Responsibility for smoke alarms to transfer from occupant to building owner on 1 January 2026

The responsibility for smoke alarms will change on 1 January 2026, when the obligation to purchase and maintain smoke alarms will transfer from the possessor of the home, that is, the occupant, to the owner of the building. In accommodation and care facilities, the operator will remain responsible for the purchase and maintenance of smoke alarms. Future changes will affect housing companies and rental property companies, in particular. 

The amendment to the Rescue Act is aimed at achieving better fulfilment of the obligations concerning smoke alarms and clarification of the current regulation.  

 

In the future, the building owner, such as the housing company, will be responsible for ensuring that each flat in a block of flats has a sufficient number of functioning smoke alarms. If all flats have identical smoke alarms of the same age, maintenance can most often be carried out in a proactive and planned manner. This will reduce, for example, night-time maintenance alarms caused by exhausted batteries. 

In the future, the occupant is obliged to immediately notify the owner of the building of any faults in the smoke alarm, such as battery exhaustion, or if the occupant has otherwise noticed that the smoke alarm is out of order.

It is advisable for building owners to take advantage of the two-year transitional period for regulatory changes by planning and implementing the practical measures required well before the beginning of 2026.  

Device requirements to remain unchanged

The legislative amendments on smoke alarms do not involve changes to the device requirements for smoke alarms or any extension to the obligation to purchase smoke alarms, for example for the general premises of residential buildings. 

Even after 2025, the obligation to purchase and maintain smoke alarms for homes can be fulfilled with conventional battery-powered smoke alarms or mains-powered smoke alarms in accordance with the building regulations. The Rescue Act does not require mains-powered smoke alarms or various remotely readable smoke alarms.