Grays Harbor County, WA Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

Section 17.60.020(B)(2) lists four standards every permitted short-term rental dwelling in unincorporated Grays Harbor County must meet, and the first is safety equipment: working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed per the International Residential Code (IRC) or its successor. The same paragraph requires a properly maintained and charged fire extinguisher, a properly functioning permitted septic system or sewer connection, and weekly solid waste collection maintained during all months the rental operates. These conditions are checked when the administrator issues or renews the annual short-term rental permit under § 17.60.020(E), and the required in-unit posted notice under § 17.60.020(C)(2)(e) must separately show guests the location of all safety equipment, including fire extinguishers and exit signage, tying the detector requirement to what a guest can actually find inside the unit.

The county code does not print a separate, general carbon monoxide detector mandate for owner-occupied homes or long-term rentals outside this section; Chapter 15.04 adopts the International Residential and Building Codes with local amendments for construction generally, but the file's only express carbon monoxide language is the short-term rental standard in § 17.60.020(B)(2)(a). A dwelling operating as a short-term rental therefore carries a detector obligation that a comparable long-term rental in the same zone does not have spelled out in this code.