A new law requires carbon monoxide (CO) detectors to be installed in both owner occupied and rental dwelling units by various effective dates. The law has a great deal of emotional appeal as a number of legislators, including the Senate and House authors of the bill, had constituents, friends, or even family members who had tragically been killed or injured by carbon monoxide. It was clear that the bill would pass, and Minnesota Multi Housing Association’s objective was to amend it to avoid unreasonable and onerous results, such as requiring installations of detectors in areas where they are not needed.

Working with the proponents of the bill, we were able to amend it to the extent that we agreed to no longer oppose the bill. It is possible that the new law will need some fine tuning in a subsequent legislative session. Following is the language of the new law. (From Chapter 260, Laws of 2006, Article 3).

Note how broadly defined “dwelling unit” is. It includes owner and renter occupied housing units, college dormitories, nursing homes, jails and prisons, resorts, cabins, etc. All of these will be required to have carbon monoxide detectors installed unless exempted by the law. “single and multifamily dwelling” is defined in the new law, and other definitions of single and multi family dwellings used in other areas of law do not apply. Therefore, a single family is literally just that and everything else, including duplexes and triplexes, institutional living quarters, and, of course, apartments and condominiums, etc. would be considered multi family dwellings for purposes of this law.

There are three applicable effective dates provided. All multi family dwelling units, other than ones for which building permits were issued on or after January 1, 2007, must be in compliance with the new law by August 1, 2009.

Note that the definition of “installed” in Section 20, Subd. 2, allows a hard-wired, plug-in and/or battery operated detector. Section 21, Subd. 1, requires a detector to be installed within 10 feet of each sleeping room. In most condominium units, this would mean one detector per unit. They do not have to be in the bedroom, but can be in the hall or other areas so long as they meet the requirement. Note that it is useful to look at the instructions that come with the CO detectors. There commonly are warnings about installing them too close to cooking areas, as well as bath areas that generate high humidity since these can trigger false alarms.

False alarms can be a real problem in multi family dwellings. Since carbon monoxide is odorless and invisible, there frequently is no sure way to determine if an alarm is a false alarm or signaling a real problem. This is unlike smoke detectors in which it is obvious whether or not an alarm is a false alarm. Calls to 911 or other emergency providers may result in a policeman or first responder coming to the dwelling who does not have a CO meter or detector with him. Since the emergency personnel without a meter or detector cannot determine whether there is CO present, they cannot give reliable guidance as to whether or not it’s safe to remain in the property and/or whether there is a CO problem that must be fixed. It may be necessary to call the local utility that provides natural gas and ask for someone with a CO detector or meter to come out to determine whether there is CO present in the dwelling. Residents may be startled and not know what to do in the event of a CO alarm’s sounding. Boards and managers may want to give some thought to what their response would be when they are notified of a CO detector alarm being activated and what directions to give to residents for responding should a carbon monoxide detector alarm go off.

Two important exceptions are provided for multi family dwellings in Section 21, Subd. 5. First, a multi family dwelling owner is not required to install a carbon monoxide detector within 10 feet of each sleeping room if the building has one or more detectors that are installed between 15 and 25 feet of carbon monoxide producing central fixtures and equipment provided there is a proper alarm system. The idea is that a detector would be installed near the boiler or furnace and water heater (other than electric water heaters) and possibly gas clothes dryers. The range of 15 to 25 feet is intended to give enough latitude so that the detectors can be installed close enough to detect any problems yet far enough away to avoid false alarms.

In order to use this exception, there has to be a centralized alarm system or “other mechanism for responsible parties to hear the alarm at all times.” It is not clear at this time exactly how this will be applied in many individual circumstances. If a CO detector can be readily connected to an existing central alarm system, that would suffice. Where a centralized alarm does not exist or cannot be adapted to accept a CO detector, some other sort of alarm system would have to be installed, perhaps an automatic dialer or possibly even a hallway alarm if that would not be considered too disturbing in the case of false alarms. The delayed effective date provides some time to consider the best ways to deal with this exception.

The second exception applicable to multi family dwellings allows a board, manager or owner of a dwelling that contains minimal or no sources of carbon monoxide to certify to the Commissioner of Public Safety that there’s no foreseeable carbon monoxide risk. This provision allows buildings or structures that are all electric, or heated by a hot water or steam source that is not within the building or structure to be exempted from the requirement for carbon monoxide detectors in that building or structure. The board, manager or owner would submit what is expected to be a very simple form stating that the building or structure is exempt to the Commissioner of Public Safety. This is not a request for exemption, and there is no inspection or permit required, it is simply a notification to the Department of Public Safety.

There is no specific penalty provided for violating this law. The original bill provided that violations were violations of the Uniform Fire Code, but this provision was deleted. The big issue, of course, is the potential liability that would exist if someone were injured or killed by carbon monoxide in an area in which a board or manager had a duty to have a detector installed.

Copyright © 2008 CIC Midwest/Minnesota Multi Housing Association