Olympia, WA Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

The carbon monoxide rule sits inside Article III, Fire Alarm Systems, of the City of Olympia Alarm Code. Section 16.44.060(B) lists what a fire alarm system must include, and item 25 adds the combined smoke/carbon monoxide alarm for multifamily housing. It covers apartment buildings and townhomes and applies to every unit. The only exception printed is for studio apartment units, which are excused from the low frequency sounder in the sleep room. This is the only place the Olympia Municipal Code text uses the words carbon monoxide, and it prints no separate rule for single family homes.

Plans come first. All digital fire alarm system plans must be approved before a permit issues, must be submitted before work begins, and must bear the designer's valid Washington State Low Voltage Specialty Electrical Contractor's License number or the stamp of a registered fire protection or electrical engineer. A plan check fee equal to 65 percent of the permit fee is forfeited to the city at submittal.

Neighboring items matter for the same buildings. Item 24 makes final acceptance subject to wiring inspection by the electrical inspector, supervisory tests and proper functioning of all components, and no Certificate of Occupancy is granted until acceptance tests are accomplished. Item 26 requires smoke detectors in all corridors and rooms which are intervening exit pathways. Item 12 requires fixed temperature detection in attic spaces, above ceiling spaces and outside storage units on apartment buildings.

Under § 16.44.120, the chapter applies to existing buildings as well as new ones, but legally existing conditions can continue only if the fire chief finds no significant hazard to life or property.