Santa Fe, NM Building Safety: Carbon Monoxide Detectors (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 11.901.12, Residential Addition and Remodel Green Building Code
- Adopted by
- Subsection 7-4.3 SFCC 1987
- Triggers when
- Remodel/addition affects 50%+ of floor area
- Required certification
- CSA 6.19 or UL 2034
- Minimum sensitivity
- One alarm detects CO as low as 9 ppm
- Exception
- No garage, no gas or solid-fuel appliances
Summary
Santa Fe's Residential Addition and Remodel Green Building Code makes carbon monoxide alarms mandatory in additions and remodels that touch 50% or more of a single-family home's floor area. Section 11.901.12 requires a CO alarm outside every sleeping area, hard-wired with battery backup where wiring exists, and certified to CSA 6.19 or UL 2034.
11.901.12 Carbon monoxide (CO) alarms. A carbon monoxide (CO) alarm is installed in a central location outside of each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms. The CO alarm(s) is located in accordance with NFPA 720 and where there is existing electrical lines accessible is hard-wired with a battery back-up. The alarm device(s) is certified by a third-party for conformance to either CSA 6.19 or UL 2034. At least one of the CO alarms is capable of detecting CO concentrations as low as 9 ppm and includes a visible display. Mandatory Exception: No CO alarms are required when all three of the following conditions are true: 1. The is no attached garage; 2. There are no gas-fired appliances within the conditioned space and; 3. There are no solid fuel burning appliances in the home, including fireplaces.
Full Breakdown
3 SFCC 1987 adopts the Santa Fe Residential Addition and Remodel Green Building Code, which applies to additions and remodels affecting 50 percent or more of the floor area of an attached or detached single-family residence. 12, 'Carbon monoxide (CO) alarms,' is marked Mandatory: a CO alarm must be installed in a central location outside each separate sleeping area, in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms, located in accordance with NFPA 720. Where existing electrical lines are accessible, the alarm must be hard-wired with a battery backup.
19 or UL 2034, and at least one alarm in the home must be able to detect CO concentrations as low as 9 ppm and include a visible display. The section carves out a narrow exception: no CO alarm is required at all if three conditions are all true at once: the home has no attached garage, has no gas-fired appliances inside the conditioned space, and has no solid fuel-burning appliances, including fireplaces. 4.
Violations & Fines
A remodel or addition that meets the 50-percent-of-floor-area trigger cannot pass its Green Building Code compliance review, and therefore cannot get final planning and land use department signoff, without the mandatory CO alarm in place, unless the narrow no-garage, no-gas-appliance, no-solid-fuel exception applies. Missing or uncertified alarms are treated as an unmet mandatory practice under Section 11.305.3.3, holding up the project's final inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Santa Fe require CO alarms in home remodels?
Where must the carbon monoxide alarm be placed?
What certification must the alarm carry?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Fe
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