Newark, OH Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Section 1446.20 of the Rooming House Code requires every rooming house to have smoke detectors installed and maintained in proper working order as required by Section F-404.4 of the 1990 edition of the BOCA National Fire Prevention Code, as adopted in Section 1630.01 of the Fire Prevention Code. That cross-reference is out of date on its face: the editor's note at Chapter 1630 says the chapter was repealed by Ordinance 13-16, passed July 1, 2013. The Ohio Fire Code, 2011 edition, is now the adopted fire code under Section 1610.01, which also accepts any future Fire Prevention and Inspection Code adopted by the Ohio Fire Marshal's Office unless the City repudiates or amends it. The Codified Ordinances do not reprint Section F-404.4, so the number and placement of detectors are not stated in the City's own text.

Two offices check compliance. Under Section 1610.03(a), the Bureau of Fire Prevention within the Fire Division enforces the Ohio Fire Code under the supervision of the Chief of the Fire Division, and Section 1610.03(b) lets the Chief detail Fire Division members as inspectors. The rooming house Inspector, the Director of Code Administration or a designee under Section 1446.03(b), handles the licensing inspections under Sections 1446.07(c) and 1446.09. Section 1610.10 provides that when the Ohio Fire Code conflicts with a local provision, the stricter standard controls.

Smoke detectors are one of several fire items in Chapter 1446. Section 1446.16 requires at least one fire extinguisher in the basement and on each occupied floor, with one more for each 2,000 square feet of floor area, or fraction thereof, beyond the first 2,000. Section 1446.17 requires illuminated exit signs where ten or more people are lodged. Section 1446.18 requires bedfast or handicapped persons to be lodged on the first floor, with a list given to the Fire Division every six months.