As a property owner it’s important to make sure both investment properties and tenants are safe. The last thing anyone wants to have happen is an injury or loss of life due to negligence. Exchange Property Sales and Management recently discussed a great new service, which can help keep landlords covered in an important area of safety.

A new service from Smoke Alarms Australia and Exchange Property Sales and Management.

An important part of providing a rental property to tenants is ensuring the safety of the building and making sure all possible measures have been taken to avoid any disasters such as fire. A key part of Exchange Property Sales and Management’s role is assisting landlords with this, which is why they’re thrilled to introduce a new solution to help fill a gap in building safety.

There are over 10,000 house fires in Australia each year; imagine the homes and lives that could have been protected if working smoke alarms had been fitted.

Changing batteries in smoke alarms is not enough

Did you know that according to Australian Standard 3786, all rental properties must have working smoke alarms fitted. A good quality 10-year battery alarm or hard-wired alarm is more reliable and effective in the long term. Homes built after 1997 must have hard-wired smoke alarms installed, which also have a battery back-up.

However while many property owners do change the batteries in their smoke alarms, there are many faulty units out there going unnoticed.

Solving the problem

Because of this situation, Exchange Property Sales and Management are pleased to introduce a new 'smoke alarm service' provided with Smoke Alarms Australia.

For each service call, Smoke Alarms Australia will make sure smoke alarms are working by not only changing the batteries but also testing and certifying all units, which will ensure landlords’ properties (and tenants!) are protected.

What’s included?

As part of this service, Smoke Alarms Australia will:

• Supply all necessary smoke detectors

• Maintain and test each unit

• Certify all smoke detectors in each property

"We think this is a great initiative that covers an area of liability for property owners, namely that untested or faulty smoke sensors could cause loss of price or property and could cause liability issues for owners," says Exchange Property Sales and Management principal Ian Comyns.

Fees involved and your choice to take part

The service provided by Smoke Alarms Australia has a set fee of $99 per annum and homeowners have the option to opt out if they do not wish to have their properties included.

Smoke Alarms Australia will be looking after all existing properties, so landlords need to let them know before November 15, 2011 if they’d prefer not to take part.