A Northland fire investigator is encouraging landlords and tenants to review the new smoke alarm regulations saying they should reduce the high number of structure fires in rentals.
Craig Bain, a fire investigator, said the highest percentage of structure fires which caused damage occurred in rental properties and said the changes to the Residential Tenancy Act, which came into action yesterday, should improve those statistics.
"This is very positive, it should reduce the number of structure fires in rental properties," he said "It's a shared responsibility for landlords and tenants."
The changes will make landlords responsible for ensuring an operational smoke alarm is in place, and tenants responsible for replacing batteries if required.
It will require one working smoke alarm within 3m of each bedroom door and long-life photoelectric smoke alarms are now required where there are no existing alarms. When existing smoke alarms are replaced, the replacements must be long-life photoelectric smoke alarms.