Riverside, CA Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)

120(F) requires carbon monoxide detection, per California Fire Code § 915, only in emergency shelter buildings with sleeping accommodations and fuel-burning appliances. Routine housing citywide instead falls under the statewide Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010, codified at Health and Safety Code § 17926, which requires the owner of a dwelling unit intended for human occupancy to install a device approved and listed by the State Fire Marshal in any existing unit with a fossil-fuel burning heater or appliance, fireplace, or attached garage. The statute phased in by property type: existing single-family homes had to comply by July 1, 2011; existing hotel and motel dwelling units by January 1, 2017; and all other existing dwelling units, apartments, condos, duplexes, by January 1, 2013.

Placement and device count must follow either the manufacturer's instructions or the building standards that apply to new construction of that occupancy type, where technically feasible. Subsection (e) expressly lets a city enact or amend a local carbon monoxide ordinance, but only if it stays consistent with the state chapter, and Riverside has not adopted a stricter or separate local ordinance for market-rate housing, so the state deadlines and standards are what apply. Subsection (d) also protects real estate transactions: a missing device does not invalidate a title transfer, and the exclusive remedy in that setting is actual damages capped at $100, separate from any code-enforcement action against the physical condition of the property.