Harrisburg, PA Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Harrisburg adopted the International Fire Code, 2003 edition, in Chapter 3-901 and then replaced the model smoke detector language with its own section 907.2.10.5, printed in § 3-901.3. Subsection (a) puts at least one early fire detection device in each sleeping area of any building used for residential occupancy, and the list runs from single-family dwellings through boardinghouses, rooming houses, bed-and-breakfast homes, dormitories, hotels and motels. Under subsection (d), bedrooms separated by kitchens, living rooms or dining rooms count as separate sleeping areas, so each one needs its own detector.

Additional detectors depend on the building type. A multifamily apartment house of three to five units adds a detector in the cellar or basement and on every floor of the structure. An apartment house with more than five units, and every boardinghouse, lodging house, rooming house, bed-and-breakfast home, tourist home, dormitory, hotel, motel and residence building, needs detectors in the cellar or basement and in the common areas on every floor, interconnected so that each one sounds when any one is activated.

Responsibility is split. Subsection (f) makes the owner, agent or other controlling party install detectors in each new and existing occupied unit, and subsection (g) makes the tenant or occupant maintain them by replacing batteries or keeping them connected to an electrical source. Each detector must be certified by a nationally recognized agency such as Underwriters' Laboratories. New dwelling units must be hard-wired, existing units prefer hard-wiring but accept a monitored battery supply, and any permanent wiring needs an electrical permit and inspector approval. An approved fire detection system can replace stand-alone units with a permit from the Bureau of Fire or Codes Enforcement. At every sale, lease or sublease, subsection (j) requires the seller, lessor or sublessor to certify to the new occupant, before occupancy, that all required detectors are installed and working.