How to Adopt and Implement a Smoke-free Policy
As a property owner or manager it is important to take steps to enjoy the benefits of making your property smoke-free. Below are some steps to adopt and implement a smoke-free policy.
But don’t take it from us. We spoke with smoke-free apartment communities in Georgia and asked them how they adopted and implemented their smoke-free policies:
Survey your residents.
Surveying your residents will help you find what proportion of residents support a smoke-free policy. In addition, it will help you find out how many residents smoke or allow smoking in their unit.
Resources:
Plan the policy and develop a timeline.
Draft your policy language and lease addendum and adopt the smoke-free policy. BreatheEasy Georgia has sample smoke-free policy language and a sample lease addendum.
Resources:
Notify residents and post signs.
Send out a letter of notification to residents prior to policy implementation to notify them of the new policy and the date the policy will go into effect. Post signs at the entrances and prominent areas of the building and community.
Resources:
Educate Residents and Staff
Educate your residents and staff about the importance of smoke-free policies and the impacts of secondhand smoke. Provide cessation resources if needed.
Secondhand Smoke:
E-cigarettes:
Advertise your policy.
Advertise your community as smoke-free! Apply for BreatheEasy Recognition and you will get:
- Your property added to our BreatheEasy Apartment Listing!
- A BreatheEasy Certificate for display
- Free window decals to advertise your policy and recognition around the property
- Digital materials to promote your recognition:
- BreatheEasy logo and sample language for use on your website and other materials
- BreatheEasy-branded printable signage
Enforce your policy.
Smoke-free policies are generally self-enforcing. Ensure that the policy language is explicit, stating clearly how violations will be addressed.
Resources:
Compliance and Enforcement Infographic: How to keep your property smoke-free
Compliance tips and language from Live Smoke Free (MN)
Other Useful Tools
HUD created a smoke-free housing toolkit that walks you through every step of the process.
Do you work in Public Housing? Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) provides documents to help public housing agencies adopt smoke-free policies in accordance with HUDs smoke-free public housing rule.