Are you selling your home?

You need a certificate of compliance from the Fire Department that shows your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms meet the requirements for a sale or transfer.

Preparing Your Home for a Smoke and CO Alarm Inspection

Every home needs working smoke and CO alarms. When you sell or transfer a home, you must have a certificate of compliance that shows your smoke and CO alarms meet certain standards. This page helps you determine if your alarms meet requirements or must be replaced and how to get a certificate of compliance.

1. Find out when your home was built and the date the last building permit was issued for any renovations. Call the building department if you don’t know, they can be reached at 978-921-6025.
2. Call the fire department to schedule your inspection as soon as you have a closing date. We will issue a certificate of compliance if your alarms pass the inspection. Follow these steps to make sure your home will pass the inspection:
3. Using the date your home was built and the date the last building permit was issued, figure out the smoke and CO alarm requirements for your home. These requirements are listed by date in the Guidelines for Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm Requirements (PDF)  
4. List the location of all smoke and CO alarms in your home. Determine the age of each alarm. The date of manufacture is stamped on the front or back of most alarms. If you have to remove an alarm from its bracket to get the information, be sure to replace the alarm when you are finished. If there is no date on an alarm, it has expired and must be replaced.
5. Compare your existing alarms and the requirements for your home to determine if you must replace any or all of the alarms in your house.
6. If your smoke and/or CO alarms do not meet the requirements for your house and need replacement, you can purchase and install new equipment yourself or hire someone to do so. You may need an electrician to replace hard-wired alarms. Contact the Fire Department for guidance on purchasing proper alarms.
7. Battery-powered smoke alarms that are more than 10 years old, or have expired must be replaced with alarms with 10-year, sealed, non-rechargeable, non-replaceable batteries. They must be photoelectric and have a hush feature to silence nuisance alarms.
8. After your new smoke and CO alarms are installed, test them.

Your local fire department will charge a fee for the inspection and certificate, click here for a FEE SCHEDULE (PDF). If you have questions about the requirements for your home or inspection and certificates, call us at 978-927-2200.