Austin, TX Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

Section 915 of the local Fire Code amendments (City Code Sec. 25-12-173, effective July 10, 2025) requires carbon monoxide detection "in Group I-1, I-2, I-4 and R occupancies and in classrooms in Group E occupancies" whenever any of several triggers exist: a fuel-burning appliance or fireplace in the unit (Sec. 2), a fuel-burning forced-air furnace serving the unit (Sec. 3), a fuel-burning appliance located elsewhere in the building with a communicating opening (Sec. 4), or an attached private garage (Sec. 5). Where required, Sec. 1 places the detector in dwelling units "outside of each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms," and inside the bedroom itself if a fuel-burning appliance sits in that bedroom or its bathroom.

Group E classrooms need their own detector, and Sec. 3 requires the alarm signal to transmit automatically to a staffed on-site location unless the occupant load is 30 or fewer. 5 requires multiple required alarms in the same unit to be interconnected so one activation sounds all of them, though listed wireless alarms can satisfy that without physical wiring. For existing buildings, Sec. 9 triggers the same detection standard only when interior work requiring a building permit is done in an existing Group I-1, I-2, I-4 or R unit, and it relaxes the hardwiring rule by allowing the replacement alarms to be solely battery operated.

Combination smoke/CO alarms are an acceptable substitute under Sec. 4 if listed to UL 217 and UL 2034, and any alarm or detector that fails or signals end-of-life must be replaced under Sec. 6.