Thinking of renting or selling a home? Take note: a new smoke alarm regulation, effective earlier this year, requires 10-year sealed battery smoke detectors be installed in homes constructed before Jan. 1, 1977. One- and two-family dwellings need to comply with this rule prior to sale or change of occupancy.

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Division of Fire Safety notes that the new smoke alarm requirement includes motel rooms and housing units in rooming houses in addition to…