Smoke alarm compliance

In Victoria, smoke alarms are compulsory on every level of every home.

Since 1 August 1997, Victorian law states that smoke alarms (complying with Australian standards AS3786) must be installed in all residential homes, including houses, units, flats and townhouses.

Residential homes constructed before 1 August 1997 need only standalone 9-volt battery powered smoke alarms installed.

Residential homes constructed after 1 August 1997 or have undergone a major renovation or extension, must have smoke alarms connected to 240-volt mains power. In addition a back-up battery must be installed in the smoke alarm.

Residential homes constructed after 1 May 2014 or homes that have undergone a major renovation or extension, where there is a requirement for more than one smoke alarm in the home, all smoke alarms fitted must be interconnected (so that when any alarm activates, all smoke alarms will sound).

It is the legal responsibility of all owners and landlords to install working smoke alarms.

To read more, visit Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board http://www.mfb.vic.gov.au/Community/Home-Safety/SmokeAlarms.html

Home Smoke Alarms

Most house fires occur at night while we sleep and have no sense of smell, so it's simply not worth the risk of ignoring fire safety. A working smoke alarm increases your chance of surviving a house fire by 60%.

Protect your family and your loved ones by installing a Brooks smoke alarm, allowing you to sleep soundly knowing that your loved ones are safe.

Addressable Wireless Detection System

With wireless technology now commonplace in our lives, both at home and work we use wireless devices without a second thought. There is clearly a place for both types of technology, 'wired' and 'wireless', when designing and specifying a fire detection system. Wired devices should be used where cables are easy and cost effective to install, and wireless devices should be used where the installation of cables would be expensive, time consuming, impractical or just impossible.

Wireless fire alarm systems offer a number of advantages to the modern business such as:

• They are as reliable as a wired system.

• Can be easily installed in buildings where there is limited access (e.g. due to high ceilings, confined spaces) and with minimal disruption.

• Where a building layout needs to be modified such as a renovation or extension.

• Reduces labour costs, “make good” lease costs, and decorating costs.

• Can be used as a temporary system in locations where a wired system isn’t viable (e.g. building sites).

• Can be used to extend an existing wired system.

The Brooks wireless detector system consists of an addressable base station for wireless units (4620AU) and wireless photoelectric smoke detectors (4611AU).

The 4611AU Wireless Photoelectric Smoke Detector with inbuilt sounder is ideal for those applications where it is difficult to run or hide cables normally associated with standard point type detectors. The 4611AU has a low-profile housing utilising the latest IC technology to secure the highest reliability possible and perform just like its wired counterparts, while providing installation flexibility in a wireless format.

The 4620AU Addressable Base Station interfaces wireless devices to the nearest COM loop. Each base station can communicate with up to 16 wireless detectors and up to four base stations can be connected to each COM loop in an EBL system.

Should the need arise to check the environment for background noise and confirm the quality of the signal strength between the base station and the wireless detectors, a wireless sniffer (4361AU) is available that in conjunction with a simple PC program can carry out this operation. This is a very helpful tool during the planning, installation and commissioning of the wireless system.

RadioLINK Wireless Alarm Interconnection

The first wire free interconnect smoke alarms were launched into the residential market in 2004 as a cost effective and easy way to interconnect alarms. Brooks was the first company to introduce wireless smoke alarm interconnection in Australia and New Zealand.

Wireless alarm interconnection enables smoke alarms to be connected to each other without the need for cabling between the alarms. Instead, a Radio Frequency (RF) signal is used to trigger all the alarms in the system.

Hard wired interconnection can be time consuming and disruptive and, as a result, costly particularly in existing dwellings. However, the ability to interconnect alarms without hard wiring has made mains powered and battery operated alarms quicker and cheaper to install and has made interconnection itself more popular.

The safety benefits of alarm interconnection are obvious. In the event of one alarm detecting a fire, all interconnected alarms will go into alarm mode, sounding throughout the property. There’s not much chance of sleeping through that cacophony, whereas there is a very real danger that a heavy sleeper shut behind a bedroom door may not be woken in time by the alarm in the downstairs hallway. Interconnected alarms provide an earlier warning and the best chance of escape.

Wireless interconnection also makes it far simpler for landlords, specifiers and installers to make changes to a system to help meet the changing needs of different tenants. With so much emphasis being placed on individual risk assessment, this flexibility has got to become an integral part of system planning in the future.

Wireless interconnect smoke alarms can either be powered by 9 volt replaceable batteries, 10 year long life lithium batteries (which are non-removable and will power the alarm for more than 10 years which exceeds the service lifetime of the installed smoke alarm) or 230 volt mains which may provide some significant savings.

Wiring rules tip: Where interconnection is required between mains powered alarms, wired on different sub circuits ie: upstairs - - downstairs, main house, granny flat. Radio frequency communication is the safest and simplest complying solution available.

If you need help in interconnecting your alarms, read our article on ‘house coding your alarm’.

Solutions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

One in six Australians are affected by hearing loss and over half (53%) of those that are hard of hearing don't wear their hearing aids or cochlear implants while they sleep. Most house fires occur at night, its concerning that (25%) of Australians believe that their elderly relatives would sleep through a smoke alarm.  Smoke alarms save lives but those who are deaf or hard of hearing cannot depend on the sound of the regular alarm to alert them to a fire.

Brooks has solutions specifically designed for the deaf and hard of hearing.

In the event of a fire, as well as sounding an audible warning, the alarm will activate a high intensity strobe light and a vibrating pad located beneath the sleeper’s pillow, to alert them of the danger. This can be interconnected with conventional audible alarms in different locations within the home.  If one alarm senses smoke, all alarms will sound, the strobe will flash and the vibrating pad will vibrate.  As seen on PRIME7 click here to view. 

Every minute counts in a home fire, therefore it's important to have and know your escape plan and a alarm system designed for your needs to give you and your family the earliest warning possible.  Families who are well prepared are more likely to escape their homes safely and without panic

Find out more about Brooks Hard of Hearing Solutions below on our YouTube Brooks Learning Video and download our Home Fire Safety Checklist 

People who wish to purchase smoke alarms suitable for the deaf or hard of hearing should contact the appropriate organisation in their state. You may be eligible for a smoke alarm subsidy which varies between states.

Roof Space Detection

Although well maintained smoke alarms will certainly increase the chance of detecting smoke within the living areas of your home, they will do little to warn you of a fire starting in your roof space. Due to the alarming increase in the number of roof space fires, suitable detection is recommended.

Fires can start in the roof space from risks such as:

• Hot water pipes

• Heater flues

• Insulation too close to exhaust fans, down lights and transformers

• Faulty wiring due to age or poor roof installation techniques

Residential smoke and heat alarms are NOT designed to withstand the extreme temperatures experienced throughout the year in a common household roof space. For this reason, Brooks have developed a range of equipment specifically designed for such conditions.