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Massachusetts Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Requirements for Sellers
June 26, 2010 by cherylflynn · 2 Comments
Are you thinking of selling a home in Massachusetts or are you a real estate agent in Massachusetts? Home Sellers, landlords and Realtors need to be aware of the new smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector installation and maintenance requirements, which were mandated on April 5, 2010. These requirements apply to homes built, or remodeled, before Jan 1, 1975, which was the date the Massachusetts State Building Code was established.
The mandate states that in order to transfer and close on a property the local fire department must inspect for the presence of both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors after which they will issue a certificate of compliance to the home owner, assuming a successful inspection. The devices must be the right type and in the right places and distances from bedrooms, kitchens and stairways. They will also be looking for your address number in plain view and at least 31/2 inches in height. You can be sure the lender’s attorney will ask for the certificate of compliance, which must be brought to the closing, or the property will not close.
Even though the law applies only to homes built before the 1975, which is the date that the Massachusetts State Building Code was established, it is common practice in the real estate industry, and as a condition to sell property, to require that the seller obtain a Certificate of Compliance.
What are the general smoke detector and CO (Carbon Monoxide) requirements?
Although the requirements vary depending upon when the home was constructed, I can explain some general requirements. First, some background information is in order about photo electric versus ionization smoke detection technologies.
Ionization smoke detectors use radiation to detect smoke and they are most effective at detecting flames. However, many people will disable them due to the sensitivity of these Ionization alarms and their high likelihood of being set off by steam from the shower or smoke from things like toast in the toaster or bacon cooking on the stove.
Let’s look at a the Photoelectric alarm, which uses light to detect smoke. The Photoelectric alarm is most effective at detecting smoldering fires. Since most fire fatalities are attributed to smoke inhalation from smoldering fires the photoelectric alarm is most certainly an important life-saving device. In addition to detecting smoldering fires, they are also practical due to the fact that users are not likely to disable them since steam from things like the shower, smoke from the toast in the toaster or bacon cooking on the stove is less likely to set them off.
To continue with our general overview, the smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector requirements vary depending upon when a residence received a building permit; whether built before January 1, 1975, between January 1, 1975 and August 27, 1997, between August 27, 1997 and January 1, 2008, or after January 1, 2008. Some residences in these categories will require battery-powered smoke detectors. Others will need interconnected and electrically hard-wired detectors. Some will need a combination of both battery-powered and hard-wired detectors. Some will need interconnected hard-wired detectors with a battery-powered backup detector.
The important thing to remember is that on April 5, 2010, a significant change in smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector law became effective related to the sale or transfer of residences built before, January 1, 1975, and before the MGL c. 148, s.26F mandate went into effect. The mandated law makes the builders responsible for installation of the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
In any event, what is very important to remember is that all smoke detectors installed within 20 feet of kitchens or bathrooms, containing a bathtub or shower will be required to have ONLY the photo electric type detectors, the type that are less likely to be triggered by steam from the shower, toast in the toaster or bacon cooking on the stove. 
Essentially both technologies are required for all of the other smoke detectors in the residence, outside of the 20 feet proximity to kitchens and bathrooms areas which are not subjected to bathroom steam or normal kitchen cooking smoke. In these areas you must utilize either:
- A DUAL detector (Containing both ionization AND photo electric technologies)
OR
- Two separate detectors (one photo electric alarm AND one ionization alarm.)
- PLUS a CO alarm
In residences not subject to MGL c. 148, s. 26F (built after 1975) the smoke detector upgrade is recommended but not required by law.
What are the general carbon monoxide detector requirements?
The MGL, c.148, s.26F1/2 and 527 CMR 31 mandate is similar to the fire alarm mandate in that you must be in compliance with the CO2 detector mandate in order to sell or transfer property and only the local fire department may issue a Certificate of Compliance stating that homeowners meet the requirements.
In Summary, for spaces that are not near a kitchen or bathroom, and if you already have an ionization alarm, you may simply purchase a combination photo electric smoke and /CO alarm so that you now have the required triple coverage of ionization/photo electric/CO alarm devices in place.
Take, for example, a three bedroom home of about 1500 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and a hallway. The bathroom is located within 20 feet of the three bedrooms. This house has a stairway to the basement as well. This house would need:
For the main level just outside of the bedrooms on the ceiling of the hall: 1 battery powered photo electric/CO alarm (NOT AN IONIZATION ALARM BECAUSE IT IS WITHIN 20 ft OF THE BATHROOM and the steam from the shower will set it off, the owner of the house will disable it and forget to enable it afterwords! So, if there is a fire, the alarm will not work because it will be disabled!! )
For the basement: 1 – Battery powered combination Photo electric AND 1 -Ionization/ AND 1- CO alarm installed on the ceiling at the bottom of the stairwell.
Please also remember that to be in compliance, you MUST have your address number at a minimum of 31/2 inches in plain view of your house so that in the event of a fire, the fire department can plainly see these numbers.
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Your information concerning requirements for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in residences is generally well written; however, there is a major flaw. You correctly write out the term “Carbon Monoxide”, but every instance where you use the chemical notation, you have used “CO2″, which is “Carbon Dioxide” — generally not deadly and already present in the air we breathe (plants love the stuff). I would have to believe that someone else has noticed this before and that you’ve been deluged with notes like this, but in case no one has picked up on it, you should make the correction. The notation you want for Carbon MONoxide is simply “CO” — there’s no “2″.
The problem with Carbon MONoxide is that our bodies like the stuff better than oxygen, so when it’s present, it causes us real trouble.
Thank you for the correction. Nobody else has discovered the mistake. I appreciate that you took the time to explain.