The locations must comply with applicable building
regulations.
Hot smoke rises and spreads out, so a central ceiling
position is the preferred location. The air is “dead” and does
not move in corners, therefore Smoke & Heat Alarms must
be mounted away from corners. Place the unit:
- At least 0.3m away from walls. See
Figure 1
.
- At least 0.3m from any light fitting or decorative object
which might obstruct smoke / heat entering the Alarm.
Sloping Ceiling
With a sloping or peaked ceiling install a Smoke or Heat
Alarm between 500mm min. and 1500mm max. of the
peak (measured vertically). If this height is between
300mm min. and 500mm max. for Smoke Alarms or for
Heat Alarms it is regarded as being flat (see
Figure 2
).
Wall mounting of smoke alarms (only):
If ceiling mounting is impractical, smoke alarms may
be mounted on a wall, provided that:
a) the top of the detection element is between
150mm and 300mm below the ceiling;
b) the bottom of the detection element is above the
level of any door openings;
Wall mounting should only be considered where
close spaced beams or similar obstructions may
preclude ceiling mounting. It is considered to be the
responsibility of the installer/client to determine if the
presence of asbestos in the ceiling material would
make ceiling mounting ‘impractical’.
Locations To Avoid
DON’T place Smoke Alarms in any of the following
areas:
• Bathrooms, kitchens, shower rooms, garages
or other
rooms where the smoke alarm may be triggered by steam,
condensation, normal smoke or fumes. Keep at least 6
metres away from sources of normal smoke/fumes.
DON’T place Heat Alarms in any of the following
areas:
•
Bathrooms, shower rooms
or other rooms where the unit
may be triggered by steam or condensation.
DON’T place Smoke or Heat Alarms in any of the
following areas:
• Places where the normal temperature can exceed 40°C or
be below 4°C (e.g.
attics, furnace rooms
, directly above
ovens
or
kettles
etc.) as the heat/steam could cause
nuisance/false alarms.
Positioning Alarms
0.3m
500 mm
1500 mm max
.
300 mm
min.
Ceiling line
Exposed floor joists
Side Wall
DEAD AIRSPACE AND PROPER MOUNTING OF SMOKE
ALARMS ON SIDE WALLS
300 mm
500 mm max.
min.
Dead air space
Suitable smoke
alarm location
Key:
Figure 1
Figure 2
12