Coordinating the Smoke Certificate

Massachusetts General Law, Section 26F requires that as a home seller, you must ensure your property is up to code when it comes to smoke alarms as well as carbon monoxide detectors. 

This law does not exist in all states so I think it’s great that we require these updates prior to closing - since it protects people from serious fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Most sellers have no idea this provision exists or if they do, they don’t quite understand how it works. Essentially, there is a list of things that need to take place prior to closing on your property and getting a smoke certificate is one of them. No smoke certificate, no closing. 

So how do you ensure you are in compliance with the law and how do you go about getting your smoke certificate? 

The compliance piece is actually pretty tricky. There are state laws based on the # of units in your property as well as the year your property was built. Then, each town has its own sets of rules and regulations you must follow to ensure compliance.

Once you ensure compliance, you have to get the local fire department to come out and inspect your property to ensure you are in fact in compliance. If you are, you pay the fire department and they hand over a smoke certificate. If you aren’t, you’ll need to make adjustments and go through the entire process again.

If you try to do this yourself and you do it wrong, it can delay or even derail transactions altogether. For example, if you need to close on a new home you’re buying in a tight window after the sale of your existing home, a delay in closing due to a failed smoke inspection could blow up the deal. 

So this is another thing I do in the background to ensure a smooth transaction for you. I ensure that your property is completely up to code, I schedule the smoke inspection, I pay for the cost of the inspection, and I get the smoke certificate after the inspection. From there, I will physically ensure the certificate gets to your attorney to keep your sales transaction happening on time without delay.

Oftentimes sellers assume things are happening smoothly in the  background and not much is happening. The reality is, there are lots of small details like smoke certificates, that if done poorly, can cost you a lot of money, time and stress!