Maryland’s New Laws for Smoke Alarms

Are your smoke alarms up to date with the latest Maryland laws?

Maryland has recently updated its statewide smoke alarm laws, and in our efforts to provide life safety advice as best as possible, we wanted to let you all know what kinds of changes have been made. This is a pretty decent forewarning, as homeowners and property managers have until January 1, 2018 to update their smoke alarms to the new law, but the sooner you get moving, the sooner you’ll be safer.

What’s New in Maryland’s Smoke Alarm Laws

As of January 2018, here’s what your smoke alarm setup needs to look like.

• All battery-only smoke alarms must be replaced with units powered by sealed-in, 10-year, long-life batteries

• All smoke alarms have expiration dates! What’s yours? Both hard-wired and battery-operated smoke detectors need to be replaced at least every 10 years. If you haven’t replaced yours since 2006, now’s the time!

• Location is critical when placing your smoke alarms. They’re required to be outside of each sleeping area as well as on every level of the building — basements included.

• For homes built before 1994, smoke alarms were required inside each sleeping area. Fire officials now recommend placing smoke alarms inside all sleeping rooms regardless of when the home was built.

Safety is always first when it comes to fire detection and prevention.

G & M Services’ Fire Prevention

At G & M Services, our fire prevention services go a little bit beyond residential fire alarms. We’re certified FM 4991 contractors, and we’re expertly trained FireStop installers. To learn a little bit more about FireStop and its importance, check out a blog post we wrote about it a few months ago, right here!

Stay Safe with G & M Services

G & M Services, LLC is the ultimate resource for Drilling, Concrete Sawing, Ground Penetrating Radar, and Firestop Service for the Maryland, DC, and Virginia Areas. Our counties served include:

Maryland: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George’s, and St. Mary’s.

Virginia: Arlington, Dorchester, Fairfax, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, Kent, Loudoun, and Prince William.

West Virginia: Berkley, Jefferson, Morgan, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico, and Worcester District of Columbia.

G & M Services has over 25 years of experience in the field. We are members of the CSDA, FCIA, and the National Safety Council. To Get Started With G & M Services, reach us by phone today at 410-787-8828 or visit our contact page.

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