(a) The installation of a minimum of one smoke detector shall be required at each level, including basements, in all new single, two and three-family residential dwellings constructed subsequent to the effective date of this section. As an alternative to a smoke detector, an approved fire detection system may be installed. Each such fire detection system must be individually approved and a permit issued therefore by the Fire Department.
(b) In existing single and two-family dwelling structures which have basements, an additional smoke detector shall be installed. In existing construction, approved smoke detectors powered by batteries may be used. All existing single and two-family dwelling structures shall have installed therein a minimum of one smoke detector per dwelling unit or an acceptable alternative approved as provided in subsection (a) hereof.
(c) The smoke detector shall be mounted on the ceiling, or on a wall not more than twelve inches from the ceiling, at a point centrally located in a corridor or area giving access to rooms used for sleeping purposes. In an efficiency dwelling unit the detector shall be centrally located on the ceiling of the main room. Where sleeping rooms are on an upper level, the detector shall be placed at the center of the ceiling directly above the stairway. Care should be exercised to insure that the installation will not interfere with the operating characteristics of the detector. When activated, the detector shall provide an audible alarm in the dwelling unit. Smoke detectors with D.C. power supply only are permitted, as are detectors which A.C. power supply backed up by a secondary supply which is D.C. All D.C. powered detectors shall have built-in protection to warn of battery failure. Where more than one detector is required to be installed within an individual dwelling unit, the detectors shall be wired in such a manner that the actuation of one detector will actuate all the detectors in the individual unit.
(d) Whenever an existing smoke detector is replaced or a new smoke detector is installed throughout 1994, in either an apartment house or an apartment, as those terms are defined in Chapter 1321 of the Planning and Zoning Code, the new smoke detector shall comply fully with all existing or future State or local regulations which may be applicable. However, no later than January 1, 1995, all smoke detectors installed or in use in either an apartment house or an apartment, as those terms are defined in Chapter 1321, shall be, without exception, designed in such a manner as to allow for the accessible and easy mechanical testing of the functioning and operation of the device. (Ord. 2010-20. Passed 4-14-10.)