Kent County, DE Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Chapter 90 of the Kent County Code, amended October 14, 2025 by Ord. No. 25-20, singles out smoke detectors as their own violation category. A(5) reads simply: "Smoke detectors: Lack of required operating smoke detectors," and Subsection A gives that category, along with safety, health, unpermitted-structure, hazardous-condition and mechanical-equipment violations, only 48 hours to comply once cited. The complaint-to-correction path runs through § 90-2: an Enforcement Constable or County designee inspects the property, posts it citing the violation and the 48-hour window, and hand-delivers a correction order to the responsible party if available; if personal contact cannot be made, a letter of violation is mailed instead.

F checks whether the detector has been installed or repaired, or whether an extension is warranted. B strips repeat offenders of any grace period, a property previously cited for the same smoke-detector violation gets no additional 48-hour window on a later offense of the same nature. Chapter 90 does not itself specify where in a dwelling smoke detectors must be installed; it only sets the enforcement deadline once a lack of "required" detectors is cited, referring back to whatever building or fire code requirement created that obligation in the first place.