Close-up View Of Smoke Detector At Ceiling With Blurred Bedroom Background

Battery fires have continued to be a nuisance across Australia and one way to keep home owners safer is through smoke alarms. Casey McGuire looks at the role electricians can play.

You never think it’s going to happen to you until it does.

One day, a home owner left a lithium-ion battery from a drill on charge overnight on the patio of their home. Mind you, he was the president of a major fire protection company in the United States. When he returned home, his house was gone.

Where did it go?

It burnt down. The battery caught on fire and set the patio alight where eventually the fire burnt through into the house. Only when the fire entered the house was the alarm raised.  The alarm was too late to save the house from destruction.

Battery-based fires are one of the most difficult to counteract because lithium-ion doesn’t go out. Even putting it in a bucket of water doesn’t extinguish the fire.

If the alarm had not been raised when the fire entered the house, the outcomes could have been much more severe. Interconnected smoke alarms within the house raised the alarm throughout the house so they could escape in time, otherwise, it could’ve been their last moments.

Lithium-ion batteries have become a leading fire hazard in New South Wales. For 2024, a record of 275 battery-related incidents were attended to by Fire and Rescue NSW, averaging five per week and a 66% increase in lithium-ion battery fires between 2022 and 2023 according to NSW Fire and Rescue deputy commissioner Paul McGuiggan. The waste industry disclosed an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 battery-related fires a year in Australia.

This has driven the NSW Government to kick off a campaign to reduce the incident rate of lithium-ion battery fires by requiring suppliers to participate in mandatory safe disposal and product safekeeping of their products.

How are smoke alarms installed?

There are two types of smoke alarms to work with. First are battery-operated smoke alarms which can be installed by any home owner. These are available from hardware stores, and they come with a 9V battery.

Secondly are mains-powered smoke alarms, these are of interest to Electrical Connection readers as these can only be installed by licenced electricians. They are powered by 240V and are connected to the house’s power source.

“The National Construction Code (NCC) requires a mains powered smoke alarm for new dwellings, it’s important for electricians to do that because they know the regulations, whereas home owners don’t,” Brooks engineering service manager Chris Orr says.

“Some retrofitting doesn’t require a mains powered smoke alarm. It can use a battery smoke alarm where the battery has a ten-year life and can’t be removed. That could be theoretically serviced by anybody.”

A mains-powered smoke alarm will always have a green light on to indicate it has power available.

All smoke alarms that are AC-powered must include that feature. AC-powered smoke alarms have the advantage of having two power sources, firstly the AC mains power from the home’s electrical supply and a battery standby supply to ensure the smoke alarm will operate when the AC-power is lost.

On the other hand, battery-operated alarms don’t have this two-power source feature. Another way to tell is when removing the smoke alarm from the ceiling, a battery-operated smoke alarm wouldn’t have any wiring connection to it, hence the battery. The mains-powered smoke alarm would have the required electrical connections.

It’s more difficult to install a smoke alarm than some may think. There are so many variables to think about such as having every alarm interconnected, installed at least 30cm away from a wall if installed on the ceiling, further than 30cm from a corner of a ceiling and wall, at least 30cm away from a light fitting and 40cm away from air conditioning vents and ceiling fans. This ensures the alarms are detecting smoke while preventing false alarms.

Why are electricians required to install the alarms?

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) states that at a bare minimum, there must be at least one smoke alarm in every level of a house, and it must be located near bedrooms and a living area. No matter what, every state must follow that rule. But there are some states that have slightly different requirements.

Queensland has a rule that there must be a smoke alarm in each bedroom, whereas in other states or territories, it’s not a requirement.

The Building Fire Safety (Domestic Smoke Alarms) Legislation Amendment Regulation 2016 was modified in 2014 due to a house fire at Slacks Creek, Queensland three years prior where 11 people died due to the smoke alarms not alerting those in the house. The smoke alarm in the hallway was allegedly turned off due to it being “noisy”.

The BCA also states that all the smoke alarms within the house must be interconnected, so when one alerts, they all alert.

What are the standards and protocols?

PSA Products general manager Marcus Ooi highlights the areas to avoid when installing smoke alarms and some are areas an everyday person would never think about, illustrating the importance of a registered electrician.

A no-go is installing smoke alarms in a dusty or insect-filled environment because they can also trigger false alerts. Marcus says not to install a smoke alarm in a garage because of all the dust.

Brooks Australia is an Australian manufacturer of residential and commercial fire alarm systems and related fire safety solutions. The company’s engineering service manager, Chris Orr, says: “It’s not a good idea to leave these batteries charging overnight because their quality can be unknown. Overcharging is a known cause of battery fires.”

Chris emphasises the need for smoke alarms in a garage or any location where you charge a lithium-ion battery, your electric scooter, bike or other electric battery tools. This will provide an early warning of fire to the occupants who hopefully safely evacuate the home.

“Batteries are a major problem and if people put them on charge and leave them unattended, then you run the risk of having an issue.”

All smoke alarms must meet AS 3786 Smoke Alarms. This standard specifies the requirements, test methods used and criteria of functionality for smoke alarms that operate using ionisation, scattered light or transmitted light that is intended for households or similar residential applications.

The non-negotiables that need to be followed regarding the safety of the smoke alarms are:

• Smoke alarms need to be tested annually
• Battery smoke alarms need the batteries replaced in the period specified by the manufacturer, otherwise annually
• A landlord needs to have a non-working smoke alarm fixed or replaced within two business days of becoming aware
• Smoke alarms need to be replaced within ten years from the manufacture date or earlier if specified by the manufacturer

Exploring possible advances

“It’s critical that electricians are mindful that smoke alarms must be working and properly maintained to ensure the safety of their customers,” Marcus says.

“Electricians have to be mindful that if they come across any old smoke alarms, especially if they’re over ten years old, that they’re replaced with a brand new one.”

Education is the number one priority.

“As a manufacturer of smoke alarms, we rely on electricians to educate home owners. It’s not just about installing alarms, but to how to maintain the alarm properly as well so that it’s working as it should,” Marcus adds.

The nature of a residential electrician is to go out to a job, have a chat with the home owner and fix or install what needs to be done. Often seen as experts within their field, there’s the opportunity for electricians to recommend a mains-powered smoke alarm or update an older, potentially dangerous, smoke alarm in a home.

There is a vast lack of awareness among home owners and businesses about the importance of a regularly maintained, modern smoke alarm. There’s an opportunity for electricians to lead the conversation about what’s out there.

Differences in the Queensland law

As of 1 May 2021, the definition of ‘fire protection work’ was amended to no longer include the repair, installation, certification or maintenance of a battery-operated smoke alarm in a Class 1a or 2 building under the BCA

A Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) license is now required for the fire protection work to the extent that is not electrical work under the Electrical Safety Act 2002. But employees of licensed contractors that hold an electrical mechanic’s license will still be exempt from having a QBCC occupational license.

Employees of licensed contractors that hold an electrical mechanic’s license will still be exempt from having a QBCC occupational license and transitional provisions have allowed electrical mechanics to apply for a contractor licence as of 1 November 2021.

The new definition to ‘fire alarm systems’ now includes intercom systems, smoke and heat alarm system devices (subject to the ‘fire protection work’).

There are several changes for licensees transitioning to the new ‘certify’ classes.