(A) Hotels and motels.
(1) All hotels and motels must have functional smoke detectors.
(a) Except as provided in division (A)(1)(d) below, a detector must be installed in all interior corridors adjacent to sleeping rooms and must be spaced no further apart than 30 feet on center or more than 15 feet from any wall.
(b) The detectors must be hard-wired into a building’s electrical system, except as provided in division (A)(1)(d) below.
(c) The detectors must be wired in a manner that activates all the devices in a corridor when one is activated, except as provided in division (A)(1)(d) below.
(d) All single-level dwellings, all seasonally occupied dwellings and all hotels and motels with 12 sleeping rooms or less (and containing no interior corridors) are exempt from the requirements of divisions (A)(1)(a), (A)(1)(b) and (A)(1)(c) above. In all such units:
1. A detector must be installed in each sleeping room; and
2. The detector may be battery- operated.
(2) If a battery-operated detector is installed, it must contain a tamper-resistant cover to protect the batteries. The Fire Marshal shall adopt rules detailing the specifications for the tamper-resistant cover. If a battery-operated detector is not installed, the detector must be hard-wired into a building’s electrical system.
(B) Dwellings.
(1) A rule or an ordinance is not voided or limited by this division (B) if the rule or ordinance:
(a) Applies to an occupied dwelling; and
(b) Is at least as stringent as the requirements of this division (B).
(2) A dwelling must have at least one functional smoke detector installed as follows:
(a) According to the manufacturer’s instructions;
(b) Outside of each sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms;
(c) On the ceiling or a wall not less than four inches or more than 12 inches from the ceiling. However, a smoke detector may not be recessed into the ceiling; and
(d) On each additional story of the dwelling, including basements, cellars and habitable attics. Unless there is a door between levels in dwellings and split levels, a smoke detector must be installed only on the upper level if the lower level is less than one full story above the upper level.
(3) All smoke detectors must be:
(a) Battery-operated or hard-wired into the dwelling’s electrical system;
(b) Accessible for servicing and testing; and
(c) Maintained and at least one time every six months tested by the occupant to ensure that the smoke detector is in operational condition.
(4) Each owner of the manager or rental agent of the owner is responsible for:
(a) The installation of a required smoke detector; and
(b) The replacement and repair of a required smoke detector within seven working days after the owner, manager or rental agent is given written notification of the need to replace or repair the smoke detector.
(5) A person may not tamper with or remove a smoke detector, except when necessary for maintenance purposes.
(6) The town may adopt an ordinance concerning dwellings that:
(a) Includes more stringent or detailed requirements than those set forth herein; and
(b) Does not conflict with I.C. 22-11.
(Prior Code, § 92.03) Penalty, see § 92.99
Statutory reference:
Related provisions, see I.C. 22-11-18-3