Kent County, DE Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

1 to state plainly that for new construction, carbon monoxide alarms shall be provided in dwelling units. This sits inside Article IV of Chapter 105, Building Construction, which adopted the 2018 International Residential Code as the county's Residential Code under § 105-23 and then modified specific sections, including the fire and life-safety provisions of Chapter 3 of the IRC, through § 105-24. Unlike the fire sprinkler provision in the same section of the amendments, which the county softened from mandatory to optional, the carbon monoxide alarm requirement keeps the mandatory "shall" language, making it a binding condition of new residential construction rather than an option.

Builders submit plans to the Department of Planning Services, Division of Inspection and Enforcement, which reviews for code compliance, issues the building permit, and conducts inspections before a certificate of occupancy under § 105-10 is granted. Because the CO alarm requirement is tied to new construction plan review and final inspection, non-compliant new dwellings can be held up at the certificate-of-occupancy stage until alarms are installed and verified. 1 to a specific project can be taken to the county's Board of Appeals under § 105-12, but that board has no authority to waive the underlying code requirement, only to correct a misapplication of it.