Bowie, MD Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

The carbon monoxide mandate lives in the same fire-safety subsection of the Housing and Property Maintenance Code as Bowie's smoke alarm rule, City Code § 5-7, Subsection I(6), and it only reaches dwellings with a specific fuel-burning trigger: a fossil-fuel-burning heater or appliance, a gas- or wood-burning fireplace, or an attached garage, any one of which is enough to bring the unit into scope. A house with none of those three features is not covered by this subsection. Placement is exact rather than left to the installer's judgment: detectors must sit within 10 feet of each sleeping area and on each level of the home, so a single-story rental with one bedroom wing still needs a unit near that wing, and a split-level or multistory dwelling needs a detector on every level regardless of where the bedrooms sit.

The City Manager's Code Compliance staff check for the detectors during the periodic rental inspections required under § 5-9 and the building inspections authorized under § 5-10. Because the rule is folded into the general Housing and Property Maintenance Code rather than a stand-alone fire ordinance, a missing carbon monoxide detector is enforced and penalized exactly like a missing smoke alarm or any other § 5-7 defect, under the citation, notice, and hearing procedure set out in §§ 5-13 and 5-14.