Spotsylvania County, VA Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Article V of Chapter 9 fills a gap left by the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, which only mandates smoke detectors in buildings constructed after its adoption. Sec. 9-109 extends the requirement backward, covering any building containing one or more dwelling units and any hotel, motel, rooming house, group home or dormitory that predates the USBC. Sec. 9-110 specifies that every detector installed under the article must sense visible products of combustion, sound an audible alarm, and carry Underwriters Laboratories listing. Sec. 9-111 required existing buildings to install detectors within ninety days of the ordinance's adoption in November 2001, following the placement locations set by the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, and required an electrical permit for any detector wired to alternating current.

Sec. 9-112 places ongoing maintenance duties on owners of multi-family buildings: they must install and maintain detectors adjacent to sleeping areas and in enclosed public hallways, and furnish each tenant, at the start of the tenancy and at least annually afterward, a written certificate that all required detectors are present, inspected and working. 13. The chief of fire, rescue and emergency management administers and enforces the entire article under Sec. 9-107.