Why the year matters, and what we're not sure of
Tasmania Fire Service's timeline gives two dates. From 1 August 1997, smoke alarms must be hard-wired to mains power. From 1 May 2014, they must be hard-wired and interconnected wherever there's more than one.
The page doesn't say whether those dates cover every home or only homes built or renovated after them. Read alongside the Building Code rule, our reading is that a home built or majorly renovated after each date should have alarms to that standard. If you're unsure, an electrician can look at what's installed and tell you how it compares.
Where alarms go in a Tasmanian home
Tasmania Fire Service says to put an alarm in every hallway or corridor connected to bedrooms. A home with more than one storey needs one on each level, even a level without bedrooms.
Rentals add the top of every stairway to the list.
Tasmanian landlords: before each new tenant
Clean and test every alarm
Make sure each one works before the tenant moves in.
Replace backup batteries
Mains-powered alarms carry a backup battery, and changing it is the owner's job.
Check the power type
Every rental alarm must be mains-powered or run on a 10-year non-removable battery. An alarm with an ordinary replaceable battery doesn't meet that.
Check the age
Alarms get replaced every 10 years.
The law behind it
Since 1 May 2013, section 36C of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 has made owners keep smoke alarms in place as the regulations require, for the whole tenancy. The maximum penalty is 50 penalty units. During the tenancy, tenants test and clean the alarms and report faults.
Section 36M of the same Act says an owner can't enter into, extend or renew a tenancy unless the power points and the wiring in the walls and ceiling are safe and supply electricity, apart from anything noted as not working in the condition report. If an electrician is coming for the alarms anyway, it's a sensible time to have the power points and wiring looked at too.
What you can do, and what's licensed work
You can
- Test and clean the alarms, which tenants must do during a tenancy.
- Report a faulty alarm to the owner if you're renting.
- Choose photoelectric alarms with a 10-year long-life lithium battery, which Tasmania Fire Service recommends.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Installing or replacing mains-powered alarms, or wiring them together.
- Any other electrical work. In Tasmania an unlicensed person can't do it unless they're in approved training and supervised, and the maximum penalty for an individual is 200 penalty units.
- Checking power points and wiring before a tenancy is renewed.
Paperwork and licence checks
Tasmania's regulations make the person responsible for electrical work record it in an approved form and give you a copy as soon as practicable once it's energised. We haven't confirmed the form's official name, so ask the electrician what they'll hand over, and keep it with your rental records.
The Administrator of Occupational Licensing keeps a register of licence holders, with details like business names made public on a website. Ask for the licence number and look it up before work starts.
Our take for Tasmanian homes
If you rent the home out, meet the rental rule even in an older house: mains-powered or sealed 10-year photoelectric alarms in every hallway and at the top of every stairway, tested before each tenant moves in. If you live there yourself, we'd still replace anything past 10 years with photoelectric alarms, as Tasmania Fire Service recommends, and have them linked wherever there's more than one.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.