Frisco, TX Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

255(a) sets the placement rule: at least one smoke alarm in each separate bedroom; if a bedroom, living and dining area is combined into a single room, the alarm goes inside that room; if bedrooms share a corridor, at least one alarm must sit in the corridor near those bedrooms; and a unit with multiple levels needs an alarm on each level. Units first occupied before September 1, 2011 may keep battery-powered, non-interconnected alarms unless the unit is later remodeled at a cost over $5,000 requiring a building permit, or an alternating-current alarm was already installed (Sec.

255(b), Sec. 252(b)). Alarms must mount on a ceiling at least six inches from a wall, or on a wall six to twelve inches from the ceiling, following the manufacturer's instructions (Sec. 257). Owner-occupied units with no tenant, units in buildings five stories or taller already regulated by local ordinance, and licensed nursing or convalescent homes certified under the federal Life Safety Code are exempt (Sec. 253). A landlord who fails to install an alarm at move-in, or who does not install, inspect or repair one within seven days of a tenant's written request, is liable under Sec.

259; a tenant may then get a court order compelling compliance, damages, a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $100, court costs, attorney's fees, or may terminate the lease outright without going to court (Sec. 260). A tenant who removes a battery without immediately replacing it, or who knowingly disconnects or damages an alarm, faces the identical one month's rent plus $100 penalty if the landlord gave the required written lease notice and a seven-day cure notice (Sec. 2611).