This information has been provided by
Australian law firm, Australian Conveyancing Services and is applicable in New South Wales
only.Updated to include requirement for
Warning Statement from 01 December 2006.
This article draws on information contained in Fact Sheets
issued by NSW Department of Planning and NSW Department of
Lands 2006.
The NSW government has introduced a law requiring owners of
residential property in most circumstances to install smoke
alarms (the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment
(Smoke Alarms) Regulation 2006). Owners have a 6 month
‘grace’ period in which to install the alarms (that is, from
1 May 2006, to 1 November 2006).
This law is designed to minimise the number of deaths in
house fires, many of which occur at night time when the
occupants are asleep. An estimated
670,000 dwellings in NSW still do not have smoke alarms.
Who needs to install smoke alarms?
The new regulation requires owners of new and existing
houses, townhouses, and units (homes) to ensure that smoke
alarms are installed in their residences. Other dwellings
are also included (eg relocatable homes, residences above
shops, etc). Failure to do so will incur a penalty.
There are some exceptions, such as certain moveable
dwellings, and buildings in which nobody sleeps, however
these exceptions are very limited.
For more detail on dwellings that are included/excluded, see
the
EPA Regulation.
Owners of homes that have smoke alarms installed in
compliance with a current or previous requirement need take
no additional action. Also, homes where smoke alarms
have already been voluntarily installed are not required to
take action if their smoke alarms are in good working order
and in the right locations (see below for details).
How does this affect Sellers?
Persons intending to sell their homes who enter into a
Contract on or after 1 May 2006 and who are affected by
the new legislation will be legally required to have installed
the smoke alarms into the property they are selling.
From 1 December 2006 Sellers
will also need to include a 'Warning Statement' in the
prescribed form in their Contract of Sale.
How does this affect Buyers?
Buyers entering into a Contract to purchase a residential
property on or after 1 December 2006 should make sure that
the Seller has included a 'Warning Statement' regarding
Smoke Alarms in the prescribed form in the Contract. Buyers
should check the property to ensure that complying smoke
alarms have been fitted.
Type of Smoke Alarms required
Any smoke alarm that complies with the Australian
Standard (AS)3786 – 1993, Smoke Alarms (which should
be noted on the product packaging) will meet the new
requirements. These alarms can be hard-wired (powered
from the mains electricity supply) or battery-operated at
the owners’ choice.
Where
to locate smoke alarms to meet the new requirement
The number of smoke alarms
required will depend on the size and layout of each
particular home. For houses and townhouses (Class 1a
buildings) and manufactured/relocatable homes, smoke alarms
are required on or near the ceiling in the following areas:
in storeys containing
bedrooms: in every corridor or hallway associated
with a bedroom, or, if there is no corridor or hallway,
between the part of the home containing the bedroom and
the rest of the dwelling; and
in any storey not containing
bedrooms. In these storeys smoke alarms should be
located in the path of travel most likely to be used by
those evacuating the home.
For apartments, blocks of
flats (Class 2 buildings) and residences over shops or
caretaker flats (Class 4 parts of buildings) smoke alarms
are required on or near the ceiling in the following areas
in each flat or unit:
in every corridor or
hallway associated with a bedroom, or, if there is no
corridor or hallway, between the part of the unit
containing the bedroom and the rest of the dwelling; and
in any storey not
containing bedrooms. In these storeys smoke alarms should
be located in the path of travel most likely to be used by
those evacuating the unit.
For an excellent article on
location of smoke alarms
click here.
Penalties for non-compliance
The regulation includes provisions for fines to be issued
for failure to install smoke alarms after 1 November 2006,
however there are no new inspection powers. Also, from 1 May
2006, it will be an offence to interfere with or remove an
existing smoke alarm, unless it is to repair, maintain or
replace the alarm.
