Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors in Rentals: Who Is Responsible?

Your landlord must install smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms where state or local law requires them, and make sure they work when you move in; in California, the landlord must also fix an alarm after you report a problem. Who tests the alarms and changes the batteries during your lease depends on where you live: Illinois, Washington, and New York City put those jobs on you, Texas landlords do not have to supply batteries after move-in, and California keeps testing and maintenance with the landlord. CO alarm rules in California and New York City cover homes with fuel-burning appliances or an attached garage, while Illinois requires a CO alarm in every unit except in buildings that burn no fossil fuel, have no garage connection, and are not near another CO source.

Who installs, tests, and changes the batteries?

In Illinois, a newly installed battery-powered smoke alarm must have a sealed, long-term battery, and an older battery alarm must be replaced with that type once it is more than 10 years old or stops working. Starting January 1, 2027, New York City also requires natural gas detectors in buildings with gas piping.

If you rent with a Housing Choice Voucher or live in public housing or other HUD-assisted housing, a 2020 federal law requires CO alarms or detectors that meet the 2018 International Fire Code for the conditions listed below. HUD has enforced it since December 27, 2022, and in voucher units the landlord pays for the alarms.

Whoever is responsible, the U.S. Fire Administration recommends testing smoke alarms every month, replacing 9-volt batteries at least once a year, and replacing the whole alarm 10 years after its manufacture date. An alarm with a sealed 10-year battery is replaced as a unit, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Which rentals need carbon monoxide alarms?

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas produced when fuel burns incompletely in furnaces, gas ranges, fireplaces, vehicles, and other equipment. Requirements depend on the building:

• California: any unit with an appliance that burns natural gas, propane, fuel oil, or another fossil fuel, such as a water heater, heater, or stove, a fireplace, or an attached garage.
• Illinois: every unit, with an alarm within 15 feet of each room used for sleeping, unless the building burns no fossil fuel for heat, ventilation, or hot water, is not connected to a garage, and is not close enough to another CO source to be at risk, as the local building commissioner decides.
• New York City: each apartment in a building with gas- or oil-burning equipment, with an alarm within 15 feet of the main entrance to each bedroom. A building without fuel-burning equipment but with attached enclosed parking needs alarms on the parking floors and the floors directly above and below.
• HUD-assisted housing: units with fuel-burning appliances or fireplaces, units served through air ducts by a fuel-burning furnace outside the apartment, and units with openings that let air pass from fuel-burning equipment elsewhere in the building; attached private garages can also require detection. The code permits specified detector locations outside the apartment instead of in-unit alarms in some of these cases.
• Texas: the landlord-tenant chapter of the Property Code sets detailed smoke alarm rules but does not address CO alarms, so ask your city's fire marshal or code office whether a local code requires one.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends CO alarms on every level of the home and outside sleeping areas, and not in kitchens or above fuel-burning appliances.

What happens if you disable an alarm?

Removing a battery or disconnecting an alarm can cost you money or bring criminal charges:

• Texas: you are liable for the landlord's damages if you remove a battery without immediately replacing it with a working one, or knowingly disconnect or intentionally damage an alarm. If your lease warns about this in underlined or bold print, and you do not fix the alarm within 7 days after a separate written notice from the landlord, Texas Property Code section 92.2611 also allows a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $100, court costs, and attorney's fees. You are not liable for damage caused by the landlord's failure to repair the alarm within a reasonable time after you asked.
• Illinois: tampering with a CO alarm, disconnecting it, or removing its batteries, except during inspection, maintenance, or replacement, is a Class A misdemeanor for a first conviction and a felony after that.
• Washington: a tenant who fails to maintain a smoke alarm can be fined up to $200.
• New York City: you must replace an alarm that goes missing or stops working during your tenancy, and pay the owner for a replacement it installs because of your failure to maintain one.

If cooking or shower steam sets off a smoke alarm, the U.S. Fire Administration says to open a window or door, press the hush button, and wave a towel at the alarm instead of removing the battery. If it keeps happening, ask the landlord to move the alarm farther from the kitchen or bathroom.

What to do if your alarm is missing, broken, or chirping

1. Test it. Press the test button. If the alarm signals a low battery and batteries are your job, replace them right away with the type the alarm requires. Check the manufacture date printed on the alarm, and ask the landlord to replace any smoke alarm more than 10 years old.
2. Report the problem in writing. In California, the landlord must fix a smoke alarm problem you report but is not in violation for a broken alarm it was never told about. Illinois requires written notice of any problem you cannot fix yourself. In Texas, a written lease can require your first request to be in writing.
3. Let the landlord in. In California, the landlord may enter to install, repair, or test alarms during normal business hours after reasonable written notice, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable.
4. Use your state's remedies if nothing happens. Under Texas Property Code sections 92.259 and 92.260, if the landlord does not install, inspect, or repair the alarm within 7 days after a written notice saying you may use your remedies, you can ask a court to order the repair, sue for your damages and a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $100, recover court costs and attorney's fees, or end the lease without going to court. The landlord has a defense if you were behind on rent when you sent the notice. It also has a defense if, when you sue or end the lease, you have not fully paid reasonable repair or replacement costs it requested for damage or malfunctions caused by you, your family, or guests. Elsewhere, contact your local fire department or code enforcement office, and voucher holders should also tell their housing agency.
5. Protect yourself in the meantime. The U.S. Fire Administration says basic alarms cost $6 and up, and some fire departments give out or install battery-operated alarms for free.

For how to word and send the notice, see how to report maintenance issues. A missing alarm can also be a habitability problem; see your right to a habitable home.

If a carbon monoxide alarm goes off

Early CO poisoning feels like the flu without a fever, with headache, tiredness, shortness of breath, nausea, and dizziness. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that when a CO alarm sounds, you should:

1. Move outside to fresh air immediately.
2. Call 911 or the fire department.
3. Stay out until emergency responders say you can go back in, and do not search for the source yourself.
4. If the alarm sounds again within 24 hours, repeat these steps and have a qualified technician inspect all fuel-burning equipment.

Then tell the landlord in writing, and see our guides to emergency repairs and HVAC maintenance for getting heating equipment fixed. HUD's guidance also warns against using a gas stove or oven for heat, using a fuel-burning space heater that is not vented outdoors, running a generator indoors, or leaving a car running in an attached garage. For other fire safety rules, see our guide to fire safety in your rental.