Smoke alarms - mandatory installation

You can contribute a great deal to your safety and that of your family with little effort and cost:

Especially at night, dangerous fires can break out in homes, where smoke can spread within seconds. The smoke and fumes can cause sleeping people to lose consciousness after a short time. Smoke alarms do not prevent fires, but they can give early warning of smoke development in the home and wake sleeping people with their loud signal.

Owners of apartments or residential buildings are obliged to equip them with smoke alarms (see also deadlines). All bedrooms, children's rooms and corridors that serve as escape routes must have at least one smoke alarm. The battery-operated devices can easily be retrofitted in the home and do not require any major installation work. Battery-operated smoke alarms are available inexpensively from specialist retailers and DIY stores. The smoke alarms must have a CE marking with reference to DIN EN 14604.

As a rule, the tenants of an apartment are responsible for the maintenance and testing of the devices, unless the owners of an apartment have assumed this obligation.

The costs for the installation of smoke alarms must be borne by the owners of an apartment.

Unless otherwise agreed, the owners, i.e. usually the tenants, are responsible for any costs incurred for regular maintenance and testing, including battery replacement.

In Hesse, the installation of smoke alarms in new buildings has been mandatory since 2005. Older apartments and residential buildings must be retrofitted by 31.12.2014.