Too many reports skip life-safety items that decide whether a family wakes up at 2 a.m. On every walkthrough, verify hardwired, interconnected smoke alarms in each sleeping room and hallway, record manufacture dates, and flag any unit past 10 years per NFPA 72 — this is your baseline risk assessment. If you want my one-page fire prevention addendum (garage door self-closer and seals, dryer transition ducting, attic fireblocking, CO placement), I can share the PDF I use in the field.
I always pop the cover on one alarm to confirm it’s ‘interconnected’ — found a 2016 build where the yellow interconnect was cut, so my smoke pen test didn’t cross‑trip until I looked behind the base. Small caveat to your garage note, @OP: I call for a rate‑of‑rise heat detector tied to the system instead of a smoke per NFPA guidance (Learn More About Smoke Alarms) to avoid nuisance alarms while keeping notification.
Quick tip on the “record manufacture dates” piece: a $3 dental mirror and phone light let me read the stamp without pulling the base, so I can tag anything “past 10 years per NFPA 72” in under a minute. Drives me nuts when the garage door self-closer shuts but doesn’t latch — I note it and suggest a $20 spring-hinge adjustment/replacement so it catches. Small caveat: if I find ionization-only units, I recommend photoelectric (or photoelectric combo smoke/CO where needed) even if they’re still under 10 years.
On new builds I ask the seller to flip the breaker to the alarm circuit and see which units keep chirping on backup; it often exposes the one battery-only replacement someone snuck into a hardwired chain. Also, don’t mix brands on a shared interconnect — some won’t cross-trip reliably. Kidde’s compatibility page is a quick check: https://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en/us/support/help-center/understanding-smoke-alarm-interconnect/.