Smoke Alarm Installation Guideline – Two-storey Split Level Home

One smoke alarm is required to be installed in each storey of a home and adjacent to any sleeping areas within the home. When a home contains multiple sleeping areas, a smoke alarm must be installed to protect each separate sleeping area. In some home construction, such as with split-level homes, a storey may consist of more than one level. Normally, one smoke alarm would suffice to serve both levels of a split-level storey, except in the case where both levels contain separate sleeping areas. In that instance a smoke alarm must be installed on both levels containing sleeping areas. This illustration of a split-level home and the required smoke alarm installations is provided for clarification.

NOTE: Both the upper and lower levels of the 2nd storey require smoke alarm installation due to separate sleeping areas contained on both levels. However, only one smoke alarm is required to service both the upper and lower levels of the 1st storey since neither level contains a sleeping area. Also note that since smoke rises, the smoke alarm serving the 1st storey is installed in the upper level of the 1st storey.