Portland, ME Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

Section 10-3(2) of Chapter 10 amends the adopted NFPA 101: Life Safety Code (2018 edition, § 10-1) to add a citywide carbon monoxide detection mandate that reaches further than the base fire code. Under § 10-3(2)(a), CO alarms and/or detection must protect throughout (i) every existing residential occupancy and (ii) all new occupancies other than industrial occupancies and storage occupancies, the CO requirement is not limited to new construction the way some of Chapter 10's other 2019 amendments are. Installation must follow NFPA 720, Standard for the Installation of Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detection and Warning Equipment, 2015 edition, per § 10-3(2)(b).

That subsection layers three additional local rules on top of NFPA 720: all new construction must have CO alarms and/or detectors hardwired; all new CO alarm or detector installations must be hardwired except installations in one- or two-family dwellings, which may remain battery-powered; and the authority having jurisdiction, per § 10-2, the Portland fire chief, a designated representative, or a city-manager-designated housing safety official, may approve alternative CO alarm or detector technology as it becomes available, so long as it delivers equivalent protection. As with the rest of Article I, compliance is verified through the inspection power in § 10-3(b): the authority having jurisdiction may enter premises at reasonable times, on proper identification, and interfering with or preventing that inspection is itself a Chapter 10 violation. These CO provisions were added by Ordinance No. 59-19/20, effective 11-4-2019, and remain in force as printed in the chapter's Rev. 11-4-2019 text.