In new construction, when two or more smoke alarms are in a living unit and one activates, what must the other units do?

In new construction, when two or more smoke alarms are in a living unit and one activates, what must the other units do?

• A. Activate
• B. Silence
• C. Notify the fire department
• D. Reset

Answer: (A)

In new construction, smoke alarms are required to be interconnected so that when one detector senses smoke, all of the alarms in the living unit sound together. This brings a warning to everyone in the home, even if the smoke is somewhere other than where the first detector went off. Because of this interconnection requirement, the other units must activate when one goes into alarm. Silencing or resetting would suppress the warning, which defeats safety, and notifying the fire department isn’t automatic for standard residential alarms (it’s typically a monitored system or call to emergency services, not a built-in automatic feature).

In new construction, smoke alarms are required to be interconnected so that when one detector senses smoke, all of the alarms in the living unit sound together. This brings a warning to everyone in the home, even if the smoke is somewhere other than where the first detector went off. Because of this interconnection requirement, the other units must activate when one goes into alarm.

Silencing or resetting would suppress the warning, which defeats safety, and notifying the fire department isn’t automatic for standard residential alarms (it’s typically a monitored system or call to emergency services, not a built-in automatic feature).