Survey finding
Missing or inadequate fire alarms: what to do
Smoke and fire alarm findings are routine on UK surveys. This page covers what current Building Regs require and the cost of bringing the property up to standard.
Last updated: 6 May 2026. Editorially reviewed: 20 May 2026.
Finding
Missing or inadequate fire alarms
What this usually means
Building Regulations Part B (England) requires smoke alarms on each storey of a dwelling and a heat alarm in the kitchen. From October 2022, Scotland's Tolerable Standard requires interlinked smoke alarms in every living room and circulation space, plus a heat alarm in the kitchen. Carbon monoxide alarms are required wherever a combustion appliance (boiler, stove) is installed.
Why it matters
Missing or out-of-date smoke alarms are not a defect of the building but indicate the safety culture of the previous owner. Lenders and insurers don't refuse on alarms, but the cost of full retrofit is small and worth doing on completion.
Ask your surveyor
- Check:Are smoke alarms fitted on each storey?
- Check:Is there a heat alarm in the kitchen?
Ask the seller
- Check:When were the smoke alarms last tested or replaced?
Next steps
- •Get two written quotes from local trades before negotiating with the seller.
- •Speak to your mortgage broker before exchanging if the finding affects mortgageability.
Browse all findings
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- Roof issues
- Timber decay
- Electrical issues
- Non-standard construction
- Asbestos containing materials
- Roof covering needs repair
- Single skin wall construction
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- Wall tie failure
- Party wall matters
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- Subsidence monitoring
- Full electrical rewire needed
- Flat roof condition
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- EWS1 form required
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- Structural crack BRE category 4-5
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- Chimney flashing failure
- Parapet wall movement
- Bay window cracking
- Flat roof ponding
- Cold roof inadequate ventilation
- Warm roof insulation issues
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- Large panel system (LPS) construction
- Rising damp
- Penetrating damp
- Condensation vs damp distinction
- Dry rot (Serpula lacrymans)
- Woodworm
- Timber floor springiness
- Cellar / basement damp
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- Aluminium wiring
- Partial rewire needed
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- Back boiler
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- Lead paint
- Asbestos in Artex ceilings
- Asbestos floor tiles
- Asbestos cement roof
- Asbestos insulated board (AIB)
- Asbestos soffit boards
- Pointing / repointing needed
- Render cracking
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- Zinc roof
- Felt roof condition
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- External wall insulation issues
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- Ground rent escalation clause
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- Loft conversion: no building regs
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- Blocked or collapsed drains
- Cesspit or septic tank
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- Private water supply
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- Reema construction
- Unity or Boot construction
- Laing Easiform
- Cornish Unit house
- Cross-wall construction
- In-situ concrete construction
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- Missing or inadequate fire alarms
- Single staircase: means of escape
- No earthing or bonding
Tool shortcut
Check the property before you offer
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What you need to know
Severity
Maintenance item. Worth quoting and including in negotiation.
Typical cost to fix
Mains-wired interlinked smoke and heat alarms (3-bed semi): £200–£500 supply and fit. Battery-only alarms: £40–£80 for a full set. Carbon monoxide alarm: £15–£40 per unit.
Mortgage impact
Not a mortgage issue.
Insurance impact
Some insurers ask whether smoke alarms are fitted; rare for it to affect premium materially.
When to pull out
Never.
When to renegotiate, and by how much
Not a price-renegotiation item. Install on completion.
Thinking of pulling out or renegotiating? What to do after a bad survey
Run the check on this address
The Survey Decoder explains the wording. The full report adds address-specific flood, subsidence, EPC, crime, listed status, building age and price comparison data, so a single finding isn't judged in isolation.
Run the check
Check the property before you offer
Flood, subsidence, EPC, crime, schools, transport, broadband, tenure, age, listed status and price checks where data is available.
Run a free previewRead next
Fire safety: flat and leasehold issues , often sits near missing or inadequate fire alarms on a survey and is the next thing to check.
Editorial review
Editorial owner: BiteRight Ltd, operator of MyPropertyScan. We review buyer guides against UK public property datasets, RICS survey wording, lender requirements, and common buyer questions.
Pages are updated when source coverage, property-risk guidance, survey cost assumptions, or product checks materially change. Methodology and dataset limitations are explained on the MyPropertyScan methodology page.
Sources used
We use UK public and specialist sources where they are available. Public datasets can be incomplete, delayed, or missing for some addresses. Treat them as a starting point, not as a replacement for professional advice.
Source standard: preference goes to official government datasets, statutory bodies, professional standards, and primary dataset publishers. We cite the source family on the page and explain coverage limits rather than filling gaps with unsupported estimates.