| Most people are probably aware that October is “Fire Prevention Month” in the United States. Over the last month you probably have seen the ad campaigns, and many fire departments will partner with schools to educate children on how to prevent fires and what to do if one happens in their home. There is good reason for this outreach – there were nearly 3,000 fire related deaths in 2023, the most recent year with fully compiled data. While the number of fires is decreasing, the number of fatalities is increasing, supporting the idea that the fires we now are facing are more intense and spread more rapidly than in the past. Properly installed and functioning smoke detectors are perhaps the most affordable and reliable way to ensure your home is safe for you and your family. It sounds cliché, but SMOKE DETECTORS SAVE LIVES. They can, however, be annoying! Burnt toast? Smoke detectors are going off. Too much steam from the shower? Smoke detectors are going off. Forget to open the damper in the fireplace for a minute? Your smoke detectors better be going off! Then there are the more frustrating false alarms which always happen at the wrong time. As a volunteer firefighter, I have seen plenty of those. Insects can set off detectors. Smoke wafting in from an outside grill is prone to activate your system. It has even been suggested that the fog off a lake on a waterfront home can set off certain types of alarms. Loss of internet connectivity could also prompt a response from your local emergency services. Recent legislation mandated the use of a “10-year internal battery” That sounds nice, as low batteries are probably the most common “detector malfunction” that is prone to wake you up out of a sound sleep at 2:00 am. It is still unclear how long these batteries will last, but it is definitely not ten years, and good luck getting them to turn off once that battery does get low! As a real estate agent, I am often asked about smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and am always happy to convey what I know to help buyers and sellers make sure their home is adequately protected. Additionally, there are legal requirements for smoke detectors in structures at the time of sale. Our local contract of sale contains the provision: “The Seller shall provide the Purchaser with an affidavit that there is a working smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector in the premises.” James L. Maswick, an attorney and partner in Flink Maswick Law PLLC, which has offices in Lake Placid, Tupper Lake and Albany, notes that there is a legal requirement under New York State Executive Law Section 378 that sellers of properties that are residential in nature must have carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors that are audible in every bedroom with doors closed. The law requires an affidavit be provided where sellers swear that they are in compliance at the time of closing and the affidavit is present to the purchasers. This is a legal document where the sellers swear under penalties of perjury that they are in compliance specifically with this law. Here is an example of one of the affidavits used. The result is, if you are on either side of the sale of a home, you will have to consider and acknowledge the existence of smoke detectors. It is up to you, however, to verify that they are properly installed and maintained. This is not a step that should be skipped over, as it has the potential to save your life or the life of your loved ones. |
11.10.25
Smoke Detectors in Real Estate Transactions
Jonathan Gorgas
