Regarding the laws requiring installation of  carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, I (Atty Heiner Giese) would like to summarize the law and provide further guidelines for residential landlords. Unless a building has all-electric heat and electric appliances and has no attached garage, CO detectors must be installed by April 1 in multi-families and by Feb. 1, 2011 in singles and duplexes.

-- The statute governing "public buildings" (which means 3 units and up) is section 101.149. CO detectors were required in new construction as of Oct. 1, 2008 and will be required in most existing residential or commercial buildings as of April 1, 2010.

-- For these multi-family buildings detectors must be installed in the basement. Then, if the unit has a gas stove or fireplace, additional detectors must be installed (1) within 15 feet of each sleeping area, (2) within 75 feet of the appliance itself, (3) in each hallway outside the unit (within 75 feet of the door) and (4) in adjacent apartment units on the same floor (also within 15 feet of sleeping areas in the adjacent units).

The Safety and Buildings Division of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce has published a brochure about the law affecting 3 units and up. You can get it here:
www.commerce. state.wi. us/sb/docs/ SB-PubCarbMonoBr och209.pdf

The Administrative Code regulations for multi-family units are set forth at Comm 62.1200.

http://www.legis. state.wi. us/rsb/code/ comm/comm062. pdf

-- A new law has just been enacted (section 101.647) mandating installation of CO detectors in ALL dwellings which contain "fuel-burning appliances", have a fireplace or an attached garage. This affects existing single-family or two-family dwellings, whether they are owner-occupied or rentals. This law is not effective until February 1, 2011.

-- The new law affecting singles and duplexes specifies that the detectors must be located in the basement and on each floor level.  It remains to be seen whether the Dept. of Commerce will issue more specific administrative rules on the placement of these detectors.

One of the important questions raised by property owners is whether the detectors must be installed in kitchens which have a gas stove.  Reading the statute literally seems to imply this because detectors are required "in each room that has a fuel-burning appliance and that is not used as a sleeping area." Sec. 101.149(2)(a) (4).  However, according to James Quast, the Program Manager at Commerce responsible for implementation of the CO detector rules, the Department will NOT require CO detectors to be installed inside the kitchen proper as along as a detector is placed no more than 75 feet from the appliance.  This makes sense because much of the literature on CO Detectors says they should not be installed in kitchens because of the likelihood of false alarms.  This is the guideline of the respected publication Consumer Reports.

--Types of CO Detectors.   Rules for existing buildings allow battery-operated detectors.  Combination smoke/CO detectors would be allowed. Detectors must have a UL or similar certification.  There is a strange requirement that CO detectors in hallways be placed "at the closest available electrical outlet".  This makes no sense except for new construction, since you are allowed to use battery devices in the hallway for pre-October 2008 buildings.

-- Maintenance of CO Detectors.   For 3 units and up buildings the rules here are different than those regarding smoke detectors, where the tenant must maintain the detectors inside the tenant's unit and the landlord must maintain the common area smoke detectors. The "maintenance" duties of the tenant should include keeping batteries in the smoke detectors  (and the rental agreement should so state), though the owner is required to repair or replace a non-working smoke detector inside a tenant's unit.  However, for CO detectors owners must "maintain" all detectors on the premises which would include replacing batteries.Tenants may give owners  written notice if a CO detector is nonfunctional or has been removed.  Owners then have five days to repair or replace the detector.

However, for singles and duplexes the "occupant" will have  to maintain the detector, though the same 5-day notice to the owner of non-functioning detectors applies.

-- Exemption for Sealed-combustion Appliances.    The Dept of Commerce regs (Comm 62.1200(2)(a) (5)) say CO detectors are not required in buildings where all of the fuel-burning appliances are of a sealed-combustion type (let's say like modern high efficiency furnaces) provided (1) the furnace is still under manufacturer' s warranty or (2) it is inspected annually by a certified HVAC person.  This exemption would appear to be of little practical use to most property owners for the following reasons:

     A.  If you have an older sealed-combustion furnace no longer under warranty it is far cheaper to install a CO detector than pay for an annual inspection.

     B.  If you have a regular open flame gas-fired water heater in the same basement (surely much more common than sealed-combustion water heaters) you will need a CO detector anyway.

     C.  Say you have a sealed-combustion furnace and electric water heater but one of your tenants has a gas stove.  Now you don't meet the requirement that ALL appliances "in the building" must be of the sealed-combustion type, so presumably you would need a detector in the basement anyway.

     D.   Will most owners be careful to mark their calendars to alert them that a furnace warranty is expiring in two years and that they then need an inspection or a detector installed?  Why would you want to worry about this? Just install a detector now.

-- Cost-benefit Analysis.  The total cost of installing CO detectors in the great majority of rental units in Wisconsin (what percentage of buildings are all-electric? presumably a small number) will be many millions of dollars.  If one apartment unit cooks with gas and the adjacent unit cooks with electric is it really necessary to have a CO detector in the adjacent unit when you already have a hallway detector?  How would the carbon monoxide get into the adjacent unit?

Atty Heiner Giese
1216 N. Prospect Ave.
Milwaukee, WI. 53202-3061
Tel. 414-276-7988 Fax: 414-276-8342         

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