Smoke Detector Installation (house, general contractor, inspectors)

[SuzeW]

I live in the MetroWest area. I'm having my basement finished; we're adding a full bathroom, family room, and bedroom. In the middle of the framing inspection, the inspector told us that because we're adding a bedroom in the basement, we need to install wired smoke detectors in each of our three upstairs bedrooms to bring the house up to MA code. Is it the responsibility of the contractor or do we have to now pay additional money to have the house brought up to code. Shouldn't the contractor have informed us that we would have to do this? What is a reasonable charge to do the work? Thanks.

[robr2]

When a bedroom is added, the entire structure has to be brought up to current code.

Who is the general contractor on the job as they are the one that is responsible for it. Since you were speaking with the framing inspector, it sounds like you the GC as GC's tend to keep homeowner's away from inspectors.

The cost to upgrade it all is dependent on the ability the run wires throughout the house to interconnect all the smoke, heat, and CO detectors.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by robr2

Who is the general contractor on the job as they are the one that is responsible for it. Since you were speaking with the framing inspector, it sounds like you the GC as GC's tend to keep homeowner's away from inspectors.

Why do you say it's the contractor's responsibility? I would say the contractor should have known about this but ultimately it's the homeowner's responsibility.

Originally Posted by robr2

The cost to upgrade it all is dependent on the ability the run wires throughout the house to interconnect all the smoke, heat, and CO detectors.

Absolutely. It's not terribly hard to run wire most of the time though. It may result in a few holes in some walls not originally going to be touched. So, there will also be the expense of some patching and painting.

[SuzeW]

Our contractor said that his electrician normally charges $450 each to wire and install smoke detectors, but he said he would do all three for $400. That sounds high to me... Does that seem reasonable?

[SuzeW]

My husband and I are not the general contractor. My husband and I were there for the framing inspection, which failed due to our contractor not having done the fireproofing. He said that every town is a little different, and that he normally does the fireproofing when he does the insulation. Now we have another delay, waiting for both the contractor to complete the fireproofing and obtaining another inspection...

[SuzeW]

During the inspection, our contractor was furious when the inspector asked my husband if there would be a bedroom in the basement. When he answered truthfully, the contractor pulled me aside, and basically chastised my husband for telling the truth. He told us that we should have called the bedroom an office or home gym instead. He told us it would cost $1500 to wire and install three smoke detectors in our upstairs bedrooms. In the building permit application, which they submitted, the description of the project was for a living room, bedroom, and bathroom, so what's the point in trying to lie to a city inspector???

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by SuzeW

During the inspection, our contractor was furious when the inspector asked my husband if there would be a bedroom in the basement. When he answered truthfully, the contractor pulled me aside, and basically chastised my husband for telling the truth. He told us that we should have called the bedroom an office or home gym instead. He told us it would cost $1500 to wire and install three smoke detectors in our upstairs bedrooms. In the building permit application, which they submitted, the description of the project was for a living room, bedroom, and bathroom, so what's the point in trying to lie to a city inspector???

Your contractor is shady.

I thought you had to have a smoke detector on every floor, anyway. Even when our basement was unfinished, we still had one at the bottom of the basement stairs.

[SuzeW]

Our house was built in 1995. We do have a smoke detector on each floor. At the outset, shouldn't the contractor have informed us that smoke detectors are required in each bedroom of the house?

Our contract says,

"All work shall be completed in a workman-like manner and in compliance with all building codes and other applicable laws."

Doesn't that mean that it's on him to install the smoke detectors to bring the house up to code at no additional cost to us?

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by SuzeW

Doesn't that mean that it's on him to install the smoke detectors to bring the house up to code at no additional cost to us?

No, you have to pay for the additional work. Your builder will write up a change order for the additional work, with the cost.

I would have thought that a house built in 1995 would already have hardwired smoke detectors. Further, your building permit should have gone by the fire department already, prior to final approval. The need to add the hardwired smoke detectors should have been caught at that time.

Regardless, you are the homeowner and the responsibility is yours.

[SuzeW]

We currently have one hardwired smoke detector on each floor of our house.