75% of QLD Rental Properties Still Require Smoke Alarm Upgrades

Hannah Stirling, the National Sales Manager at Smoke Alarm Solutions, has observed some frightening trends in Queensland regarding the pending 2022 smoke alarm legislation.

Smoke Alarm Solutions’ data indicates that there are over 500,000 rental properties in Queensland with 75% of these rental properties still requiring smoke alarm upgrades before the new legislation commences in 2022.

Smoke Alarm Solutions have been in operation since 2007 and service one-third of the Queensland market. During this time, the team has collected a lot of data and information about the industry.

One observation in the last 12 months is the influx of ‘man and van’ type operations that have entered the market, who do not have the expertise, experience, or the workforce required to successfully upgrade properties to the new and complex requirements.

The risk of using an inexperienced provider to complete your 2022 upgrade, is that if not completed correctly the first time, an owner will have to do it twice.

In the past 12 months alone, 37 percent of properties failed to comply with the 2022 smoke alarm legislation after an upgrade was attempted by a third-party provider. The average cost to rectify was $486, which is a significant amount of money, considering that is the second bill the landlord received for the same upgrade.

Investigations have found properties that have used a third-party company and failed to meet compliance, are for very basic reasons such as:

• smoke alarms do not comply with Australian standards, or
• smoke alarms are installed too close to other electrical appliances e.g. too close to the air conditioning units or fans.

Some of the ramifications of non-compliance include a property manager can be in breach of compliance with the 2022 legislation. Fire officers investigate complaints and fines could apply. Put simply, a property cannot be rented to tenants if smoke alarms do not comply with the updated legislation from the 2022 deadline.

What sets Smoke Alarm Solutions apart is the investment in training of their people. All technicians and electricians must complete intensive internal training on the upgrade process and legislation before allowed in the field.

As a proud partner to the REIQ, Smoke Alarm Solutions pride themselves on their quality of work. Smoke Alarm Solutions conduct regular audits of all work and provide ongoing training and assessment for all field staff to ensure the highest level of service is delivered.

In addition to the training provided to internal staff, a range of resources are available for landlords and property managers such as:

• on-site quotes which are provided at inspections where a fixed-price guarantee is provided.
• investment in the production of informational videos that are shared to educate property managers and landlords about upgrading correctly.

Legislation training events for landlords and property managers are hosted by Smoke Alarm Solutions. As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, webinars are presented within business hours for property managers and after hours for landlords.

Hannah concludes that 2020 has presented many challenges and changes within the industry but we can’t lose sight of the 2022 deadline for the new smoke alarm legislation to commence. Queensland property owners need to act now to ensure compliance in Queensland properties. We are here to help, so please reach out to us, we are ready to assist you.