What the law requires
The Ontario Fire Code places the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm obligation on the owner of the residential building. For rental properties, that responsibility is usually delegated to the property manager, but the liability stays with the owner.
Every residential suite must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas. CO alarms are required if the suite contains a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace, attached garage, or is heated by a gas fueled appliance located anywhere in the building. The alarms must be tested annually, maintained in operating condition, and replaced before the manufacturer’s expiry date.
What Select Fire can do
- Schedules access with property management and posts advance notice to residents with date, time, and entry procedure.
- Tests each in-suite smoke and CO alarm using manufacturer-approved aerosol or test button methods.
- Cleans dust and debris from the sensing chamber, which is the leading cause of false alarms in suites.
- Records the manufacturer, model, manufacture date, and expiry for every alarm.
- We can replace or repair failed or expired alarms on the spot from stocked vehicles, or quote and return for specialty units.
- Leaves a tenant notice slip in every unit showing the result of the test and any action taken.
- Delivers a building-wide report with a unit-by-unit pass/fail log and a deficiency correction plan.
What to tell tenants
- Entry is required by the Ontario Fire Code for life-safety equipment; 24-hour written notice is standard unless a local by-law requires more.
- The visit takes 5–10 minutes per suite. Technicians are uniformed, carry ID, and will not move personal items.
- If no one is home, we follow the building’s lock-out procedure and leave a notice slip with the result.
- Tenants should not remove or disconnect alarms. A tampered alarm is a deficiency that must be corrected and documented.
- Results are reported to property management, not to the fire department, unless a fire-safety order is already in place.
Common problems we find
- Expired alarms. Most ionization and photoelectric alarms expire after 10 years; CO alarms typically expire after 7–10 years. We replace these immediately.
- Disconnected or missing units. Tenants sometimes remove alarms after nuisance trips; the unit is then non-compliant.
- Painted-over sensors. Paint, plaster, or heavy dust blocks the sensing chamber and can delay or prevent detection.
- Dead backup batteries. Hard-wired alarms with dead backups will fail during a power outage and usually chirp beforehand.
- Wrong placement. Alarms too close to bathrooms, kitchens, or HVAC vents cause false alarms or delayed response.
- Access denied. A small percentage of units refuse entry; these must be tracked and revisited or handled through the lease.
Recordkeeping and follow-up
Keep the annual inspection report, the unit-by-unit log, and proof of replacement for every alarm. Fire departments and insurers increasingly ask for this documentation during investigations or after an incident.
The best practice is to attach in-suite smoke alarm status to your turnover checklist. When a tenant moves out, confirm every alarm is present, functional, and within date before the next occupancy.