Compliance by state

Queensland rental smoke alarm checks: the 30 day window before every tenancy

In Queensland the lessor must test and clean each smoke alarm, and replace spent batteries, within 30 days before a tenancy starts (Fire Services Act 1990, ss 148B, 148C and 148E). The Queensland Fire Department treats every renewal or extension as a new tenancy, so the check repeats at each lease renewal. Each breach carries up to 5 penalty units.

Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.

Official name: Pre-tenancy smoke alarm test, battery replacement and clean (Fire Services Act 1990, ss 148B, 148C and 148E). No prescribed certificate
Regulator: Queensland Fire Department (with the Residential Tenancies Authority for tenancy matters)
Who issues it: The lessor, or the lessor's agent or a service company acting for them. Never the tenant
When: The start of every tenancy, including each renewal or extension of an existing lease
Deadline: Within the 30 days before the tenancy start date
Lodgement: Nothing is lodged. A service report goes to the agent or owner as evidence the check was done
Keep records for: No retention period is set in the Act. Keep the dated report at least for the life of the lease so the agent can show when the check was done
Penalty: Up to 5 penalty units for each missed duty (test, batteries, clean): $863.50 each at the $172.70 unit value from 1 July 2026.

Homeowner? If you rent in Queensland, your landlord or agent must test and clean the alarms in the 30 days before your lease starts or renews; after that, testing and cleaning once a year is your job.

What the certificate must show

No legally prescribed form. The Act requires the test, battery replacement and clean, not a document
For the agent's evidence: property address and the tenancy start or renewal date the visit relates to
Date of the visit, inside the 30 days before that start date
Each alarm tested by pressing its test button or as the manufacturer's instructions state (s 147X)
Batteries replaced where spent or nearly spent, and each alarm cleaned per the manufacturer's instructions
Any alarm that failed and needs immediate replacement, flagged to the owner

Recent change

QFD's smoke alarm FAQ (updated 13 April 2026) states that each lease renewal or extension triggers the lessor's pre-tenancy check.

Produce it from a ServiceM8 job

Create each rental as a client (or site) under the managing agency, with the lease start and renewal dates recorded in the job description.
When the agent books a lease event, create the job with a scheduled date between 30 and 2 days before the tenancy start, so there is time to issue a 48 hour entry notice and still land inside the window.
Build a form, Pre-tenancy smoke alarm check QLD, with the tenancy start date as a mandatory Date question, then per alarm: Location, Test result (Pass / Fail), Battery replaced (Yes / No / Not applicable), Cleaned (Yes / No) and a Photo.
Add a final Multiple Choice question, Any alarm needs replacement, and alert the office when it is Yes so the owner can be told to replace it immediately.
Map the form into a report template headed with the visit date and the tenancy start date, so the agent can see at a glance that the visit fell inside the 30 days.
Email the report from the job diary to the property manager on completion.
For fixed term leases, create a Reminder ahead of the lease end so the renewal check is not missed; the Reminder arrives in the Inbox about a week before its date.

The trigger is the lease date, not the calendar

Most compliance work runs on a fixed interval. This duty does not. Sections 148B, 148C and 148E of the Fire Services Act 1990 each say the lessor must act within 30 days before the start of a tenancy: test each alarm, replace any battery that is spent or nearly spent, and clean each alarm in the way the manufacturer's instructions say.

The Act does not use the word renewal in those sections, which is where some agents get caught. The Queensland Fire Department's published position is that a tenancy is the right to occupy under a residential tenancy agreement, so a renewal or extension creates a new right to occupy and puts the obligation back on the lessor. The Residential Tenancies Authority says the same: the test is required before the start of a tenancy, including the start of a renewed one. A property on 6 month leases therefore needs the check twice a year, not once.

Who does what during the lease

Once the tenant moves in, the duties swap. The tenant must test and clean each alarm at least once every 12 months and replace flat batteries during the tenancy, and must tell the lessor as soon as practicable if an alarm has failed or is about to fail for any reason other than the battery.

The lessor cannot hand the pre-tenancy check to the tenant. Section 148H lets an owner's agent carry out the owner's duties, but says a tenant must not be the lessor's agent for this purpose, and the RTA gives the example that a property manager must not ask a tenant to test alarms at the start of a tenancy. That is the gap service companies fill.

How service companies run it for property managers

The work itself needs no licence: QFD says there is no legal requirement for any qualification to test or clean a domestic smoke alarm. The value a service firm adds is timing, access and a record. The practical flow is a job per property per lease event, booked from the lease start or renewal date so the visit lands inside the 30 days, with an entry notice to the current tenant. The RTA says the lessor or agent must give the tenant an entry notice 48 hours before work to install, maintain, test or replace smoke alarms.

Agents often ask for a "certificate of compliance" after the visit. QFD notes this is not a legal requirement and is usually the agent's internal process. It is still worth issuing, because it is the agent's only evidence that the test happened inside the window. Date it with the visit date, not the report date.

What the check does not cover

A pass on test and clean does not make an old or wrong alarm compliant. If an alarm fails when tested, section 148A requires the owner to replace it immediately, and a hardwired alarm must be replaced with a hardwired one. Since 2022 a new or renewed lease has also triggered the full installation standard (interconnected photoelectric alarms in the required locations), so a tech who finds ionisation alarms or a missing bedroom alarm should report it rather than simply pass the visit. Replacing 240 volt alarms is an electrician's job.

Sources

Within 30 days before the start of a tenancy in a domestic dwelling, the lessor must test each smoke alarm (s 148B(1)), replace each battery that is spent or almost spent (s 148C(2)) and clean each smoke alarm as the manufacturer's instructions state (s 148E(1)). Maximum penalty 5 penalty units for each. Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), ss 148B, 148C and 148E (current as at 6 December 2025), checked 25 Sep 2026.
During a tenancy the tenant must test and clean each smoke alarm at least once every 12 months, replace spent batteries, and advise the lessor as soon as practicable if an alarm has failed or is about to fail other than because of the battery. Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), ss 148B(2), 148C(3), 148D and 148E(2), checked 25 Sep 2026.
An owner's agent may comply with the smoke alarm duties for the owner, but a lessor's tenant must not be the lessor's agent for that purpose. Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), s 148H, checked 25 Sep 2026.
QFD interprets that each renewal or extension of an existing tenancy creates a new right to occupy, so the obligation to test within 30 days before the tenancy is on the lessor at each renewal or extension. Queensland Fire Department, Frequently asked questions about smoke alarms (last updated 13 April 2026), checked 25 Sep 2026.
There is no legal requirement for any qualification to test or clean a domestic smoke alarm; a certificate of compliance requested by a real estate agent is not a legal requirement but may be part of the agent's internal process. Queensland Fire Department, Frequently asked questions about smoke alarms, checked 25 Sep 2026.
Property managers or owners must test smoke alarms within 30 days before the start of a tenancy, including a renewed tenancy, must not pass this obligation to the tenant, and must give the tenant an entry notice 48 hours before work to install, maintain, test or replace smoke alarms. Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld), checked 25 Sep 2026.
The Queensland penalty unit is $172.70 from 1 July 2026. Queensland Law Society Proctor, checked 25 Sep 2026.
ServiceM8 Reminders suit longer term work such as 12 month service intervals and arrive in the ServiceM8 Inbox about one week before the occurrence. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.