(A) Purpose. The purpose of these regulations is to provide minimum standards to safeguard human life and residential use occupancies through the requirement of automatic smoke detection devices. These regulations endeavor to relieve confusion between the consolidate residential requirements in the Uniform Building Code, NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, and the Illinois Smoke Detector Act, ILCS Ch. 425, Act 60, § 1 et seq.
(B) Scope. The provisions of these regulations shall apply to all residential uses including single-family, duplex, multifamily, and mixed uses with residential occupancies within the limits of the city. These regulations do not prescribe standards for lodging, motel, hotel, inns, bed and breakfast establishments or other such quasi-residential occupancies for which more restrictive standards exist in the Uniform Building Code, NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, the Galena Code of Ordinances or any statute of the state.
(C) Definitions. For the purpose of these regulations, certain terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall be construed as specified in either this section or as specified in the Uniform Building Code.
(1)
APPROVED SMOKE DETECTOR. A photo electric ionization or other type device listed by an approved testing agency such as Underwriters Laboratories for Smoke Detection use and approved by the authority having jurisdiction.
(2)
AUTHORITY HAVING JURISDICTION. Building Inspector, Fire Inspector or other person duly authorized to enforce construction and fire codes or ordinances of the city.
(3)
DWELLING UNIT. A room or suite of rooms used for human habitation and any building or portion thereof which contains residential living facilities, including provisions for sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation and includes single-family owner or tenant occupied residences as well as each living unit of a multiple family residence and each residential living unit in a mixed use building.
(4)
SUBSTANTIAL REMODELING. A construction project in excess of $5,000, as determined by the authority having jurisdiction, in which repairs, alterations or additions such as one of the following is being completed:
(a) Complete electrical rewire.
(b) Removal of existing interior plaster or drywall or rearrangement of partitions where studs or joists of the building accessible to wiring as determined by the authority having jurisdiction, are exposed.
(c) Construction of an enclosed addition of over 200 square feet in area.
(d) Finishing of unfinished space or conversion of space greater than 200 square feet to dwelling use (does not include construction of open decks, porches, detached garages, reroofing, siding or replacement of fixtures or cabinets without opening walls).
(D) Requirements.
(1) Location. Each dwelling unit shall be equipped with at least one approved smoke detector within 15 feet of each room used for sleeping purposes. The detector shall be installed on the ceiling, at least six inches from any wall, or on the wall located between four and six inches from the ceiling.
(2) Single-family. Every single-family residence shall have at least one approved smoke detector on every story of the dwelling unit, including basements, but not including unoccupied attics. In dwelling units constructed with cathedral type ceilings adjacent to sleeping rooms, areas with lower ceilings shall have an additional smoke detector located in the uppermost portion of the taller ceiling.
(3) Two or more units. Every building which contains more than one dwelling unit, or contains at least one dwelling unit and is a mixed use building, shall have at least one approved smoke detector located at the uppermost ceiling of each interior common stair well and each interior common hallway corridor. The smoke detector shall be installed on the ceiling at least six inches from the wall, or on the wall located between four and six inches from the ceiling.
(4) Responsibilities defined. It shall be the responsibility of the owner of a building containing any residential dwelling units to supply and install all required smoke detectors. The owner shall be responsible for making tests and maintaining detectors in common stairwells and hallway corridors. It shall be the responsibility of the tenant to test and provide care for the detectors within the tenant's dwelling unit, and to notify the owner or the authorized agent of the owner in writing of any deficiencies which the tenant cannot correct. The owner shall be responsible for providing one tenant per dwelling unit with written information regarding detector testing and care. The tenant shall be responsible for replacement of any required batteries in the smoke detectors in the tenant's dwelling unit. The tenant shall be responsible to maintain without interruption, electrical power to all smoke detectors that receive their principal source of power from the household electrical system. The owner shall insure that required batteries are in operating condition at the time the tenant takes possession of the dwelling unit. The tenant shall provide the owner or the authorized agent of the owner with access to the dwelling unit to correct any deficiencies in the smoke detector which may have been reported.
(5) New construction and remodeling. In the case of any dwelling unit that is newly constructed or created or is undergoing “substantial remodeling” as defined herein, or when one or more sleeping rooms are added or created, smoke detectors installed shall meet the following requirements:
(a) Smoke detectors shall receive their principal source of power from the household electrical system (commonly known as “hardwired”) and shall be equipped with battery back up power. The detector shall emit a signal when the batteries are low. Wiring shall be permanent, shall meet or exceed the standards in the National Electrical Code, and shall be without a disconnecting switch other than those required for overcurrent protection.
(b) Smoke detectors shall be installed in each sleeping room, and at a point centrally located in a corridor or area giving access to each separate sleeping area, and at least one on each story including the basement but not including unoccupied attics.
(c) Where more than one smoke detector is required to be installed within a dwelling unit, the smoke detector shall be wired so that the activation of one detector shall activate all the other detectors in the dwelling unit except that in substantial remodeling projects, the bedroom smoke detectors may be single station.
(d) In buildings with residential occupancies three or more stories in height or containing 11 or more dwelling units, a manual fire alarm system as well as an automatic smoke detection system shall be required except that the manual fire alarm system may be omitted when the building is protected throughout by an automatic sprinkler system approved by the Fire Prevention Bureau.
(6) Requirements. Where the authority having jurisdiction has discovered that an existing building or portion thereof does not meet the requirements of these regulations for such building, a notice of violation shall be served upon the person or persons responsible and the building shall be made to conform to division (D)(5) above of these regulations.
(7) Enforcement. It shall be the duty of the authority having jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of these regulations.
(8) Notice. Violations discovered shall be disclosed and served upon the owner of the building or the authorized agent of the owner or tenant, in writing, by certified mail or hand delivered.
(9) Appeal. Enforcement decisions under this chapter may be appealed to the Building Code Board of Appeals. Appeal procedures shall follow those prescribed in the International Building and Residential Codes and the International Property Maintenance Code.
('69 Code, § 5-6(h)) (Ord. O-69-4, passed 5-20-69; Am. Ord. O-92-09, passed 5-11-92; Am. Ord. O-93-24, passed 2-22-93; Am. Ord. O-94-13, passed 7-13-94; Am. Ord. O-04-30, passed 12-13-04; Am. Ord. O-05-02, passed 2-28-05) Penalty, see § 150.99