Kalamazoo, MI Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Section 17-48 adopts eight full chapters of the International Property Maintenance Code, current edition, covering definitions, general requirements, light/ventilation/occupancy limits, plumbing, mechanical and electrical requirements, fire safety, and referenced standards, as the residential property maintenance standard for Chapter 17. Subsection A then adds Kalamazoo-specific requirements on top of the IPMC. Every dwelling unit, condominium, hotel, motel, fraternity or sorority house, group home and rooming-house guestroom must have a portable fire extinguisher, at least IAIOBC type as the code prints it, mounted on a wall in a visible, accessible path of egress, and replaced every three years or per the manufacturer's recommendation.

Security rules require door viewers where there is no other way to see who is at the door, self-closing dead-latch hardware on common exterior doors, non-removable hinge pins on out-swing exit doors, secondary locks on ground-floor sliding patio doors, exterior lighting at every ground-level exit, window locks on operable sashes reachable from the first three floors or an adjoining roof, quick-release security grilles, and a ban on hasp locks and padlocks in areas occupied by residents. Kitchens must have cleanable, water-resistant, stain-resistant flooring that is not carpet.

Habitable rooms need two duplex outlets plus a light fixture, or three duplex outlets, and hallways and stairways leading to habitable space need three-way switching. Screens are required on all operable windows and required ventilation doors between April 15 and October 31 each year. Subsection C deletes IPMC § 302.4 on weeds, which Chapter 22, Nuisances, covers instead.