Due to recent state legislation, all rental dwelling units in Maryland will be required to have a carbon monoxide alarm installed within the dwelling on every level, including the basement, on or after April 1, 2018. However, like lead paint rules, this law will only apply to rental units that are rented for more than 4 months and 1 day.
This is stated within the House Bill’s section 6-801, where it states that the following is excluded, “A unit within a hotel, motel, or similar seasonal or transient”. So, that is an important distinction for weekly and seasonal rentals in the resort area.
However, for long-term rentals, the following rules apply for the installation of the carbon monoxide alarms:
hardwired into an alternating current (AC) powerline with secondary battery backup
battery powered, sealed, tamper resistant, and using a long-life battery that has a life of not less than 10 years
connected to an on-site control unit that monitors the carbon monoxide alarm remotely so that a responsible party is alerted when the device activates the alarm signal and receives its primary power from a battery or the control unit
may be combined with a hard wired smoke alarm if the combined device complies with American National Standards Institute Underwriters Laboratories standards 217 and 2034 or 268 and 2075.
Dwellings that have fuel burning equipment, an attached garage or a wood burning fireplace or pellet stove will all be required to have the carbon monoxide alarms installed.
Another important change that is coming in 2018 for the state of Maryland are smoke alarm updates. Maryland will require that all homeowners:
- Replace battery-only operated smoke alarms with units powered by sealed- in, ten-year/long-life batteries with a “silence/hush” feature.
- Upgrade smoke alarm placement in existing residential occupancies to comply with minimum specified standards. These standards vary according to when the building was constructed. The deadline for compliance with the new law is January 1, 2018.
Lauren Bunting is a licensed Associate Broker with Bunting Realty, Inc. in Berlin, MD.
Lauren Bunting is a Broker with Keller Williams Realty of Delmarva in Ocean City, Maryland.
