Barrow County, GA Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)
Key Facts
- Detector placement
- Outside each bedroom offered for rent
- Standard
- Adopted residential building code
- Certification
- Owner swears compliance on application
- Renewal check
- Permits expire Dec. 31, renewed yearly
- Enforcing agency
- Planning and Community Dev., Code Enforcement
- First violation penalty
- Up to $250 fine plus written warning
Summary
Unincorporated Barrow County requires every permitted short-term rental to have a working carbon monoxide detector outside each bedroom offered for rent, built and placed to the adopted residential building code, and kept operational for the life of the permit. This standard applies to short-term rentals specifically, not to housing generally.
(2)Outside each bedroom in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms for rent, shall be equipped with an operational carbon monoxide detector that meets applicable adopted residential building code and shall be maintained in good working order at all times.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 26-155(c)(2) requires a carbon monoxide detector outside each bedroom in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms offered for rent at a short-term rental. The detector must meet the applicable adopted residential building code and must be maintained in good working order at all times, not just at the time of permit application. This sits alongside the smoke detector mandate in Sec. 26-155(c)(1) and the sworn certification the owner files under Sec. 26-154(a)(5)e that all designated bedrooms and their safety equipment meet code before the Director of Planning and Community Development issues the permit.
Barrow County Code Enforcement and the Barrow County Fire Marshal can flag code violations on the property to the Director, and under Sec. 26-154(a)(7)d such a notice is grounds for the county to deny or refuse to renew the annual permit. Because permits expire every December 31 and require a fresh application, the carbon monoxide detector condition is checked again at each renewal, not only at initial licensing.
Violations & Fines
A missing or non-functioning carbon monoxide detector is a safety violation of the STR permit conditions. It can support denial of an application, and if found during an active rental period, enforcement proceeds under Sec. 26-157: a first offense in 12 months carries up to a $250 fine and a warning, a second up to $500 and a 30-to-90-day suspension, and a third up to $1,000 with revocation and a year-long bar on reapplying, alongside possible immediate suspension under Sec. 26-156.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are carbon monoxide detectors required in Barrow County short-term rentals?
Who checks that a Barrow County rental has a carbon monoxide detector?
What happens if a short-term rental in Barrow County lacks a carbon monoxide detector?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Barrow County
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