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

Section 8-26 sits in Chapter 8, Article V, Minimum Maintenance Standards, adopted by Ordinance 2008-9000 and applicable regardless of when a structure was constructed, per Sec. 8-23. Subsection (i), Fire protection systems, requires the owner and manager to provide and maintain all systems, devices, and equipment to detect a fire, smoke, or carbon monoxide, actuate an alarm, or suppress or control a fire, in operable condition at all times in accordance with the International Fire Code. The same subsection sets explicit installation and power rules for smoke alarms, ceiling or wall placement outside sleeping areas, hardwired power with battery backup, with an affirmative defense for bedrooms built before August 29, 1991, and folds carbon monoxide detection into the same ongoing maintenance duty rather than a one-time inspection item.

The Code Enforcement Department can enforce this duty directly: Sec. 8-32 authorizes city employees to inspect any residential or nonresidential structure and all premises in the city, without prior notice to the owner, manager, or occupant, and emergency entry is allowed at any time where a hazard threatens injury or loss of life. Irving has since written a more specific carbon monoxide standard into its short-term rental article: Sec. 8-86(g)(2) requires an operable carbon monoxide detector outside sleeping areas in every short-term rental that has a fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage, showing how the general Sec. 8-26(i) maintenance duty gets sharpened for higher-turnover uses.