In California, do you know who is responsible for smoke detector batteries and working fire extinguishers in a rental property?
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In Cali, it's probably the government
Are you the lanlord or tenant and is it a house or apt and wonder if landlord should maintain it, Your city probably has all codes online for you to read, but in an apartment building in a different state I maintain hall fire extinguishers and hall smoke detectors, im not required to have a fire extinguisher for each apartment and tenants cook- burn food and remove batteries so I dont care, and I have one Co detector.
In my state, it looks like the *owner* is responsible.
701.2 Responsibility. The owner of the premises shall provide and maintain such fire safety facilities and equipment in compliance with these requirements. A person shall not occupy as owner-occupant or permit another person to occupy any premises that do not comply with the requirements of this chapter.
I don't know what the laws are, but if I were a responsible owner of a rental property I would see that the batteries are changed at least once a year whether I was required to do so or not. Also, if I were a good/responsible tenant I would make sure the batteries were fresh whether I needed to or not. To have a law just shows what this world is coming to. Nobody wants to be responsible for their own welfare/ safety and etc.
Hank
You could have told us which state!
I'd say the landlord as it his property as required by law. But it's your duty as the renter to insure they are in working order at all times. What's more important to you? A few bucks for a battery or your life?
Some Kiddie alarms also have hush - probably just the photoelectric ones. It temporarily desensitizes the alarm - it will still go off at higher smoke concentrations.
If you look at his e-mail addy it appears to be New York, probably Rochester.
Don
I think your moron governor.
"I don't really have a replacement career, it's a very gnawing thing."
Bob Morein (215) 646-4894
Hi, Up here in Calgary 3 people burnt to dead living in a rented suit. None of the alarms worked. The landlord got fine very heavily. Regardless who is responsible, I'd make sure they work where I am. In my house they are hard wired with battery back up. I mixed the string with flame detector, smoke detector and CO detector.
I know this can vary by county and possibly city so best check with local authorities. May also vary with the type of property and length of lease.
Jimmie
Since the question was regarding California, here's an answer from a California Q&A forum.
Q: Because landlords are required to install working smoke detectors, shouldn't they be responsible for maintaining them as well? I am a tenant, and I think I should be able to deduct the cost of replacing the batteries every year. (December 2002.)
S> In California, do you know who is responsible for smoke detector batterie= s
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In nearby Chicago, it seems there are several fires each year in rental units where there are no working smoke detectors because the batteries have been removed, presumably 9V batteries that someone has taken to us in a radio or something else. I have never heard on any of the news reports if the owners were cited as a result of the missing batteries.
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Or possibly because the owner was cooking and got tired of listening to the beepage. Been guilty of that one myself, although I did just go through and make sure all batteries were replaced last weekend. Will be going to hardwired soon (might as well, all smoke detectors are pretty ancient and probably ought to be replaced anyway,) hope I don't regret it.
Can someone recommend a particular hardwired smoke head that doesn't false alarm when you're boiling water? (no, none of my smoke detectors are all that close to the kitchen.) Was probably going to go with Gentex based on their popularity for use in hotel rooms and condos, but am open to other suggestions. (local inspector will require tandem connection and 9V backup)
nate
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re: "presumably 9V batteries that someone has taken to us in a radio or something else"
I'd say the odds are more that the batteries were removed because:
1 - The alarms kept going off while cooking or some other activities that created smoke. 2 - They beeped to warn of a weak battery, which was removed to stop the beeping and never replaced.How many devices use 9V batteries these days? I think the only use in my house is battery back-up for one clock radio.
Hi, I relpaced all of them last year'cause they were getting old. Firex has something called hush feature, if it goes off false, push the button to mute w/o losing basic functionality.
Gosh forbid these were crack heads. In one house the bath fart fans were immobilized. Even found a syringe in the toilet bowl rim (past the flapper, yes).
1) There was a sex swing hook on the ceiling. They took out the light and used that framing for sexual escapades. 2) Sheet rock walls were full (100?) of fired BB/pellet rounds. 3) Dryer vent had a 100% cotton sock on the end of the dryer vent hose/pipe/tube (inside the closet).I'm sure I can figure a few more
This should answer your question. For any updates in the law check the California code that is listed for the section being discussed.
Ah, very interesting Keith.
In summary, it looks like (from that California Assoc. of Realtors' doc), for single family homes, renovated after 1992:
- Landlords must supply working detectors in all "common sleeping areas"
- After 1992 renovations, Landlords must include detectors in each bedroom
- Tenant must notify landlord if it's broken; but landlord fixes them
- Tenant is responsible for batteries (Landlord provides 1st battery)
I wonder if fire extinguishers are similar?
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