Smoke Alarm Code Law

Standards & History

NFPA 101 - 1976, required smoke alarms to be in every home

NFPA 74 - 1989, required interconnected smoke alarms for new construction [5,6]. If one alarms, they all alarm.

NFPA 72 - 1993, required hardwired smoke alarms in every bedroom or sleeping area [5,6].

NFPA 72 - 1996, required hardwired smoke alarms in new construction to have battery back-up [5].

NFPA 72 - 1996 July 1, required the smoke alarm signal to be 3 beeps, pause and repeat - aka the Temporal 3 Sound and the Audible Emergency Evacuation Signal, ANSI S3.41 [6].

NFPA 72 - 1999, required smoke to be replaced every 10 years.

UL 217 - 1999, required manufactures to print the date in plain English on the back of the smoke alarm.

NFPA 72 - 2007, required existing homes to have interconnected smoke alarms.

Smoke Alarm Code References

NFPA 101 - Life Safety Code.
NFPA 72 - National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.
NFPA 74 - Recommended Good Practices for the Installation of Automatic Fire Alarms Systems for Private Dwellings.
UL 217 - Standard for Safety Smoke Alarms.
"Consideration for Installation of Smoke Alarms on Residential Branch Circuits", US. Consumer Protection Safety Commission, CPSC-ES-0504, October 2005, Arthur Lee & Doug Lee - https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/acfismoke.pdf
"A Review of the Sound Effectiveness of Residential Smoke Alarms", US. Consumer Protection Safety Commission, CPSC-ES-0502, December 2004 (Revised), Arthur Lee, Jonathan Midgett & Sharon White - https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/alarm1.pdf

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