Editorial Policy
Where our facts come from, what happens when we get one wrong, and the wall between what we recommend and how we get paid.
Last reviewed
Sourcing standard
This is a life-safety subject, so the sourcing hierarchy is strict and it is applied rather than described.
Preferred sources, cited by name in the sentence: NFPA for placement, quantity and interconnection requirements; UL Solutions for what a listing actually certifies; CPSC for recalls and consumer incident data; CDC for health effects; the US Fire Administration for residential fire statistics; and the manufacturer’s own documentation for specifications.
Acceptable, always attributed: Consumer Reports for their laboratory testing results, peer-reviewed research, and state or local code published by the jurisdiction itself.
Never cited as fact: retailer star ratings and review counts, forum threads, other affiliate sites, AI-generated summaries, and any page whose own sourcing cannot be checked.
Three rules follow from that hierarchy:
- Every statistic names its source in the sentence. “The CPSC reports…” and never “studies show…”.
- Every code claim names the standard, the edition and the section, so you can look it up. We do not write “code requires” and leave it there.
- If a claim cannot be sourced, it does not ship. “Manufacturer does not publish a UL listing for this model” is a publishable sentence on this site. A guess is not.
The local-code caveat
Every page that gives code guidance carries this, and it is not boilerplate: requirements vary by state and municipality, and your local authority having jurisdiction may require more than the national standard. NFPA 72 is a floor that local code builds on, not a ceiling. For anything that has to satisfy an inspection, a permit or a rental license, verify with your local building or fire department.
Corrections
When we get something wrong we fix it promptly, and where the error was material — a wrong code section, a wrong clearance distance, a product recommendation that should not have been made — we add a dated correction note to the page rather than editing silently. A reader who acted on the old version deserves to know it changed.
Report an error to contact@sirenandsafe.com or through the contact form. The page URL and the sentence in question are enough.
Update cadence and what the dates mean
Every page shows a “last reviewed” date, and it matches the dateModified in that page’s structured data. The date moves when the page has actually been re-checked against its sources — never as a freshness tactic.
- Roundups, comparisons and reviews: at least every six months.
- Placement and code pages: annually, and immediately on a new code edition.
- Safety guides: annually, and immediately on a guidance change.
- Recalls are urgent: a recalled product is pulled from every page immediately and the CPSC notice is linked.
Editorial and commercial are separate
No manufacturer, brand or retailer has any input into what appears on this site or in what order. We accept no payment for placement, no sponsored posts and no gifted products in exchange for coverage. Nobody reviews our copy before it publishes except us.
The site is funded by affiliate commission, which is disclosed above the first affiliate link on every monetized page and set out in full on the affiliate disclosure. Where the cheaper or better-stocked option earns us less, it still goes first.
Claims we will not make
- That we tested something. We have no lab and no test chamber, which is stated in full on how we review.
- Any professional credential for our author. No certification, license, fire-service role or years-of-experience figure.
- A customer testimonial or review of any kind. We are a publisher with no customers; there is nothing to quote and nothing invented to fill the space.
- Manufactured urgency. Nothing here is selling fast or nearly out of stock. The only urgency we will write is the true kind: an alarm past its ten-year date really is not protecting anyone.
When safety and commerce disagree
Safety wins, without exception. A reader who buys nothing from this site and installs the alarm they already own in the right place is a successful outcome, and several pages here end by telling people not to buy the product the page is about. That is not modesty — it is the only position a publisher without a lab can defend, and it is the one worth having.