What 'compliant' means in WA
- In working order.
- Permanently connected to mains power, unless the battery-only exception below applies.
- No more than 10 years old, and not past the expiry date on the alarm.
- Interconnected where there's more than one, so one sets off the rest.
- Complies with AS 3786. Photoelectric and ionisation are both allowed, though the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) recommends photoelectric.
- In the right places: corridors serving bedrooms (or between the bedrooms and the rest of the home if there's no corridor), and every storey without bedrooms.
When battery-only alarms are allowed
Only when there's nowhere to run the wiring. Building and Energy's example is a concrete ceiling: no hidden space for mains cabling, and no other suitable spot. Even then, the alarm needs a 10-year battery that can't be removed.
That's tighter than some states, where sealed battery alarms are an ordinary choice. If you're not sure your home qualifies, a licensed electrical contractor can tell you once they've seen the ceiling space.
Interconnection and the 1 May 2015 line
Where more than one alarm is installed, they have to be linked. The exception is a home built under a building permit application made before 1 May 2015, where interconnection isn't required. If you don't know when the application went in, your building approval papers are the place to look.
Buying a home to knock it down
A buyer who plans to demolish can sign a statutory declaration so the seller doesn't have to fit alarms. The catch sits with the buyer: the home must be demolished within six months of transfer, or the required alarms installed.
Landlords and homes that are hired out
Owners who rent or hire out a home have to keep each alarm working, mains-connected (or battery-only where that's allowed) and inside its age and expiry limits. Local governments enforce these laws.
Building and Energy's renting fact sheet adds a related rule: a rental needs at least two RCDs (safety switches that cut the power if current leaks to earth) protecting all lighting and power circuits.
Checking the contractor before they start
- What's your contractor licence number? WA contractor numbers start with EC.
- Does the person doing the work hold an electrician's licence starting with EW?
- Can I find you both on the WA Online Licence Search?
- Will the new alarms be photoelectric, mains-powered and AS 3786 compliant?
- Will you test them together so I know they're interconnected?
What you can do, and what's licensed work
You can
- Test each alarm and read the expiry date printed on it.
- Dig out the building approval date so you know whether interconnection applies.
- Keep the dust off the alarms so smoke can reach the sensor.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Connecting or disconnecting any mains-powered alarm, which WA reserves for a licensed electrical contractor.
- Running new wiring for alarms, or interconnecting them.
- Fitting the safety switches a rental is missing.
If it were our house
Get the alarms sorted early in the sale, or before the lease is signed, not in the week of settlement. Check the dates on every alarm, and if any are close to 10 years or past expiry, have a licensed electrical contractor replace them with mains-powered photoelectric alarms, interconnected. That covers the sale or rental rule and the DFES advice in a single visit.
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.