Brookhaven, GA Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Sec. 16-103 is the interior evaluation list for multifamily rental units, and item (8) is the smoke alarm item. It ties the requirement to IPMC section 704.2 and calls for single or multiple-station smoke alarms in Groups R-2, R-3, R-4 and in dwellings not regulated in Group R occupancies, regardless of occupant load.

Required locations: on the ceiling or wall outside each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of bedrooms, in each room used for sleeping purposes, and in each story within a dwelling unit, including basements and cellars but not crawl spaces and uninhabitable attics. In a split-level unit with no intervening door between adjacent levels, an alarm on the upper level suffices for the adjacent lower level provided the lower level is less than one full story below the upper level.

The item then sorts units by construction date. For multifamily rental units constructed before 1987, the code calls for at least one battery operated detector between the living and sleeping areas. For units constructed after 1987, detectors must be located on every level and outside of the sleeping area. For units constructed after 2007, detectors must be installed per IPMC, including one on every level, outside of the sleeping area and inside of every sleeping room. Unless a building is over three or more stories, detectors go within each unit between living and sleeping areas, are continuously powered by the building's electrical system, and must sound an alarm audible in the sleeping rooms of that living unit when activated.

Article V reaches buildings with four or more rental units. Owners list inspected units on the annual code compliance certificate under Sec. 16-99, and every unit is inspected at a minimum every two years.