Farmington Hills, MI Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Sec. ' The section layers a local requirement on top of that adopted code: at least one smoke alarm must go in every hallway leading to a dwelling unit or sleeping unit, positioned so rising smoke reaches the alarm before it reaches a sleeping area. All alarms and related equipment must be Underwriters Laboratory approved and installed and maintained per NFPA guidance. The section also carries a hard compliance deadline aimed at older battery units: except for owner-occupied R-3 properties, any battery-powered smoke alarm has to be replaced with a ten-year lithium battery powered alarm once the existing alarm turns ten years old, and that swap had to be complete citywide by July 1, 2025.

On top of installation and replacement, the ordinance creates a disclosure duty at every change of occupancy: whenever a dwelling or sleeping unit is sold, leased or subleased, the seller, lessor or sublessor must certify to the new occupant, before occupancy begins, that all smoke alarms required by the section are installed and in proper working condition. The definitions built into the section, dwelling unit, sleeping area and sleeping unit, exist specifically to pin down where hallway and unit-level alarms have to go in multi-room living arrangements.