Texas Property Code requires landlords to install a smoke alarm in each bedroom and on each level of a rental dwelling. Bell County cannot set building codes in unincorporated areas; cities enforce the residential code for new construction.
For rental housing statewide, Texas Property Code Subchapter F (Sec. 92.251-92.262) requires a landlord to install at least one smoke alarm in each separate bedroom, plus alarms serving corridors and each level of a multi-story unit. Landlords must keep alarms in good working order at move-in; tenants generally handle battery changes during tenancy. Texas counties cannot adopt building codes for unincorporated homes, so there is no county installation mandate for owner-occupied houses. Inside Killeen, Temple and Belton, the adopted International Residential Code requires interconnected, hard-wired smoke alarms in each bedroom, outside sleeping areas and on every level of new and substantially remodeled homes.
A landlord who fails to install or repair required alarms after written tenant request faces civil penalties, actual damages, and possible lease remedies under Property Code Sec. 92.260-92.2611.
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