Crucial Smoke Alarm Safety & Compliance

Each year, roughly 3,000 people die in house fires in the US.  2,000 of those deaths are in homes with absent or non-functional smoke alarms.  
2,000 preventable deaths.  

How many of the homes you manage can you guarantee would notify the sleeping occupants of a fire?  According to National Fire Protection Association,

• Cooking is the #1 cause of home fires and injuries.
• Smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths.
• Heating is the second leading cause of home fires, fire deaths and fire injuries.
• Electrical failures or malfunctions are factors in roughly 50,000 reported fires each year.
• Roughly 30, 000 intentionally set home structure fires are reported each year.

Did you realize that every state has its own smoke alarm requirements?  Despite what individual home-owners and landlords think, a few battery-powered smoke alarms in the home are not sufficient to prevent a fire or cover their liablity in the event of loss of property or life.

I recommend each person - whether they be home-owners, renters, landlords, property managers or realtors - take a moment and review the state-by-state smoke alarm regulations issued by FEMA.  This information is invaluable.  And for those of you in any form of property management, develop a written plan for addressing smoke-alarm compliance in the homes you care for.  Include:  

• Copy of your state regulations
• Inventory of all smoke alarms in each home
• Manufacturer’s date of each alarm
• Date of each inspection & by whom
• Date of each battery replacement
• Communication log with tenants

Quality property management software programs offer secure file storage and the ability to automatically record and date stamp property events, email blasts and SMS notices to tenants & owners.  Storing a copy of these documents in cloud-based storage provides easy access and ensures your records are kept safe in the event your home is destroyed in a fire or your electronic storage device is compromised.

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Janell K. is a member of Rentec Direct, a web-basedproperty management software program offering Landlords and Professional Managers tools for tracking income and expenses,payment processing ,tenant screening andonline advertising.