Allentown, PA Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

Section 213-6 of the Child-Care Facilities chapter is Allentown's fire-safety chapter for centers, family child-care homes, and group homes alike, and subsection G is unambiguous: smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors shall be present and functioning in accordance with City of Allentown Fire Codes. That duty sits alongside the rest of § 213-6's building-safety package: subsection A requires every stairway, hallway, and exit to stay unobstructed, and bars any door that opens straight into a stairwell without a landing unless it's restricted from opening or removed; subsection B bans portable space heaters outright and requires a fixed space heater to carry Bureau of Fire Inspections written approval on file; subsection D mandates fire drills at a frequency set by the City Fire Code, with a written log of the date, time, hypothetical fire location, and evacuation time for each drill; subsection E ties the whole facility to Allentown's Fire and Building Codes (Chapter 285 and Chapter 225) as a floor, not a ceiling; and subsection H requires an operable fire extinguisher sized and counted as the Bureau of Fire specifies, with staff trained in its use.

Because § 213-1 authorizes the Bureau of Health to inspect and certify facilities, a missing or dead carbon monoxide detector found during the annual § 213-29 inspection is treated the same as any other chapter violation: it goes on the inspection report, must be corrected within the period the Bureau sets, and can force an immediate shutdown if the Bureau classifies it as an imminent health hazard.