Minnehaha County, SD Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)
Key Facts
- Retrofit trigger
- $1,000+ permit valuation or a new sleeping room
- Exempt work (exterior)
- Roofing, siding, windows, doors, porch/deck
- Exempt work (systems)
- Plumbing or mechanical work alone
- Adopting ordinance
- MC 62-22, effective May 31, 2022
- Code section
- 2021 IRC § R315.2.2, as adopted locally
- Enforcement
- Notice of violation, strict liability prosecution
Summary
Under Section R315.2.2 of Minnehaha County's adopted 2021 IRC, existing one- and two-family dwellings must add carbon monoxide alarms whenever an alteration, repair, or addition permit is valued over $1,000 or a sleeping room is added. Exterior-only and plumbing- or mechanical-only work is exempt.
R315.2.2 Alterations, repairs, and additions. Where alterations, repairs or additions requiring a permit occur with a valuation of more than $1000, or where one or more sleeping rooms are added or created in existing dwellings, the individual dwelling unit shall be equipped with carbon monoxide alarms located as required for new dwellings.
Exceptions:
1. Work involving the exterior surfaces of dwellings, such as the replacement of roofing or siding, or the addition or replacement of windows or doors, or the addition of a porch or deck.
2. Installation, alteration or repairs of plumbing or mechanical systems.
Full Breakdown
Ordinance MC 62-22, adopted by Minnehaha County on April 19, 2022 and effective May 31, 2022, adopts the 2021 International Residential Code with local amendments. 2, titled "Alterations, repairs, and additions," sets the retrofit trigger for carbon monoxide alarms in existing dwellings: any alteration, repair, or addition project that requires a permit and carries a valuation of more than $1,000, or any project that adds or creates one or more sleeping rooms, obligates the owner to equip the dwelling unit with carbon monoxide alarms placed according to the standard the code sets for new dwellings.
Two exceptions narrow that trigger. First, work confined to the building's exterior surfaces, such as replacing roofing or siding, swapping windows or doors, or adding a porch or deck, does not trigger the requirement. Second, permits limited to installing, altering, or repairing plumbing or mechanical systems alone are also exempt. This is the only carbon monoxide alarm text the county reprinted and amended when it adopted the 2021 IRC; the base placement rules that section cross-references for new construction carry over from the unamended International Code without local change.
3 authorizes prosecution as a strict liability offense through the county's legal counsel if the notice isn't complied with in the stated time, up to and including a court action to restrain, correct, or abate the violation or to stop occupancy of the affected structure.
Violations & Fines
A dwelling that skips a required carbon monoxide alarm retrofit under Section R315.2.2 is handled the same way as any other IRC violation in the county: the building official issues a notice of violation, and if it isn't corrected in the time given, Section R113.3 lets the county prosecute it as a strict liability offense and seek a court order to correct the violation or halt occupancy.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does an existing Minnehaha County home have to add carbon monoxide alarms?
Does replacing a roof or windows require adding carbon monoxide alarms in Minnehaha County?
Does a plumbing or HVAC permit alone trigger the carbon monoxide alarm rule?
What ordinance created Minnehaha County's carbon monoxide alarm requirement?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Minnehaha County
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