Spokane County, WA Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- RCW 43.44.110 (state law, not county code)
- Who installs
- Owner installs; tenant maintains/replaces batteries
- Sale requirement
- Seller must provide one after July 1, 2019 sale
- Base fine
- Up to $200, owner/seller/tenant
- Fire-related fine
- $5,000 if fire causes damage or injury
- County enforcer
- County fire marshal in unincorporated areas
- Fine proceeds
- Smoke detection device awareness account, RCW 43.44.115
Summary
Washington's smoke detector law, RCW 43.44.110, requires a working smoke detection device in every dwelling unit rented to a tenant, built after 1980, or sold on or after July 1, 2019, and in unincorporated Spokane County the county fire marshal is the enforcing official once a fire exposes a missing detector. Owners install and sellers must supply a unit before resale.
(1) Smoke detection devices shall be installed inside all dwelling units: (a) Occupied by persons other than the owner on and after December 31, 1981; (b) Built or manufactured in this state after December 31, 1980; or (c) Sold on or after July 1, 2019... (3) Installation of smoke detection devices shall be the responsibility of the owner. Maintenance ... including the replacement of batteries where required for the proper operation of the smoke detection device, shall be the responsibility of the tenant... At the time of a vacancy, the owner shall insure that the smoke detection device is operational prior to the reoccupancy of the dwelling unit... (5)(a) ...any owner, seller, or tenant failing to comply with this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars. (b) Any owner failing to comply ... shall be punished by a fine of five thousand dollars if, after such failure, a fire causes property damage, personal injury, or death to a tenant or a member of a tenant's household... (ii) The county fire marshal or other fire official so designated by the county legislative authority if the dwelling unit is located within unincorporated areas of a county.
Full Breakdown
State law, not a county ordinance, sets the smoke alarm rule that applies across unincorporated Spokane County: RCW 43.44.110. Under subsection (1), a smoke detection device must be installed inside any dwelling unit occupied by someone other than the owner, any dwelling built or manufactured in Washington after December 31, 1980, or any dwelling sold on or after July 1, 2019. Subsection (2) ties the required device to nationally accepted standards and to rules the Washington State Patrol's director of fire protection adopts under the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW.
Subsection (3) splits the duty: the owner installs the device, the tenant replaces batteries and otherwise maintains it as the manufacturer specifies, and at turnover the owner must confirm the device works before the next tenant moves in. Subsection (4), added by the 2019 Legislature's "Greg 'Gibby' Gibson home fire safety act," requires a seller to put at least one working detector in a dwelling before the buyer or anyone else occupies it after a post-July-2019 sale; that failure does not undo the sale itself, and real estate brokers and volunteers who help install a detector are shielded from liability.
Enforcement in unincorporated Spokane County falls to the county fire marshal or another fire official the Board of County Commissioners designates, versus a city fire chief inside incorporated cities like Spokane or Spokane Valley. Subsection (5) limits enforcement of the sale-disclosure duty to after a fire has occurred and shown the missing detector, with collected fines routed to the smoke detection device awareness account under RCW 43.44.115.
Violations & Fines
An owner, seller or tenant who fails to comply faces a fine of up to $200 under RCW 43.44.110(5)(a). If noncompliance is discovered because a fire then causes property damage, injury or death to a tenant or household member, the responsible owner faces a $5,000 fine under subsection (5)(b). The county fire marshal enforces the sale-disclosure duty only after such a fire reveals the missing device, and fine proceeds fund the state smoke detection device awareness account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does unincorporated Spokane County require smoke detectors in rental homes?
Who has to maintain the smoke detector, the landlord or the tenant?
Does selling a house in Spokane County require a smoke detector?
Who enforces the smoke detector law in unincorporated Spokane County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Spokane County
Compare Spokane County to another location·View the Washington fire regulations overview
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