Palm Coast, FL Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Section 15-136(b), part of the fire protection systems requirements adopted with the Property Maintenance Code under Ordinance No. 2010-02 on March 2, 2010, mandates single- or multiple-station smoke alarms in Groups R-2, R-3, and R-4 occupancies, as well as in dwellings that are not regulated as Group R occupancies, regardless of how many occupants live there. The alarms must be installed in three specific locations: on the ceiling or wall just outside each separate sleeping area, in every room used for sleeping, and on every story of the dwelling unit, including basements and cellars, though crawl spaces and uninhabitable attics are excluded.

For split-level units without a door between the adjacent levels, a single alarm on the upper level can cover the lower level if that lower level sits less than one full story below. Section 15-136(d) further requires that, where wiring is available from a commercial power source, alarms draw their primary power from the building wiring with a battery backup, and Section 15-136(e) requires interconnection so that one triggered alarm sounds every alarm in the unit, loud enough to be heard in every bedroom with doors closed.

Buildings without commercial wiring, or existing finished areas not undergoing alteration, can use battery-only alarms instead. This sits inside the City's adopted Property Maintenance Code, which applies to every residential structure inside Palm Coast regardless of when it was built, unlike the carbon monoxide rule in the same section, which only reaches homes built after July 1, 2008.