Every California landlord already knows smoke alarms are required. Far fewer can say which statute puts the duty on them, what “maintain” means once a tenant has moved in, or what a housing inspector is going to write up when the alarm in the hallway has a dead battery and the gas furnace closet has no carbon monoxide device at all. The rules live in the Health and Safety Code, not in the lease, and they apply to a single rented condo as much as to a 200-unit complex. This is a walk-through of the duties as the statutes actually read, and of the documentation that protects a landlord when a tenant, a code officer, or a judge asks.
Carbon Monoxide Devices: Health and Safety Code Section 17926
Health and Safety Code Section 17926 requires the owner of a dwelling unit intended for human occupancy that has a fossil fuel burning heater or appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage to install a carbon monoxide device approved and listed by the State Fire Marshal. The compliance dates have long since passed: July 1, 2011 for single-family dwellings, January 1, 2013 for all other dwelling units, and January 1, 2017 for hotel and motel units. If a covered unit does not have a device today, the owner is out of compliance today.
The definitions in Section 13262 matter. A carbon monoxide device is one designed to detect carbon monoxide and produce a distinct, audible alarm; it may be battery powered, a plug-in with battery backup, or hardwired, and it must be tested and certified to the applicable UL standard. “Fossil fuel” means coal, kerosene, oil, wood, fuel gases, and other petroleum or hydrocarbon products that emit carbon monoxide when burned. An all-electric unit with no fireplace and no attached garage is outside it.
Section 17926(b) requires installation in a manner consistent with the building standards applicable to new construction for the type of occupancy, or in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Section 17926(c) makes a violation an infraction with a maximum fine of $200 per offense, but the owner must first receive a 30-day notice to correct, and the fine attaches only if the owner fails to correct within that time.
The Landlord’s Ongoing Carbon Monoxide Duties: Section 17926.1
Installation is the start. Health and Safety Code Section 17926.1 requires an owner or owner’s agent who rents or leases a covered unit to maintain the carbon monoxide devices in it. Three points from that section govern the day-to-day relationship with tenants:
- The device must be operable at the time the tenant takes possession.
- The tenant is responsible for notifying the owner or agent if the device becomes inoperable, and the owner is not in violation for a deficiency the owner has not been notified of.
- The owner or agent may enter the unit to install, repair, test, and maintain the devices, under the authority and requirements of Civil Code Section 1954, which governs landlord entry and notice.
Section 17926.2 adds one piece of relief: when the building standards for carbon monoxide devices are updated, an owner who already installed a compliant device is not required to install a new one until the owner pulls a permit for alterations, repairs, or additions costing more than $1,000.
Smoke Alarms: Health and Safety Code Section 13113.7
Health and Safety Code Section 13113.7 requires smoke alarms approved and listed by the State Fire Marshal to be installed, in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, in each dwelling intended for human occupancy. Subsection (b) lists the covered occupancies: one- or two-unit dwellings, lodging houses, apartment complexes, hotels, motels, condominiums, stock cooperatives, time-share projects, dwelling units of multiple-unit complexes, and factory-built housing. Manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and commercial coaches are excluded from this section.
The owner’s maintenance duties are split by property type:
- Under subsection (d)(1), the owner is responsible for testing and maintaining smoke alarms in hotels, motels, lodging houses, apartment complexes, and other multiple-dwelling complexes.
- Under subsection (d)(2), since January 1, 2014, the owner of a rented or leased single-family dwelling has the same duty. The owner may enter to test and maintain, with reasonable written notice; 24 hours is presumed reasonable, and entry must be during normal business hours. At the time a new tenancy is created, the owner must ensure the alarms are operable. The tenant must notify the owner of an inoperable alarm, and the owner is not liable for a deficiency it has not been told about.
- Under subsection (d)(3), by January 1, 2016, owners were required to install additional smoke alarms as needed to bring the unit into compliance with current building standards. Existing alarms did not need to be replaced unless they were inoperable.
Subsection (a)(2) ties smoke alarms to the permit process: for a permit issued after January 1, 2014 for alterations, repairs, or additions exceeding $1,000, the permitting agency may not sign off on completion until the permittee demonstrates that all required smoke alarms are State Fire Marshal approved devices. A violation of Section 13113.7 is an infraction with a maximum fine of $200 per offense.
The device itself is regulated by Section 13114. Battery-operated smoke alarms sold in California since July 1, 2014 must have a nonreplaceable, nonremovable battery capable of powering the alarm for at least ten years, and alarms sold since January 1, 2015 must display the date of manufacture, provide a place to write the installation date, and incorporate a hush feature. The old nine-volt alarm with a swappable battery is still legal to leave in place if it works, but its replacement must be the sealed ten-year type.
One more statute for owners who sell: Section 13113.8 requires every single-family dwelling and factory-built housing unit that is sold to have an operable smoke alarm, and the transferor must give the buyer a written statement of compliance before title transfers.
What an Inspector Checks
When a code enforcement officer, a housing inspector, or a fire department inspector walks a rental, the alarm review is quick and mechanical. In my experience they check four things: whether a device is present in each location the manufacturer’s instructions or current building standards call for; whether it sounds when the test button is pressed; whether the model is a State Fire Marshal listed device; and whether the carbon monoxide device is present wherever there is a gas appliance, fireplace, or attached garage. A device that chirps, a missing cover, a painted-over sensor, or a smoke alarm with a manufacture date more than ten years old will get written up.
The Documentation That Protects a Landlord
Both statutes place a duty on the tenant to report inoperable devices and excuse the owner for deficiencies the owner was never told about. That protection is only as good as the paper behind it. I recommend the following, none of which the statutes require in this form, but all of which I have seen decide a dispute:
- A move-in checklist, signed by the tenant, that records each smoke alarm and carbon monoxide device by location, the test result, and the date.
- A lease clause that restates the tenant’s statutory duty to report an inoperable device and asks for written notice.
- A written entry notice, served at least 24 hours in advance, for each testing or maintenance visit, with a log of what was tested and what was replaced.
- Purchase receipts or a device inventory that shows the model and manufacture date, so you can prove the alarm is a listed device and the battery is within its service life.
- Photographs of each installed device, dated, kept with the unit file.
That file is what you hand to the code officer, and it is what your attorney needs if a tenant raises a habitability defense or a fire or carbon monoxide incident leads to a claim.
What to Do Now
- Identify every unit with a fossil fuel appliance, fireplace, or attached garage and confirm a State Fire Marshal listed carbon monoxide device is installed per the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Walk each unit and test every smoke alarm; replace any alarm that fails or that is past ten years from its date of manufacture with a sealed ten-year battery model or a hardwired unit.
- Check placement against the manufacturer’s instructions and current building standards, and add alarms where sleeping rooms or levels are uncovered.
- Add a device test line to your move-in and move-out checklists and have tenants sign it.
- Serve written 24-hour entry notices for alarm testing and keep a log of each visit.
- Insert or update the lease clause on the tenant’s duty to report inoperable devices.
- Photograph each device and keep receipts in the unit file.
If you need a unit-by-unit alarm inspection and a documentation package that will stand up to a code officer or a habitability claim, McNeil Safety Consulting can help. Learn more about our landlord documentation and support services or call (626) 546-9384.