Rock Hill, SC Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

City Code § 10-602 lists 'Smoke alarms' among the violation categories that apply to every residential rental unit registered under Chapter 10, Article X, Registration of Residential Rental Units. The provision requires the alarm to be provided in each area where required, in working order, and not past the manufacturer ten-year expiration date. The rule sits inside the rental registration article adopted by Ordinance No. 2023-12 on February 27, 2023, and runs through the same audit-based inspection system that governs the rest of the article: units are entered into the audit queue when a tenant vacates, under § 10-607, and inspected before a new tenant moves in if city resources permit.

A smoke-alarm failure is treated seriously. Under § 10-608(b), violations involving 'fire protection systems' trigger a ten-day notice of violation, and the unit is determined 'unfit for human habitation' and ordered vacated if the problem is not fixed within ten days. Section 10-611(b)(1) goes further for landlords with a pattern of problems: a 'major fire violation in a unit (such as faulty electrical wiring or no smoke detectors)' puts every unit that owner manages under 12 consecutive months of mandatory inspections before any of them can be re-occupied.

The rule reaches registered rental housing, not owner-occupied homes, which fall under the separately adopted state building code. Public housing units must register but § 10-605(b) exempts them from the inspection requirements specifically.