July 2, 2007
Source: Brisbane Times
Queenslanders who flout mandatory smoke alarm laws face potentially crippling financial penalties - but it won't be a band of heavily-armed smoke alarm police enforcing the new rules.
Insurance companies have warned of serious implications for policy holders who fail to fit the devices, which became compulsory across the state yesterday.
While the government admits it will take the carrot - and not the stick - approach to enforcement, Suncorp Insurance's manager of home products, Dennis O'Brien, said homeowners faced costly legal action if someone was injured in a fire where a smoke alarm was not fitted.
"The primary benefit of smoke alarms is early warning to save lives and get people out of harm's way, so preventing property damage is secondary as far as we're concerned," Mr O'Brien said.
"But what I think a lot of people don't realise is they can be sued if someone is in their home and a fire starts and that person gets hurt, and that can be very expensive."
Under the new laws, all Queensland homes, including rental properties, must be fitted with a working alarm, no matter how old the building is.
From this week, anyone selling a residential property will be required to lodge compliance forms with the Queensland Land Registry, which will keep tabs on the installation of smoke alarms at that home.
The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service will also have the power to investigate breaches and issue on-the-spot fines of $150 to individuals and $375 for businesses that don't comply.
"Our main focus is on community education and encouraging people to do the right thing," QFRS Senior Community Education Officer Steve Bates told brisbanetimes.com.au.
"It won't be a case of Big Brother is watching, but you can't have legislation without some teeth, otherwise you're just a paper tiger."
He said the QFRS would rely on tenants to dob-in landlords, who were often the worst offenders when it came to fitting and maintaining smoke alarms in rental properties.
"The exact procedures for how we will investigate (breaches of the law) are still in draft form at the moment, but we already have a prosecutions department set up."
So far, about 87 per cent of Queensland homes are fitted with smoke alarms, which cost about $10 each.
The State Government estimated that by increasing that number to 100 per cent, 20 lives and about $70 million in fire damage would be saved over the next 20 years.
