Kane County, IL Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

Section 7-63 of the Kane County Code sets specific life-safety hardware standards for every licensed short-term rental in the unincorporated county. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors must be installed and maintained in compliance with all federal and state laws, and the ordinance goes further than a bare compliance standard on two points: it requires a smoke detector with a ten-year sealed battery on every level of the rental and inside each bedroom, and it requires at least one carbon monoxide detector within fifteen feet of every bedroom.

Both types of detectors must be tested monthly or before every rental stay, whichever comes more often, so an owner who rents out the property every week is on the hook for weekly testing rather than a once-a-month check. Section 7-63 pairs the detector rule with a working fire extinguisher requirement in an area accessible to guests, and it requires owners to post a written emergency plan covering two egress routes per bedroom, emergency service contact numbers, and a floor plan labeling every entrance and exit.

All of these property requirements apply on top of, not instead of, the Kane County building code and zoning ordinance provisions that already govern the structure under Section 7-63(A).