Installing Your Alarm

Installing Smoke and Heat Alarms

Make sure to research where to put smoke alarms before planning installation. 

• Both smoke and heat alarms should be sited on the ceiling, as centrally as possible within the room/area they are installed.
• Site alarms 300mm from walls, light fittings or any obstructions: this is to ensure that they are outside of any ‘dead air’ spaces that occur in corners and spaces where the airflow may be blocked.
• There should be an alarm within 3m of every bedroom door to ensure they can be heard.
• Alarms should be positioned between high-risk rooms and bedrooms.
• Alarms should not be sited inside bathrooms or too close to a bathroom door, as steam and moisture can affect them.
• Once installed, make sure to properly test smoke alarms regularly. If you need to, make sure to replace fire alarms promptly.

Installing Smoke and Heat Alarms Around Your Home

Installing Stairways:

• Site alarms on the flat ceilings at the top and bottom of the stairs – do not install on the sloped ceiling directly above the stairs.

Peaked and sloped ceilings:

• Smoke Alarms – site a maximum of 600mm vertically down from the apex
• Heat Alarms – a maximum of 150mm vertically down from the apex on the slope

Beams:

• Where the depth of the beam is less than 10% of the room height, install the alarm at a distance of twice the depth of the beam or 500mm, whichever is less.
• Where the depth of the beam is more than 10% of the room height – treat the beam as a wall and fit alarms on both sides of the beam, or if the beam is less than 600mm deep, install an alarm on the underside of the beam.