ServiceM8 form
ServiceM8 smoke alarm compliance form for QLD homes
This is a ServiceM8 Form for checking a Queensland home against s147Z of the Fire Services Act 1990. It records each alarm's room, type, power source, interconnection, manufacture date and position, then prints a pass or fail for the house. From 1 January 2027 the rule applies to every home, not just sales and new tenancies.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Free form ยท AS 3786-2014
Smoke alarm compliance record form for electrical
A per room compliance record and a house level pass or fail statement, saved as a PDF to the job diary and, with Asset Management, to a per dwelling asset history.
The form: 16 questions
| Section | Question | Type | Req. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property | Property address | Text | Yes | |
| Property | Dwelling class | Choice Class 1a (house) / Class 2 sole occupancy unit (unit or townhouse) | Yes | |
| Room | Room or location | Text | Yes | One row per alarm, for example: Bedroom 1, Hallway, Bedroom 2. |
| Room | Alarm present in this location | Choice Yes / No | Yes | |
| Alarm | Sensor type | Choice Photoelectric only / Photoelectric and ionisation / Ionisation only / Unknown | Yes | Only photoelectric only alarms meet s55E. Check the alarm body, not just the packaging. |
| Alarm | Power source | Choice Hardwired to mains / Non-removable 10 year battery / Removable standard battery / Unknown | Yes | A standard removable battery does not meet s55D even if the alarm otherwise passes. |
| Alarm | Manufacture date | Date | Yes | Printed on the alarm body. Must be less than 10 years before installation. |
| Alarm | Interconnected to other alarms | Choice Yes, tested and confirmed / Fitted but not tested / No | Yes | |
| Alarm | Position meets placement rules | Choice Yes / No, too close to light or corner / No, too close to air conditioning or fan / No, wrong part of ceiling or wall | Yes | |
| Alarm | Operates when tested | Choice Yes / No | Yes | |
| Alarm | Photo of alarm and location | Photo | Yes | |
| Result | This alarm meets the requirements for s147Z | Choice Pass / Fail | Yes | |
| House | Overall result for the dwelling | Choice Pass, all locations compliant / Fail, see individual rows | Yes | |
| House | Notes and remediation required | Text (Multi-line) | ||
| Sign off | Technician name and licence number | Text | Yes | |
| Sign off | Technician signature | Signature | Yes |
Set it up in ServiceM8
- In ServiceM8 open Settings > Forms > Add Form and name it Smoke alarm compliance (QLD).
- Add each question above, matching the type (Choice means Multiple Choice) and ticking Mandatory where required is true.
- Turn on Asset Management and create an asset type called Smoke alarm system per dwelling, so repeat inspections show the same house's history rather than starting fresh each visit.
- Since the form repeats per room, use Job Templates to pre-fill the property address and dwelling class, and have the tester add one form response per room from the job.
- Test the form on a dwelling with a mix of compliant and non-compliant alarms before rolling it out, so the pass or fail logic is checked against a real fail case.
Why the date on this form matters
Section 147Z of the Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld) currently applies to a domestic dwelling only when a trigger happens: a substantial renovation approved after 31 December 2016, or, after 31 December 2021, a sale or a new or renewed tenancy. Subsection (7) of that section says subsections (1) and (2), the ones that set those triggers, expire on 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027 what is left is subsection (3): the owner of a domestic dwelling must install smoke alarms in compliance with the section, full stop, with no trigger required. That is the change tradies mean when they talk about the 2027 rule, and it is why a compliance check that only runs at sale or lease time will start missing houses that were never sold, renovated or rented.
The older, weaker rule in s147Y, which only required AS 3786-2014 compliant alarms without mandating photoelectric-only sensors or interconnection, expires on the same date, 31 December 2026.
What each alarm has to be, and where
Under s55E of the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), a smoke alarm installed under s147Z must comply with AS 3786-2014, contain a photoelectric sensor, and not also contain an ionisation sensor, so an old dual sensor or ionisation only alarm fails even if it still works. Section 55D sets the power source: hardwired to the dwelling's electricity supply, or a battery built in so it cannot be removed and made to power the alarm for at least 10 years without recharging, so a standard replaceable 9 volt battery does not qualify. Section 147Z(5)(c) requires the alarm to have been manufactured less than 10 years before it is installed, and (e) requires it to be interconnected to every other alarm in the dwelling so one going off sounds all of them.
Section 55C sets the required locations: each bedroom, plus the hallway connecting bedrooms to the rest of the dwelling on each storey with bedrooms (or the part of the storey between a bedroom without a hallway and the rest of the dwelling), and on storeys with no bedrooms, the most likely path of travel to an exit. It also sets position rules: on the ceiling where practicable, not within 300mm of a light fitting or a ceiling corner, and not within 400mm of an air conditioning outlet or ceiling fan blades.
How the form reaches a pass or fail
Each room gets its own line, so a house with alarms in three bedrooms and a hallway produces four rows rather than one line for "smoke alarms installed." A single non-photoelectric alarm, a missing interconnection, or an alarm older than 10 years fails that row, and the form's overall result question makes the tester state the house level outcome rather than leave it to be inferred from the individual rows.
What this form will not do
- ServiceM8 Forms do not calculate the overall pass or fail from the individual room results automatically. The technician sets both, and they need to agree.
- The form checks against s147Z of the Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld) and the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld). It is specific to Queensland and does not cover other states' smoke alarm rules.
- Determining the correct required locations for an unusual floor plan (for example a storey with no bedrooms) needs the tester to read s55C, not just tick the standard bedroom and hallway rows.
- The form does not itself determine whether s147Z currently applies to a given dwelling before 1 January 2027. Until then, that depends on whether the dwelling has had a qualifying renovation, sale or new tenancy.
Sources
- Subsections (1) and (2) of s147Z of the Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), which limit the section to substantial renovations approved after 31 December 2016 and to sales or new or renewed tenancies after 31 December 2021, expire on 31 December 2026, along with the requirement in s147Z(3) that the owner of a domestic dwelling install smoke alarms in compliance with the section. Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), s 147Z (current as at 6 December 2025), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- The older smoke alarm regime in s147Y of the Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), which requires compliance with AS 3786-2014 without mandating a photoelectric-only sensor or interconnection, expires on 31 December 2026. Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), s 147Y (current as at 6 December 2025), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- For s147Z of the Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld), a smoke alarm must comply with AS 3786-2014, contain a photoelectric sensor, and not also contain an ionisation sensor. Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), s 55E (current as at 20 June 2025), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- For s147Z, a smoke alarm must be powered by hardwiring to the domestic dwelling's electricity supply, or by a battery built into the alarm so it cannot be removed and manufactured to power the alarm for at least 10 years without being recharged. Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), s 55D (current as at 20 June 2025), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Required smoke alarm locations under s147Z are each bedroom, the hallway connecting a bedroom to the rest of the dwelling on each storey with bedrooms (or the connecting part of the storey if there is no hallway), and on a storey with no bedrooms, the most likely path of travel to an exit; placement rules include mounting on the ceiling where practicable and staying clear of light fittings, ceiling corners, air conditioning outlets and ceiling fan blades by set distances. Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld), s 55C (current as at 20 June 2025), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- ServiceM8 Forms question types are Text, Text (Multi-line), Number, Date, Multiple Choice, Multiple Choice (Multi-answer), Signature and Photo; a question can be made compulsory; completed forms are converted to PDF and saved to the job diary. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.