QLD smoke alarm laws 2027: what your home needs

Who needs to comply, and when

The five tests every alarm must pass

• Photoelectric, with no ionisation sensor.
• Made to Australian Standard AS 3786:2014. It's marked on the alarm.
• Less than 10 years old. Check the date printed on it.
• Hardwired, or powered by a sealed 10-year battery.
• Interconnected with every other smoke alarm in the home.

Where the alarms go

• In every bedroom.
• In hallways that connect bedrooms to the rest of the home.
• If there's no hallway, between the bedrooms and the rest of that storey.
• On every storey. If a storey has no bedrooms, put one on the way out of the home.

Can I install them myself?

Yes, if they are photoelectric alarms with a sealed 10-year battery that link to each other wirelessly. Hardwired alarms must be installed by a licensed electrician, and if your home has hardwired alarms now, the new ones must be hardwired too.

Hardwired or 10-year battery?

Hardwired alarms run off your home's power, with a backup battery. Battery alarms must have a sealed 10-year battery that can't be removed. If an alarm is hardwired now, its replacement must be hardwired, and that's a job for a licensed electrician.

What Sam checks

Sam checks every alarm in the home for type, standard, age, power and position. He tells you what's missing, then fits compliant interconnected alarms across the Sunshine Coast before the deadline.

Quick answers