than ionisation alarms at detecting slow smouldering fires, which burn for hours before bursting into flames. 

Regarding who is responsible, landlords or tenants, both landlords and tenants are responsible. The landlord is responsible to ensure there are working smoke alarms in every rental, and to replace any smoke alarms that no longer work with new photoelectric ones. If the rental has an older alarm with a 9-Volt battery, replacing the battery is the tenant’s responsibility. 

Having created a reputation as a service provider with integrity, dedication and understanding, Healthy Homes New Zealand continue to evolve into a service to meet every requirement to create a better home to live in, today and into the future, so with this in mind please take a moment to find out more about smoke alarm installation costs and installing smoke alarms NZ by visiting the website at https://www.healthyhomesnz.co.nz .