The change to Daylight Savings Time is a calendar point when  residential home owners are encouraged to check the smoke detectors in their homes.  Could residents in apartment communities be encouraged to do the same?  Time and time again, fires are reported with fatalities, its hard to understand how this happens with the range of devices available to notify individuals of fire and smoke in their homes.

But smoke detectors cannot be effective if they’re disabled.  Does the property have a policy to issue warnings or lease violations if a smoke detector is disabled by the resident?  The disabling of a smoke detector is rendering a safety feature of the apartment home inactive, probably a violation of the lease.  Repeated documented violations could warrant eviction (depending on the specific language of the lease and community policies.)

Education for residents and staff can be beneficial.  During the apartment tours and inspections, pointing out the smoke detectors their locations and their functionality is a marketing tool.

-a smoke detector in every bedroom. -a carbon monoxide detector. -a smoke detector on each level of the apartment home. -the smoke detectors are hardwired to a building alarm, with a battery back up.

As well, as the explanation for damaging/disabling the devices.

“Disabling a smoke detector puts not only the occupants of this apartment home, but also the residents  of the neighboring units at risk.  If a smoke detector is found disabled in your apartment, a lease violation will be issued, and it could result in eviction.”

If maintenance or leasing staff discovers a disabled in an occupied apartment, it should be documented, repaired and a notice/warning issued to the resident. Does maintenance staff test the smoke detector every time they enter an apartment home? The buzz or beep can be annoying to residents until it saves a life. Waiting for annual inspections to test smoke detectors does not take advantage of the occasions when maintenance is already in the apartment to insure that all of the provided devices are working correctly.

It is also important to remember that smoke detectors have a useful “shelf” life. A smoke detector is working “all the time,” monitoring the environment for the presence of smoke. This is part of the reason replacement of batteries is warranted, not the number of times, the smoke detector has issued an audible tone. Manufacturer specifications generally recommend replacement of smoke detectors after ten years. Recent replacement of the smoke detector has the ability to be a marketing feature for a property. Every apartment home has a smoke detector but how often is it described as a feature? Taking the time to describe the functionality and benefits of seemingly obvious items, is described in more detail in the post, “Find The Cup Holders, Selling The Hidden Features.”

Expiration dates of other safety features should also be monitored. Are fire extinguishers provided in each apartment home? Is instruction provided to residents describing how to use a fire extinguisher? Could the property offer training a couple times during the course of the year with instruction for both residents and staff on the use of fire extinguishers?

Discovering disabled smoke detectors during an municipal or agency inspection is frustrating for a property staff and usually carries a severe negative impact on the scoring. But more importantly, an important safety device has been disabled in the apartment building affecting the ability to notify the occupants of the building of a life threatening situation. Education and preventive maintenance can improve the effectiveness of this system. While generating some opportunities for resident retention and adding to the features and benefits in the apartment homes.