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Effective January
1, 2007, every dwelling unit will be required to have
at least one approved carbon monoxide alarm in an
operating condition within 15 feet of every room used
for sleeping purposes. Alarms can be battery powered,
plug-in with battery back-up or wired into the AC
power line with a secondary battery back-up. The alarm
can be combined with smoke detecting devices if the
combined unit complies with specific standards and the
alarm differentiates the hazard.
The Law
The Illinois
General Assembly has passed and the Governor has
signed the Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act (Public
Act 094-0741). This new law, effective January 1,
2007, requires homeowners and landlords to install
carbon monoxide detectors in all buildings containing
bedrooms and sleeping facilities.
The primary
features of the law are:
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Every “dwelling
unit” must be equipped with at least one operable
carbon monoxide alarm within 15 feet of every room
used for sleeping purposes.
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The alarm may
be combined with smoke detecting devices provided
the unit complies with respective standards and the
alarm differentiates the hazard.
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A “dwelling
unit” means a room or suite of rooms used for human
habitation, and includes single family residences,
multiple family residences, and mixed use buildings.
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If a structure
contains more than one “dwelling unit,” an alarm
must be installed within 15 feet of every sleeping
room in each “dwelling unit.”
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The owner must
supply and install all required alarms. A landlord
must ensure that the alarms are operable on the date
of initiation of a lease. The tenant is responsible
for testing and maintaining the alarm after the
lease commences.
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A landlord is
required to furnish one tenant per dwelling unit
with written information regarding alarm testing and
maintenance.
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Willful failure
to install or maintain in operating condition any
alarm is a Class B criminal misdemeanor.
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The Act does
exempt certain residential units from the
requirement. Those residential units in a building
that (i) does not rely on combustion of fossil fuel
for heat, ventilation or hot water; (ii) is not
connected to a garage; and (iii) is not sufficiently
close to any ventilated source of carbon monoxide to
receive carbon monoxide from that source OR a
residential unit that is not sufficiently close to
any source of carbon monoxide so as to be at risk of
receiving carbon monoxide from that source, as
determined by the local building commissioner shall
NOT require carbon monoxide detectors.
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