Queensland smoke alarm law from 1 January 2027: what the installer has to deliver

Why 1 January 2027 is the date that matters

Queensland phased its domestic smoke alarm law in over ten years. New builds and substantial renovations came first (from 1 January 2017), then homes being sold or leased (from 1 January 2022). The last group is everyone else, mostly owner occupiers who have not sold or rented since 2021.

The mechanism is in the Fire Services Act 1990 itself. Section 147Y, the older and looser installation rule, expires on 31 December 2026. At the same time the trigger subsections of section 147Z (building approval, sale, new tenancy) expire, which leaves section 147Z(3) applying to every domestic dwelling: the owner must install smoke alarms that meet the section. For an electrician, that means from the new year there is no longer a class of house where the old alarms are still lawful just because nothing has changed hands.

What a compliant installation looks like

Section 147Z(5) says each alarm must be powered in the way the regulation prescribes, meet the other prescribed requirements, have been manufactured less than 10 years before it is installed, operate when tested, and be interconnected to every other alarm in the dwelling. Interconnected has a plain test in section 147Z(6): if one alarm senses smoke, every other alarm sounds.

The Queensland Fire Department's guidance fills in the rest. Alarms must be photoelectric and comply with AS 3786:2014 (look for the marking on the unit). They go on each storey, in every bedroom, in hallways that connect bedrooms to the rest of the home (or between bedrooms and the rest of the storey if there is no hallway), and, on a storey with no bedrooms, in the most likely path of travel out. Interconnection can be wired, wireless or a mix of both.

Check the manufacture date printed on stock before it goes on the van. A unit that sat in a warehouse is still compliant as long as it was made less than 10 years before the day you fit it.

Hardwired stays hardwired

The power source rule is the one that most often turns a battery swap into an electrician's job. Under section 148A(3), if the alarm being replaced was hardwired to the dwelling's supply, the replacement must be hardwired too. QFD's guidance puts it the same way: homes with 240 volt alarms replace them with 240 volt photoelectric alarms, while homes with battery alarms may use 10 year non-removable battery units. New builds and major renovations need hardwired alarms.

QFD also states that 240 volt alarms connect to the electricity supply and must be connected by a licensed electrician, while non-removable battery alarms do not need one. Owners must replace any alarm within 10 years of its manufacture date, or immediately if it fails when tested (section 148A).

What to certify, and what nobody requires

There is no prescribed "smoke alarm compliance certificate" in Queensland. QFD says outright that a certificate of compliance is not a legal requirement, although some agents ask for one as part of their own process. What does apply to an electrician is the ordinary electrical rule: when your work on the installation must be tested, the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 requires a certificate of test given as soon as practicable, showing the customer's name and address, what was tested, the test date and your contractor licence number, with a copy kept for 5 years.

So the useful document for a hardwired job is the certificate of test plus a job record of each alarm: location, type, AS 3786:2014 marking, manufacture date, power source and a pass on the interconnection test. That record answers the owner's question (am I compliant for 2027?) and protects you if a later tradie disturbs the circuit.

When the home is sold

A seller has to give the buyer written notice, on or before possession, of whether compliant smoke alarms are installed (section 148I), and must tell the commissioner within 90 days unless the property transfer information form lodged with the titles office already covers it (section 148J). Your dated job record is what the seller relies on when they tick that box, which is a good reason to email it to the owner the day you finish.