So, the water situation may be fixed, but it appears that the electrician simply took a "hope for the best" approach on the smoke detectors--leave them where they are and hope the inspector doesn't bitch. I looked up the instructions on the web and he is clearly not even close to the manufacturer's installation instructions. He tried to tell me that the placement left room for interpretation. No, actually, they don't. I called the manufacturer's tech support. Their instructions mirror the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 72. They don't have any alternative products that allow for a lower installation location than 12" max from the ceiling or 3' horizontally from the highest point of a vaulted ceiling.
Okay, I was able to preview NFPA 72...It seems crystal clear that they are not in the right places, any of them, no matter how you slice it. How do you install smoke detectors all the time and manage to get them all wrong? How?
