CO detector regulations in non-single family residences

Brad White

See the attached- but here is an excerpt:

Section 26F 1/2. (a) Every dwelling, building or structure, including those owned or operated by the commonwealth, occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes, that: (1) contains fossil-fuel burning equipment including, but not limited to, a furnace, boiler, water heater, fireplace or any other apparatus, appliance or device that burns fossil fuel; or (2) incorporates enclosed parking within its structure shall be equipped by the owner with working, approved carbon monoxide alarms in conformance with the requirements of the board of fire prevention regulations; provided, however, that such requirements shall include, but not be limited to, a requirement that a landlord or superintendent shall install either approved monitored battery-powered alarms or approved electrical wiring alarms as defined by the board, as are required to make the alarms operational at the beginning of any rental period by lease or otherwise and shall maintain and, if necessary, replace batteries or such battery-operated or electric hardwired carbon monoxide alarms annually thereafter to insure their continued operability.

larry

I believe we now have a Massachusetts law that requires CO detectors in homes. Is this correct? Putting aside the UL vs low-level dectector issue for now, I was shocked to talk with the director of the assisted living facility where my mom lives and discover they house about 50 elderly people and don't have a single CO detector. She said as far as she knows it isn't a requirement in MA. The director then looked at me funny and said, "do we have a CO problem here?" I calmly expained the very good reasons for having them around the facility regardless of what the regulations state, and further said how the UL ones were particularly unsuitable for a facility with elderly people. It's shocking to find such little awareness and regulation among a part of the population that needs it the most. And yes, I made sure my mom's apartment has the necessary monitor.

chris_86

many assisted living nursing homes, etc

many of these facilities operate on the play stupid rule....That is when the code officials show up they play stupid..."we didn't know, etc.," They operate on the force us to do this especially if it is going to cost. I have been in a number of facilities that as a standard operating procedure a complaint has to be issued by the local courts to force the owners to comply with safety issues. Fountunatly you may have noticed in MA that the courts are starting to send people to jail for some of these issues. In one particular instance of recent in Somerville MA a local commercial laundry that employees about 100 immigrant workers had their soap and not your ordinary soap tank was connected to the potable supply and to the manditory drinking fountain, on purpose, they were cited for constantly contaminating the dirinking fountians their reasoning was they were trying to discourage trips to the fountian for the workers, after two trips to the courhouse, a new judge sent the owner to jail for 3 months, this is how difficult it is on occasion to enforce the codes...

larry

After looking at some other stuff on-line, it looks like most buildings need to have them no latter than March 31, 2007.

However, the following statement from a MA state website makes me wonder if assisted living might fall under a different category...

"On September 6, 2006, the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations passed additional regulations requiring carbon monoxide alarms in transient residential buildings such as hotels and motels, institutional buildings such as hospitals, nursing homes and jails, and day care centers and after school programs. The Legislature has given owners of these buildings and those owned by the Commonwealth and local housing authorities until January 1, 2008 to complete installation."

In fact the residents at the assisted living facility have to sign a 1 year lease, so I'd hope it isn't considered a "transient residential building". I'll give a call to the fire chief next week and see what he thinks. The owner of this place is a local individual and generally runs a good operation so I wouldn't expect much hassle if I bring it to their attention in a more formal way. I see the bigger issue being the need for non-UL low-level monitors as well, and most people's eyes glaze over when you start talking about the formally approved UL standard being flawed particularly for the elderly.