Smoke Alarms

On June 14, 2005 the NSW State government announced that it would introduce new laws making it compulsory for smoke alarms to be installed in all existing homes and other buildings where people sleep. These include all homes, flats, boarding houses, motels, hotels, hostels and manufactured and moveable dwellings in New South Wales.

Under this bill, all of these dwellings must be fitted with either battery-operated or hard-wired smoke alarms, by May 1, 2006.

• Install smoke detectors in your home on every level and every bedroom.
• Test a smoke detector frequently. Once a week is ideal, but in any case it should be tested at least once a month.
• Never remove a battery to prevent a smoke detector from going off whilst cooking, as you will invariably forget to replace it afterwards.
• If your smoke detector goes off for no apparent reason, it may need cleaning or replacing. Removing the battery is not the sensible solution to the problem.
• Replace smoke detector batteries at least once a year.
• Replace smoke detectors every 10 years or whenever they stop working properly.