Mobile, AL Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

Section 705 of the Property Maintenance Code, titled Carbon Monoxide Alarms and Detection, sits right after the smoke alarm requirements in Section 704 within Chapter 7, Fire Safety Requirements. Section 705.1 requires carbon monoxide alarms in dwellings, but rather than setting its own placement rules it incorporates two other adopted codes by reference: Section 1103.9 of the International Fire Code governs most dwellings, while units covered by the International Residential Code follow Section R315 of that code instead. Practically, that means a single-family home built or altered under the IRC and a multifamily building governed by the IFC can face slightly different placement specifics, but both are required to have working carbon monoxide protection.

Section 705.2 covers the maintenance side once alarms are installed. Carbon monoxide alarms and any carbon monoxide detection system must be maintained in accordance with NFPA 720, the national carbon monoxide detection standard, and any alarm or detector that becomes inoperable or starts producing an end-of-life signal has to be replaced, not just silenced or ignored.

The Department of Municipal Enforcement's code official administers Section 705 the same way as the rest of the Property Maintenance Code: inspecting under the right-of-entry granted by Section 105.3, issuing notices of violation under Section 105.5, and referring appeals to the Construction Board of Appeals under Section 108.1.