Thanks for your post Lura. Having input from a PM is valuable. Keep it up.
I agree with Lura.
As a Landlord I considered doing the task myself but realised that traipsing over to a rental property, even if it is close by, is going to take at least an hour of my time, and if the lease is renewed every 6 months then that is twice a year. $90 starts to look like a reasonable deal, as most of those agencies offer testing for a complete year, no matter how many times the lease is renewed.
Another option might be to get a good handyman to do it along with other maintenance when they are at the premises. The legislation doesn't appear to require specialist services to do the testing.
The logistics of testing the smoke alarms properly pushes the role of the property manager into the role of a handyman.
I agree with Lura.
As a Landlord I considered doing the task myself but realised that traipsing over to a rental property, even if it is close by, is going to take at least an hour of my time, and if the lease is renewed every 6 months then that is twice a year. $90 starts to look like a reasonable deal, as most of those agencies offer testing for a complete year, no matter how many times the lease is renewed.
Another option might be to get a good handyman to do it along with other maintenance when they are at the premises. The legislation doesn't appear to require specialist services to do the testing.