Smoke alarm(s) hard wired in residential homes.
Codes and laws are minimum standards.
For newer homes, the Ontario Building Code has mandated that residential dwellings have required electrically operated (hard wired) smoke alarms to be installed adjacent to sleeping areas since the early 1980’s. In the mid 1990’s the code was upgraded to require an electrically operated smoke alarm be installed adjacent to sleeping areas and also on every level of the home, and they had to be connected together so if one started to ring they would all ring. Still to this date the building code does not require these electric alarms to have a battery backup, so under power failure to the home, there is no smoke alarm protection. If the builder chose to go above minimum code they may install electric alarms with battery backup but they are not mandated.
It wasn’t until 1997 that the Ontario Fire Code required all dwellings, regardless of when they were built, to have a smoke alarm installed near any bedrooms in that dwelling. Prior to 1997 many municipalities had local bylaws that required smoke alarms but they differed from town to town and city to city, and these bylaws were repealed when the Fire Code addressed the smoke alarm issue. In 2006 the Fire Code was amended to require smoke alarms on every level of dwellings as well as near the bedrooms. In all cases where the fire code mandates installation of smoke alarms in homes it does not require them to be wired in due to the difficulty and expense to run wires in finished areas of a home, so battery was the easier alternative.
The fire code also clearly states that if the home had been built with electric alarms, the owner could not reduce what was installed when it was build which meant they could not replace electric alarms with battery ones.
So, to provide yourself with the best protection and stay compliant with the minimum requirements of the law you should:
· Be sure to have a smoke alarm near sleeping areas and on every level of your home.
· Replace any smoke alarms that are over 10 years old, including electric ones.
· If there were electric alarms installed when the home was built and they need replacing, consider buying electric alarms with battery backup built in.
· If the home is older and there are no electrically operated smoke alarms, you can install battery operated alarms. Consider new technology that uses wireless technology in the smoke alarm to interconnect all the alarms together in the same home so when one rings, they all ring for an earlier warning.
· Even if the existing electric alarms do not need replacing in the home, consider install basic battery alarms beside the existing electric ones for protection during power failure.
Hopefully this helps and if you need any more information you can check out www.burlington.ca/fire for more smoke alarm information and general fire safety as well.