NJ Division of Fire Safety Now Mandates 10-Year Sealed Battery Smoke Alarms

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ (DCA) Division of Fire Safety is informing residents of a new smoke alarm regulation, effective January 1, 2019, which requires 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms be installed in homes built before January 1, 1977.

Install. Inspect. Protect. Smoke alarms save lives! If your smoke alarm was installed more than 10 years ago, it needs to be replaced.

According to a release, the requirement includes one- and two-family dwellings, motel rooms, and housing units in rooming houses.

The state’s Uniform Construction Code requires all homes built after Jan. 1, 1977 to have alternating current (AC) hardwired alarms installed inside the dwellings, and those homes are unaffected by the new regulation.

“The importance of working smoke alarms cannot be overstated,” stated Lt. Gov. Sheila Y. Oliver, who also serves as DCA commissioner. “They are essential for quickly detecting a fire and providing an early warning to occupants to allow them to safely escape. The key to early detection is having functioning smoke alarms, and the 10-year sealed batteries will help keep them reliably working longer to prevent injury and save more lives.”

The most common cause of a smoke alarm not functioning is the lack of a working battery. Often, the battery is removed so it can be used somewhere else or the battery no longer has the necessary charge.

Download our Smoke Alarms at Home Fact SheetBatteries are also removed to prevent nuisance alarms from cooking. For this reason, DCA’s Division of Fire Safety proposed and adopted regulations that require the use of 10-year sealed battery type smoke alarms.

This technology precludes an individual from removing the battery, thus maintaining a working alarm. Also, the 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms are designed to last 10 years and be replaced.

Utilizing this new technology to ensure a working smoke alarm will go a long way to reducing fire injuries and deaths.

Fire inspectors will now check for these new alarms during inspections. Violation notices will be issued to property owners where the 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms are not installed.

The Division of Fire Safety serves as the central fire service agency in the state. The division is responsible for the development and enforcement of the state Uniform Fire Code, as well as for implementing community risk reduction and firefighter training programs.


Learn More about smoke alarms here.

Read Mendham Borough’s Ordinance Regarding Smoke Detector Inspections