USEFUL INFORMATION
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J. Randolph Given
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CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS NOW REQUIRED |
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On January 1, 2007, a new statute in Illinois required all dwelling units in
Illinois to be supplied with a carbon monoxide detector approved by the
State Fire Marshall within 15 feet of every room used for sleeping purposes.
If an owner does not install and maintain such detector(s) he can be liable for
a Class B misdemeanor. While such violations usually involve a fine, it is not difficult to foresee circumstances where a prosecutor might seek the potential six month incarceration penalty. If a landlord does not install and maintain such devices in his premises and a malfunctioning furnace results in fatalities, the State's Attorney, or even municipal prosecutors will be under some pressure to seek stiffer penalties. The highly publicized rear porch collapse in Chicago a couple of years ago and the nightclub fire in Chicago provide recent precedents. I am advising all of my landlord clients to take care to comply with the new law soon. The cost of installing and maintaining the new detectors is minimal. For those of us who have been used to working with one or more of the old agencies these many years, we will have to acquaint ourselves with some new staff. We will have to learn our way around the new agency. RETURN TO: Useful News Index RETURN TO: Web Site COPYRIGHT 2007 |
Those of us who deal with landlord tenant situations know that tenants
often tamper with smoke detectors. The new statute makes the tenant
responsible for providing batteries. Tampering with the carbon monoxided
detectors is a Class A misdemeanor on the first offense, and subsequent
conviction is a Class 4 felony. I am advising my landlord clients
to terminate the lease of any tenant who disconnects or removes any
carbon dioxide detector. In fact, it might be good to specifically
modify the lease to allow termination of a tenancy for such behavior. The new statute can be found at: Public Act 984-0741 The only standards for approved carbon monoxide detectors that the State Fire Marshall currently has are: The carbon monoxide detector may be battery operated, plug-in with battery back-up or wired into the home's AC power with a secondary battery back-up; must bear the label of a nationally recognized testing laboratory: and must comply with the most recent standards of the Underwriters Laboratories or the Canadian Standard Association. Illinois State Fire Marshall's website Fire Marshall's Summary http://www.state.il.us/osfm/documents/CO_Announcement.pdf NOTHING CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE IS LEGAL ADVICE: IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER |