Sheboygan, WI Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Section 50-663 sets the reach: any building, regardless of date of construction, that is used for sleeping or lodging purposes is covered, including buildings with dwelling units, hotels and motels, mobile homes, manufactured housing, nursing and convalescent homes, halfway houses, roominghouses and CBRFs.

Section 50-664(a) covers owner-occupied single-family dwellings, which must comply with ILHR 28 of the Wis. Admin. Code and the uniform dwelling code as adopted by the city. The owner installs and maintains a minimum of one functional smoke detector in the basement and on each floor level, located to protect sleeping areas. Those detectors must be continuously powered by the house electrical service and interconnected so that one activating sets off all, and they cannot be installed in kitchens.

Section 50-664(b) covers a multifamily dwelling constructed after April 1, 1995, or an addition to one, which must meet ILHR 66 of the Wis. Admin. Code. A detector is required in the basement, at the head of every open stairway, at the door on each floor level leading to every enclosed stairway, and either in each sleeping area of each dwelling unit or elsewhere in the unit within six feet from the doorway of each sleeping area, but not in a kitchen. Detectors must be directly and permanently wired to an unswitched circuit with a backup power source.

Section 50-664(c) covers every other building described in section 50-663. It requires at least one detector on each floor level including the basement, and where a bedroom opens directly off a kitchen, a detector on that bedroom's ceiling within five feet of the door. Every stairway needs a detector at its head. In buildings with a common hallway, detectors in hallways, stairways and basements form an interconnected system, spaced not more than 30 feet apart with none more than 15 feet from any wall.