Make Sure Smoke Alarms Meet New Requirements

Public Urged To Make Sure Smoke Alarms Meet New Requirements

Auckland (February 2004) - The public is being urged to make sure the smoke alarms they are installing in new and renovated homes comply with recent changes to building laws.

Lance Hunt, Product Manager for Wormald, said many homeowners have yet to realise that the Building Industry Authority (BIA) late last year introduced new requirements for domestic smoke alarm systems. A main requirement for the new alarms is that they must have a "hush" facility

A hush facility is a button that temporarily silences the alarm in the event of a false alarm. It is designed as a safe alternative to stop people taking the batteries out of an alarm after a nuisance activation such as a piece of toast burning in the kitchen.

Mr Hunt said it is important that home owners understand the new requirements and ensure their homes and other buildings are as safe as possible.

"Most merchants have the alarms available, but homeowners need to make sure they are fitting the new alarm," he said.

If householders are concerned about whether they are purchasing the correct system they can contact Wormald on 0800 4 Wormald and speak to our Fire Equipment departments nationwide.

Wormald is one of the world's largest suppliers and installers of fire protection equipment and its Smoke Alarms are fully compliant with the new codes.

The new rules require automatic smoke detection (smoke alarms) to be installed in all new or detached dwellings, anyone applying for a building consent is required to install a smoke alarm with a hush feature before the consent will be signed off. The rules also cover sleep outs, where many fires have occurred in recent years.

"All household fire alarms must alert people to the emergency in adequate time for them to reach a safe place, so it is important that everyone makes sure their system complies with this," Mr Hunt said.

ABOUT WORMALD

Wormald, a business unit of Tyco Services Australia/New Zealand, is a leading provider of fire protection solutions. They have been designing, manufacturing, suppling, installing and servicing fire detection and protection systems since 1889.

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