What happens during a smoke alarm service

A smoke alarm is one of the cheapest pieces of safety equipment in a house and one of the easiest to forget about. Most people only think about theirs when it chirps at two in the morning. Here is what actually happens when a HomeSafeGV technician attends to service the alarms in a home or rental property.

We check every alarm, not just the obvious one

The first thing we do is walk the property and locate every alarm. Homes are extended, hallways are reconfigured and alarms get painted over or removed during renovations, so what is installed is not always what should be installed. We note the position and type of each unit and flag anywhere an alarm is missing or poorly placed.

Testing, cleaning and replacement

Each alarm is then tested and cleaned. Dust and insects are the most common cause of both nuisance alarms and alarms that fail to sound. We check the sounder, replace batteries where the unit takes them, and check the expiry date stamped on the housing - alarms have a finite service life and an expired unit is replaced rather than retested.

• Every alarm located and identified
• Sounder and sensor tested
• Unit cleaned of dust and insects
• Batteries replaced where applicable
• Expired or faulty units replaced

You get a record of the visit

At the end of the visit you receive documentation setting out what was found, what was tested and anything that was replaced. For rental properties that record is what a rental provider or agent keeps on file to show the obligation has been met. For owner-occupiers it is simply a useful record of when the alarms were last looked at.

If something is not right

If we find a problem we cannot resolve on the spot - a hard-wired unit that needs an electrician, or an alarm layout that does not suit the building - we will tell you plainly what the issue is and what it will take to fix. Our team includes licensed electricians, so in most cases we can complete the work without you needing to arrange a second trade.

To book a smoke alarm service anywhere in the Goulburn Valley, call us on 03 5897 7188 or send an enquiry and we will arrange a time that suits.