Licensed electricians, QLD licence 92423
Interconnected photoelectric alarms supplied, installed and tested to meet Queensland's smoke alarm laws, for homes, rentals and sales.
Ryder Electrical Services handles smoke alarm installation across the Gold Coast up to Brisbane's north side, for owner-occupiers, landlords, property managers and sellers. Each job starts with the alarms already in the home and ends with every alarm tested and sounding together.
Smoke alarms sit alongside the rest of our residential electrical work, so the switchboard, lighting and wiring can be looked at on the same visit if you need them.
Every compliant smoke alarm installation in Queensland comes down to these rules. The smoke alarm law guide covers each one in detail.
Every alarm must comply with AS 3786-2014 and contain a photoelectric sensor, with no ionisation sensor alongside it.
Every alarm in the home is linked to every other one, so when one sounds, they all sound.
Alarms are either hardwired to the mains or run on a built-in battery that cannot be removed and is made to last at least 10 years.
An alarm must be manufactured less than 10 years before it is installed, and replaced within 10 years of its manufacture date, or straight away if it fails a test.
Sources: Queensland Government: Smoke alarms; Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), ss 147Z and 148A; Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), s 55E. Last verified 30 September 2026.
The date depends on whether the home is lived in, rented or being sold.
Sources: Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), ss 147Y and 147Z; Queensland Government: Buying smoke alarms. Last verified 30 September 2026.
Both are compliant, as long as every alarm is photoelectric and interconnected. The difference is how they are powered, and whether the job is electrical work.
Already have hardwired alarms? The replacements must be hardwired too. Swapping hardwired alarms for battery-only units does not meet the law.
Sources: Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), s 55D; Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), s 148A; Queensland Government: Buying smoke alarms; Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld), ss 18 and 55. Last verified 30 September 2026.
Each bedroom needs its own alarm.
Where bedroom doors open onto a hallway, the hallway needs an alarm too.
Each level of the home needs at least one alarm, not just the levels with bedrooms.
On a storey without bedrooms, the alarm goes on the most likely path to an exit.
The regulation keeps alarms away from anything that blocks or moves the air around them, including:
Sources: Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), s 55C; Queensland Government: Buying smoke alarms. Last verified 30 September 2026.
The same steps on every job, whether it is one home before a sale or a rental between tenancies.
Each alarm already in the home is checked for type, power source, manufacture date and position against the current rules.
Positions are planned for every bedroom, connecting hallway and storey, clear of lights, fans, air conditioner outlets and corners.
Photoelectric alarms complying with AS 3786-2014 are fitted, hardwired wherever the alarms they replace were hardwired.
Every alarm is set off in turn to confirm the rest sound with it, so the whole home is alerted from any room.
Where the job includes electrical work, you are given a certificate of testing and safety, as Queensland law requires.
Source: Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld), s 208. Last verified 30 September 2026.
Rentals and sales
In a rental, the owner carries the obligation. The tenant has a smaller, ongoing role. The timing is set by the tenancy, and the rules below come from the Residential Tenancies Authority.
Managing a building rather than a single home? Common property work is covered under strata and body corporate electrical work.
Get a Free QuoteMaking the dwelling compliant is the owner's or landlord's responsibility. A property manager or owner cannot pass that obligation on to the tenant.
Property managers or owners must test the smoke alarms within the 30 days before the start date of each tenancy.
Tenants get an entry notice 48 hours before any work to install, maintain, test or replace smoke alarms.
During the tenancy, tenants test and clean the alarms at least once every 12 months. No qualification is needed for that.
When a property is sold, the seller lodges a Form 24 stating the smoke alarm requirements have been met.
Sources: Residential Tenancies Authority: Smoke alarms; Queensland Government: Buying smoke alarms. Last verified 30 September 2026.
Why call RES
QLD electrical licence 92423, with all work done to Australian Standards.
Installation work is backed by a 10-year warranty on the workmanship.
Years of residential work behind every alarm layout and interconnection.
Working across the Gold Coast up to Brisbane's north side.
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Common Questions
By 1 January 2027, every private home in Queensland, including townhouses and units, needs interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms. Homes sold or leased since 1 January 2022, including renewed tenancies, already need them. Each alarm must comply with AS 3786-2014 and contain no ionisation sensor.
Source: Queensland Government: Smoke alarms; Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), ss 147Y and 147Z.Last verified 30 September 2026.
Not necessarily. Each alarm must be either hardwired or powered by a built-in battery that cannot be removed and is made to last at least 10 years. If the alarm being replaced is hardwired, the new one must be hardwired too.
Source: Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), s 55D; Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), s 148A.Last verified 30 September 2026.
You can fit compliant alarms that need no electrical work, such as wireless 10-year battery alarms, and you can test and clean your own alarms. Installing or replacing hardwired alarms is electrical work, so it needs a licensed electrician.
Source: Queensland Government: Buying smoke alarms; Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld), ss 18 and 55.Last verified 30 September 2026.
In every bedroom, in any hallway that connects bedrooms, and on every storey. On a storey with no bedrooms, the alarm goes on the most likely path to an exit. Alarms must also be kept at least 300 mm from light fittings and ceiling corners, and 400 mm from air conditioner outlets and ceiling fan blades.
Source: Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), s 55C.Last verified 30 September 2026.
The owner or landlord makes the property compliant and cannot pass that obligation to the tenant. The property manager or owner tests the alarms within 30 days before a tenancy starts and gives 48 hours' entry notice before smoke alarm work. Tenants test and clean the alarms at least once every 12 months.
Source: Residential Tenancies Authority: Smoke alarms; Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), s 148B.Last verified 30 September 2026.
An alarm must be replaced within 10 years of the day it was manufactured, and straight away if it does not work when tested. A new alarm must also have been manufactured less than 10 years before it is installed.
Source: Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), ss 147Z and 148A.Last verified 30 September 2026.
Yes, where the job involves electrical work. After testing, the licensed electrical contractor must give you a certificate of testing and safety recording who the work was for, what was tested, the test date and the contractor licence number. Sellers separately lodge a Form 24 stating the smoke alarm requirements have been met.
Source: Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld), s 208; Queensland Government: Buying smoke alarms.Last verified 30 September 2026.
Related:What the certificate covers
One licensed team for the whole property, so the electrical side of every job is handled by the people who did the rest of it.
Local electricians from the Gold Coast to Brisbane's north side.
Book a smoke alarm installation for your home, rental or sale property. Call (07) 5241 1122 or request a free quote online.