Lexington County, SC Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

Carbon monoxide alarms aren't the subject of their own article in the Lexington County Code; they're folded into Division 9's inspection sequence for any project that required a building permit. Sec. 14-352 lists nine categories of inspection, from the footing and foundation pour through framing, insulation, and utility meter release, and the ninth is the final inspection: "Final inspection shall be made after the permitted work is complete and prior to occupancy... " That final inspection is the gatekeeper for occupancy. Under Sec. until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy," and the building official only issues that certificate after inspecting the building and finding no violations, per Sec.

14-391. So on any new construction, addition, or renovation that required a building permit under Sec. 14-261, a working carbon monoxide alarm has to be in place and tested before the county will let anyone occupy the space. The requirement rides on the state-adopted International Residential Code, which Sec. 14-172 applies to detached one- and two-family homes "in the version most recently adopted by the State of South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation," and on the International Fire Code that Sec. " Work exempt from a building permit under Sec. 14-262, a small accessory structure or a fence, for example, never triggers a final inspection and so never triggers this alarm-testing checkpoint.