How Many Smoke Alarms Do I Need in a QLD Home, and Where Do They Go?

Byron Knight, Licensed Electrical Contractor

QLD Lic. 1511406 · 20+ years’ experience · Gold Coast & SEQ · Updated November 2026

The 1 January 2027 deadline is now weeks away, and the most common question we get about it is how many alarms a home actually needs. Queensland law never gives a number. It gives a list of places an alarm must go, and the count falls out of your floor plan.

This guide walks through the required locations, how to count them for common Gold Coast layouts, the mounting rules that decide exactly where each alarm sits on the ceiling, the trouble spots near kitchens, bathrooms, fans and air conditioners, and when you need a licensed electrician.

Who has to comply, and by when

The Queensland Fire Department’s smoke alarms page says that by 1 January 2027 all existing private homes, townhouses, units and manufactured homes need interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms. The rules have been phasing in since 2017:

That timeline comes from the QFD’s smoke alarm reforms page, which also sets out what every alarm must be:

• photoelectric, complying with AS 3786-2014, with no ionisation sensor;
• less than 10 years past its manufacture date;
• tested and working;
• interconnected with every other alarm, so they all sound together; and
• hardwired to mains power, or powered by a non-removable 10-year battery.

Where smoke alarms must go in a Queensland home

The locations are set by section 55C of the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008. An alarm must be installed:

1. In each bedroom. The QFD’s wording is “in each bedroom, or where you sleep”.
2. In the hallway on each storey with bedrooms. If one or more bedrooms are connected by a door to a hallway, an alarm goes in that hallway.
3. Between a bedroom and the rest of the home. If a bedroom isn’t connected by a door to a hallway, the alarm goes in the part of the storey between that bedroom and the rest of the dwelling.
4. On every storey without bedrooms. At least one alarm goes on the most likely path of travel from anywhere on that storey to an exit outside.

How many smoke alarms do I need? Worked examples

Because the count follows the floor plan, the best way to answer is with examples. These are our worked readings of the rules above for typical Gold Coast layouts. Your home may differ, for example where bedrooms open onto living areas or there’s more than one hallway.

All of them must be interconnected, so an alarm going off in the downstairs living room also sounds in the bedrooms. In our experience, plenty of Gold Coast homes have the right number of alarms in the right places but no interconnection, or a mix of brands that won’t talk to each other. In our experience, sorting that out is a big part of our smoke alarm installation work involves.

Exactly where each alarm sits: the mounting rules

Section 55C also sets where on the ceiling or wall an alarm can be mounted. In plain terms:

The QFD’s smoke alarm FAQ sums it up as on the ceiling, 300 mm from corners or lights and 400 mm from anything that may blow air. It also notes that the centre of the room is the preferred spot but not a requirement. In our experience, most Gold Coast bedrooms have a ceiling fan and many have a split system, so the 400 mm rule is the one that most often moves an alarm away from where people expect it.

Kitchens, bathrooms and false alarms

In our experience, an alarm that goes off every time someone makes toast ends up pulled down, which is the worst outcome. The 2016 smoke alarm amendments to Queensland’s fire services law allow for this. Where it’s impracticable to put an alarm in the required spot, an owner may put it somewhere else that still warns occupants. The example given is an alarm regularly set off by bathroom steam or kitchen fumes being moved to another appropriate location.

The QFD FAQ lists other causes of false alarms, including dirt, age, a faulty device and dirty power, and says hardwired alarms shouldn’t be wired to lighting circuits with dimmers. It also says to discuss hardwired alarms with a licensed electrician. Our post on why a smoke alarm keeps beeping covers the chirping side of the problem.

Hardwired or battery: do I need an electrician?

It depends on what you have now. The QFD FAQ says 240-volt smoke alarms connect to the electricity supply and must be connected by a licensed electrician, while non-removable 10-year battery alarms don’t need an electrician. WorkSafe Queensland says the same about hardwired 240V alarms.

• If your home has hardwired alarms now, they must be replaced with hardwired alarms, and that’s licensed electrical work. New builds and major renovations also need hardwired alarms.
• If your existing alarms are battery only, the QFD FAQ says you can replace them with photoelectric alarms that meet AS 3786-2014 and have a non-removable 10-year battery. They must still be interconnected, usually wirelessly.
• If you have a mix, which the QFD says can happen because the building rules and smoke alarm laws changed at different times, its smoke alarms page says replacements should match whichever type applied at the time the home was built.

Where hardwired alarms are involved, we check the alarm circuit as part of a switchboard inspection, because in our experience an old alarm circuit without safety switch protection, or one on a dimmed lighting circuit, is a common find. Our smoke alarm compliance guide covers brand mixing, 9V backup batteries and what to check if you upgraded a few years ago.

Units, townhouses, rentals and granny flats

• Units and apartments are covered. The QFD FAQ says the rules apply to class 2 buildings. The law puts the duty on the owner of the domestic dwelling, which in a unit block is generally the lot owner. Ask your body corporate what’s already installed before buying anything, because some buildings have a building-wide detection system.
• Landlords have extra duties. The RTA says the landlord must test alarms within 30 days before a tenancy starts or is renewed, and tenants test and clean them at least once every 12 months. Queensland’s consumer guidance also says tenants aren’t responsible for installing compliant alarms.
• Granny flats count. The RTA lists secondary dwellings such as granny flats among the rentals that must have compliant alarms. Our reading of the rules is that a self-contained granny flat needs its own alarms covering its own bedrooms, hallway and storeys.

For the wider picture on rentals, see how often landlord electrical safety checks should happen. For who owns what in a unit block, see body corporate vs unit owner responsibilities.

Getting it done before 1 January 2027 on the Gold Coast

1. Count your required locations. Walk the house with the four rules above and mark each bedroom, hallway and bedroom-free storey on a sketch.
2. Check what you have. Look for the manufacture date and “photoelectric” on each alarm, and whether it’s hardwired or battery.
3. Test interconnection. Press the test button on one alarm and listen for the others. If they don’t all sound, you’re not compliant.
4. Book early. We’re fitting alarms across Palm Beach, Elanora, Burleigh Waters, Varsity Lakes, Robina and Currumbin Waters now, and in our experience bookings bunch up in the last weeks before a deadline.

The work runs through our smoke alarm installation service. Landlords and property managers can bundle it with a rental electrical safety check.