Smoke alarms are compulsory in all rental properties

Working smoke alarms or detectors are compulsory in all rental homes. New smoke alarms must be photoelectric and have a long battery life, or be hard-wired.

Landlords must ensure smoke alarms are working at the start of each new tenancy and remain in working order during the tenancy.

Smoke alarms must be installed:

• within 3 metres of each bedroom door, or in every room where a person sleeps
• in each level or storey of a multi-storey or multi-level home
• in all rental homes, boarding houses, rental caravans, and self-contained sleep-outs.

Smoke alarms in rental properties

In this case the tribunal adjudicator found that Cutlers had acted intentionally in failing to comply with the Act, in regard to their responsibilities as the landlord of a two-storied residential property, containing two separate dwellings, that caught fire in September 2022. When the fire occurred, smoke alarms did not activate in either the upstairs or downstairs flat. The fire was only detected when one of the downstairs tenants smelt something ‘melting’. 

The Fire and Emergency New Zealand station officer who attended the tribunal hearing stated: ‘If the fire had occurred an hour later, it is likely the tenants would have been asleep and would not have been alerted to the fire by smell and the consequences may have been catastrophic. This is not an overstatement or dramatization of the facts. It is the plain fact and stresses the importance of smoke alarms.’

Evidence supplied by MBIE’s Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team (TCIT) showed that Cutlers provided non-compliant smoke alarms to the downstairs flat and left them for the tenants to install. The smoke alarms were subsequently installed by a family member of the tenants but were not tested.

Inspection of a smoke alarm in the upstairs flat, which failed to activate, found it was expired and not functioning. The property manager who carried out inspections on the tenancy had recorded the smoke alarm as compliant without testing either the operation of the alarms or recording the expiry dates of the smoke alarms in the upstairs flat.

TCIT National Manager, Brett Wilson, says the decision emphasises that a landlord must have compliant and operational smoke alarms in each residential rental property.

“There must be at least one smoke alarm in each flat and they must be located within 3 meters of any sleeping space.  The smoke alarms in these tenancies were required to be 10-year photoelectric smoke alarms.

“Smoke alarms save lives, and it is important that both landlords and tenants are aware of their obligations to install and maintain them.  Failure to comply with the smoke alarms regulations could result in significant financial penalties,” says Brett Wilson.

TCIT has recently completed a compliance operation where the focus was solely on ensuring landlords were meeting their obligations to have working smoke alarms installed at rental properties. The TCIT checks covered over 1300 landlords around the country.

“The results showed a high level of compliance among landlords; however this tribunal case highlights the significant risks of what could happen where landlords fail to meet their obligations,“ says Brett Wilson.

Tenancy Tribunal decision

The Tenancy Tribunal decision from April 2024 can be found on the Tenancy Tribunal website:

Tenancy Tribunal(external link) — justice.govt.nz

Back to News