Cass County, MO Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

706, part of the county Health Department's Lodging Code (Chapter 225, Article III), governs fire protection and safety at lodging establishments in unincorporated Cass County. Subsection G requires smoke detectors in all sleeping rooms, cooking areas and kitchens, hallways, laundry rooms, mechanical rooms, hazardous areas, and anywhere else the Code specifically states; heat sensing devices may substitute for a smoke detector in cooking areas. Every smoke detector and heat sensing device must be hardwired with battery backup and kept in good operating condition, tested at least monthly, or more often if needed, with batteries changed as needed.

The Director of Health, acting as the Code's Regulatory Authority, may require additional smoke detectors at any lodging establishment at any time. Existing fire alarm and sprinkler systems must also be kept in good working order. 707(A)(1) adds a placement rule: detectors must sit on the ceiling, preferably centered but no less than four inches from the wall, or on a sleeping-room wall between four and twelve inches from the ceiling, and again must be hardwired with battery backup. 707(A)(2) further requires a fire alarm system installed to NFPA 72, the National Fire Alarm Code, except for single-story buildings with guest room doors opening directly outside at grade, or buildings of no more than three occupiable stories with no more than four guest rooms per building and doors leading directly outside at grade.

This chapter applies only to lodging establishments, buildings with five or more guest rooms held out for hire such as hotels, motels, tourist courts, cabins and bed and breakfasts, not to private residences in the unincorporated county.