Queensland Smoke Alarm Questions, Answered

If you own and live in your home in Queensland, yes. From 1 January 2027 every existing home, including houses, townhouses and units, must have compliant, interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms. Rental properties and homes being sold have had to comply since 1 January 2022.

Under the Fire Services Act 1990 (s104RBA), a home owner who doesn't install compliant smoke alarms faces a maximum penalty of 5 penalty units, which is $863.50 at the current penalty unit value. If you sell, the standard REIQ contract lets the buyer claim 0.15% of the purchase price if compliant alarms aren't installed by settlement. After a fire, your insurer may also look at whether your home met its legal obligations, so check your policy.

You may see much bigger fine figures quoted online. The $863.50 figure comes from the legislation itself.

Alarms are required:

• in every bedroom
• in hallways that connect bedrooms to the rest of the home
• where there's no hallway, between the bedrooms and the rest of that storey
• on every storey, including levels without bedrooms, in the most likely path of travel out of the home

A typical 3-bedroom single-storey house needs 4 alarms. A 3-bedroom two-storey house usually needs 5. We confirm the exact number on site.

$119 per alarm, whether it's a wireless 10-year alarm or a hardwired replacement. There's a $149 minimum per visit. The price includes supply, installation, interconnection, testing, removal of your old alarms and your compliance certificate. Prices include GST.

The only possible extra: if a hardwired alarm has to be added or moved to meet the rules, and that circuit has no safety switch, the wiring rules require one. That's $199 including GST per circuit, and we always tell you before doing it. Wireless alarms never need one.

Only where you already have hardwired alarms. Any existing hardwired alarm must be replaced with a hardwired alarm. All the other required alarms can be sealed 10-year lithium battery alarms, which interconnect wirelessly. If your home has no hardwired alarms now, every new alarm can be wireless.

Emerald photoelectric smoke alarms that comply with AS 3786-2014. They come in sealed 10-year lithium and 240V hardwired versions, and interconnect wirelessly, so the two types work together in one system. They carry a manufacturer's warranty.

You'll get a reminder before your appointment, and a text with our arrival time and a live map link when we're on the way. On arrival we check your home and confirm how many alarms you need and what type. If that's different from your booking, we explain why and only go ahead once you're happy. If you have hardwired alarms, we isolate just that circuit, usually the lighting circuit, so the rest of your power stays on. We remove the old alarms, install the new ones, interconnect them and test them.

Testing means setting the alarms off several times. It's loud, so we'll warn you first so you can prepare children and pets. Testing has to be done before we can issue your compliance certificate.

Not for wireless alarms. They need no cabling, so we don't go into your roof space or cut into ceilings or walls. We try to cover the old alarm holes with the new alarms. Sometimes an old alarm is in a spot that no longer meets the rules, so the new one goes elsewhere and you may have a small hole to patch.

On site, before we leave. You can tap your card, phone or watch (contactless, including Apple Pay and Google Pay), or scan a QR code with your own phone and pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay or your card. Cash is fine too.

Yes, with every installation, at no extra cost. Once payment is made, you'll have it before we leave the property. Keep it with your home records. It's useful for insurance, and if you sell or rent the property later.

Book a compliance check. We test and clean every alarm and check the types and locations against the Queensland rules. If your home complies, you get a certificate confirming it, for $179 including GST. If anything needs fixing, we tell you what and the price before doing any work.

Rental properties and homes being sold have had to meet these requirements since 1 January 2022. See our landlords and sellers page for details.

Test each alarm by pressing its test button, and clean them every year by gently vacuuming around the vents. Sealed 10-year wireless alarms don't need battery changes, but every alarm must be replaced within 10 years of its manufacture date.

240V hardwired alarms have a backup battery that needs replacing every year, and the alarm may chirp when it's low. Changing it is up to the homeowner, landlord or tenant. We can do it for you for a $149 call-out plus $14.99 per battery. See terms.