A smoke and CO alarm inspection records every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm in a home — where it is, what it detects, how it is powered, how old it is and whether it sounded — and then checks the thing a list of alarms can miss: whether there is an alarm everywhere one is needed. It suits home inspectors, landlords and property managers, and you can fill it in here and download a finished PDF without creating an account.
A missing alarm is a bigger finding than a weak one
Inspectors are used to testing what is on the ceiling. The more serious problem is often the alarm that is not there: no alarm inside a bedroom, none on the basement level, no CO alarm near the sleeping area of a home with a gas furnace. That is why coverage is its own section, asked room type by room type, and why a gap there is reported as a safety finding even when every alarm present passed its test.
Where alarms are required depends on the code in force when the home was built or renovated, and on local and state rules that have been tightened since. The common modern expectation is a smoke alarm in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area, and on every level, with CO alarms outside sleeping areas wherever there is fuel-burning equipment or an attached garage. Report against good practice, and note that local rules decide what is mandatory.
Age matters more than the test button
Pressing the test button proves the horn and the battery. It does not prove the sensor still responds to smoke or gas. Sensors drift with age, which is why smoke alarms are generally replaced ten years after their date of manufacture and CO alarms on the maker's schedule, often between five and ten years. Many newer units print a replace-by date; older ones carry a manufacture date on the back.
So every entry asks for the date and an age judgement. An alarm with no date at all is treated as past its life — there is no way to tell otherwise.
Interconnection, power and placement
In newer homes, smoke alarms are usually hardwired with battery backup and interconnected, so one sounding sets them all off. A single test tells you whether that works: press one and listen through the house. Older homes may have battery-only alarms that were never required to be linked; record what you find and recommend interconnection where it would help.
Placement can defeat a good alarm. Too close to a cooktop or a bathroom door, it gets disconnected for nuisance alarms; in a dead-air corner where wall meets ceiling, smoke may reach it late. Note anything that looks likely to be ignored or removed.
What this form is not
It is not a state or municipal smoke alarm certificate, and it does not test the sensors with smoke or gas. Alarms on a monitored security system are often left untested to avoid dispatching the fire department; say so in the limitations.
Common questions
Where are smoke alarms required in a house?
The usual modern expectation is one inside every bedroom, one outside each sleeping area, and one on every level including the basement. The rules that actually apply depend on your state, your local code and when the home was built or renovated.
Where should carbon monoxide alarms go?
Outside each separate sleeping area, and on every level of a home with fuel-burning appliances, a fireplace or an attached garage — following the maker's placement instructions and your local requirements.
How old is too old for a smoke alarm?
Most makers say to replace smoke alarms ten years after the date of manufacture, and CO alarms on a shorter schedule set by the maker. An alarm with no readable date should be treated as due for replacement.
Does pressing the test button prove an alarm works?
It proves the horn and power work. It does not prove the sensor still detects smoke or gas, which is why age is checked separately.
Should an inspector test hardwired alarms on a security system?
Often not, because a test can send a signal to the monitoring company and bring the fire department. Ask the occupant first, and if you do not test them, record that in the limitations.
What is the difference between ionization and photoelectric alarms?
Ionization sensors tend to respond faster to fast, flaming fires; photoelectric sensors tend to respond faster to slow, smoldering fires and are less prone to cooking nuisance alarms. Dual-sensor alarms combine both. The type is usually printed on the back of the unit.