Prince George's County, MD Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Sec. 11-258 of the County Code, part of Subtitle 11's Fire Prevention Code, sets separate smoke alarm timelines for different housing types. Owners of new or existing multifamily apartment houses had to install a smoke alarm in every dwelling unit intended for residential use by July 1, 1978, unless a stricter County, State or federal deadline applied. Hotels, motels and dormitories had until July 1, 1980 to put an alarm near every sleeping area, and Sec. 11-258(b) requires at least one alarm in close proximity to the access point of each sleeping area.

Alarms may be hard-wired with a battery back-up, and Sec. 11-258(j) required all multifamily dwellings to have battery back-up smoke alarms by January 1, 2007. Maintenance is the property owner's or agent's job: Sec. 11-258(d) requires an annual inspection consistent with the manufacturer's warranty, and tenants must be given access to the maintenance schedule and instructional literature. New buildings with a required manual fire alarm system must also install a heat detector next to the smoke alarm and connect it to that system under Sec.

11-258(e). Whenever a multifamily unit changes hands by sale, lease, sublease or new tenancy, Sec. 11-258(f) makes the grantor certify to the incoming occupant, before occupancy, that all required alarms are installed and working. Sec. 11-258(g) folds in NFPA-72 as a supplemental standard. For one- and two-family homes, Sec. 11-258(h) points to Title 9 of the Public Safety Article, Annotated Code of Maryland: since July 1, 1982 the occupant of each dwelling unit has been responsible for installing and maintaining at least one approved battery-powered or AC primary electric-powered smoke alarm, and Sec. 11-258(i) puts replacement duties on the property owner once a manufacturer's specified service life expires.