Albemarle County, VA Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

County Code § 5-400 requires smoke alarms in any building with one or more dwelling units, any hotel or motel offering overnight accommodations, and any rooming house offering overnight accommodations, unless smoke alarms are already installed in accordance with the Building Code. Section 5-401 governs installation: alarms may be battery-operated or AC-powered, and installing them cannot require new or additional wiring. ) and Virginia Code § 36-105(C)(6), Part III of the Uniform Statewide Building Code. The article does not require upgrading smoke alarms that already met the Building Code in effect at the time of the building's last permitted renovation.

Section 5-402 requires the owner of a rental unit to give the tenant a certificate that all smoke alarms are present, have been inspected by the owner, the owner's employee, or an independent contractor, and are in good working order. 16, except for alarms located in public or common areas of multifamily buildings, which the owner remains responsible for. This division of duties between the landlord's initial certification and the tenant's ongoing upkeep tracks the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act's own smoke-alarm provisions, which the county article cross-references rather than restates.