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Two magic letters and numbers for your smoke detector

On March 8, 2015, the obligation to equip your home with a self-contained smoke alarm came into force. In 2025, take the opportunity to check and renew yours! With the two-digit rule (1 and 0 for ten years) and the two letters: NF, a sign of quality ensuring that the product complies with technical standards, and is therefore safe and efficient.

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Published on 07/03/2025, updated 27/03/2025 à 16:32 Reading time : 4 minutes

Every year in France, firefighters respond to 60,000 to 70,000 home fires, responsible for over 200 deaths and more than 9,000 injuries(source: Ministry of Health, 2022). And when it doesn’t kill, a home fire can leave its victims with serious physical, respiratory, traumatic and psychological after-effects. Not to mention the material damage!

So, the obligation to equip homes with an autonomous smoke alarm detector (ASAD) makes perfect sense. “In Quebec, where smoke detectors have been compulsory for over thirty years, deaths from domestic fires have fallen by two-thirds.“, reports the Sapeurs-pompiers de France. “Most deaths occur in homes not equipped with smoke detectors“The French Federation of Fire Trades (FFMI) adds, citing data from the French National Fire Research Institute.European Smoke Alarm Daya movement that organizes European Smoke Detector Day. The day falls on November 7 this year, 2025. “On this subject, it’s the earliness that counts: the earlier the alarm is sounded, the lower the accident rate.“comments Régis Cousin, President of the FFMI.

In France, all homes have been required to be equipped with a smoke alarm since March 8, 2015. In 2025, the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Morange law, which lays down this obligation, is an opportunity to raise awareness of the fundamental role of this equipment, the need to check its operation and renew it if it is more than ten years old, and the preference for NF-certified models for this purpose. ” Why not go as far as choosing a connected detector, capable of sending alerts to your smartphone? This increases your reactivity in the event of fire. “Régis Cousin even suggests. As the law makes no provision for penalties, or means of control, the FFMI is campaigning for an energy performance diagnosis (DPE) to be carried out whenever there is a change of occupant in a dwelling, or when it is purchased or rented out, as an opportunity to verify the presence of at least one working smoke detector.

NF DAAF: laboratory tests

An autonomous smoke detector is a self-contained device containing all the components needed to detect smoke and sound an audible alarm. Placed inside a home, it alerts occupants to the start of a fire. The alarm sounds as soon as smoke begins to form in the room where it is installed, preferably away from water, and at the rate of one box per floor. But this is only valid if the smoke alarm is operational, i.e. if its operation has been checked, the batteries regularly changed, the body of the box dusted… or even completely renewed once the validity date has passed. So remember the numbers 1 and 0, for ten (ten years before expiry, the period recommended by most manufacturers), and the letters N and F, to be sure you’re buying quality equipment. The list of NF-certified brands is available for download here.

The NF DAAF mark, created in 1999 and issued by AFNOR Certification, certifies that the detector is easy to install, reliable and simple to maintain. It acts as an additional quality assurance measure to the CE mark, which must be affixed to these products throughout the European Union. In this case, by providing proof that the device complies with the technical specifications detailed in standard NF EN 14604, and that it has undergone laboratory testing to claim this conformity. Here are the main characteristics tested:

  • NF-certified smoke alarms use the optical detection principle. It contains no radioactive substances;
  • An NF-certified smoke alarm is delivered with a lithium or alkaline battery and screws and plugs;
  • an NF-certified smoke alarm reduces the risk of misuse: “forgetting” the battery, installing the battery the wrong way round, etc.
  • NF-certified smoke alarms come with clear, explicit installation and maintenance instructions (validated by the certifier), written in French.
  • the manufacturer of an NF-certified DAAF joins an eco-organization for the processing of electronic waste.
  • a telephone assistance service for installation and maintenance of NF-certified smoke alarms is available to consumers.