Smoke alarms in a home are present but none appear interconnected. The report should note:

Interconnection changes what a smoke alarm system can do. Standalone units sound only where they detect smoke, so a fire beginning in a basement or a distant garage wakes nobody sleeping two floors away until it has grown enough to trigger an alarm near them — which may be too late for escape. Interconnected alarms sound everywhere the moment any one detects, converting local detection into whole-house warning. That is why interconnection is required in new construction and in substantial renovations, and why its absence in an older house is worth explaining rather than merely noting. The report frames it as a meaningful safety improvement with a practical remedy, since wireless interconnected units now make retrofitting straightforward without opening walls.

Standalone alarms sound only at the unit that detects smoke, so occupants far from the origin may not be woken in time. Interconnection makes every alarm sound together, which is the safety benefit worth explaining to the client.

Current requirements call for smoke alarms in each sleeping room, outside sleeping areas and on each level, interconnected so that activation of one sounds all. Wireless interconnected alarms allow retrofit in existing homes without new wiring.

One Detects, All Sound. Without that, the alarm goes off in the room nobody is sleeping in.

Mention wireless interconnected units in the recommendation. It turns a code-gap observation into an achievable retrofit for an existing house.

• •Treating standalone alarms as functionally equivalent
• •Describing interconnection as a commercial-only requirement
• •Noting the absence without explaining the consequence