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(a) Whenever any material is regulated by this chapter as to flamespread, combustibility, flammability, smoke contribution, fuel contribution, flash point, toxicity, reliability or safety, it shall be the duty of the manufacturer, seller or distributor to provide such data, specifications, certification or samples as may be required to establish that the material is in conformance with the requirements of this chapter. Whenever such materials are kept, stored, installed or used in any building it shall be the duty of the owner to maintain such records of data, specification or certification, and to provide when requested samples for accepted field testing, to establish that the materials are kept, stored, installed or used in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
(b) Whenever the Director shall find any material which is regulated by this chapter as to flamespread, combustibility, flammability, smoke contribution, fuel contribution, flash point, toxicity, reliability or safety, but for which there is insufficient information provided to establish that such material is in compliance with this chapter, he shall order the material to be removed, replaced or otherwise protected in an acceptable manner. (1975 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 1.)
(a) Requirement: It shall be the responsibility of the owner of each new and existing occupied dwelling unit to install smoke detectors in each such dwelling unit as hereinafter provided. Said smoke detectors shall be either the ionization or photo-electric type capable of sensing visible or invisible particles of combustion and providing a suitable audible alarm thereof; further, they shall be installed by July 1, 1978, in the manner hereinafter provided (unless any other provision of county, state or federal law shall require installation before the date.) Failure to install smoke detectors as and where required by said date will subject the property owner to the penalties set forth in section 22-22.
(b) Location:
(1) At least one (1) smoke detector shall be installed to protect each sleeping area. A sleeping area is defined as the area or areas of the family living unit in which the bedrooms (or sleeping rooms) are located. Where bedrooms or rooms ordinarily used for sleeping are separated by other-use areas (such as kitchens or living rooms, but not bathrooms or closets), they shall be considered as separate sleeping areas for the purposes of this section.
(2) At least one (1) smoke detector shall be installed in or near each stairway leading to an occupied area in such a manner as to assure that rising smoke is not obstructed in reaching the detector and that rising smoke cannot effectively bypass the detector before it reaches the occupied area.
(3) The Director may grant exceptions to subsections (1) and (2) including, but not limited to, installation of smoke detectors on every level of the home.
(4) Smoke detectors installed or in the process of installation in compliance with subsection (b)(2) of this section prior to the effective date of these amendments shall be deemed to have complied with this chapter.
(c) Alternative: Where smoke detectors are installed as part of an approved fire detection system, the requirements for single-station smoke detectors may be set aside. An approved system shall be defined as a combination of devices that meets the requirements of this section and is installed in accordance with National Fire Protection Association Standard 74.
(d) Equipment: All devices, combinations of devices and equipment required herein are to be installed in conformance with the building code and this section, and approved by the Montgomery County department of Permitting services and listed by said department for the purpose for which they are intended; said list may be subsequently amended by the department of Permitting services as necessary. Such approval is permanent unless the Director subsequently finds that the equipment is hazardous, unreliable or otherwise detrimental to public health or safety, in which case, the Director may suspend or revoke approval. The Director may in any such case determine whether replacement of existing installation is required. Transfer to the inactive list does not affect equipment approval.
(e) Installation: In new residential dwellings, single-station smoke detectors shall be wired directly (hard-wired) to the building’s power supply. In existing dwellings within multi- family buildings of ten (10) units or more, the detectors shall meet the multi-family building power source requirements of state law, or in the absence of state law, the requirements hereunder covering other existing dwellings. In other existing dwellings, it is preferred that single-station smoke detectors be wired directly to the power supply; however, said detectors may be powered by self-monitored battery or operated in a plug- in outlet which is fitted with a plug restrainer device, provided the outlet is not controlled by any switch other than the main power supply.
(f) Change in occupancy: After July 1, 1978, at every change of occupancy of every dwelling unit occasioned by or incidental to a sale, lease or sublease of said unit, it shall be the duty of the grantor thereof (i.e., the seller, lessor or sublessor, as the case may be) to provide before occupancy all smoke detectors as required by this section (or other applicable laws) in proper working condition. Failure to comply with this subsection shall be punishable as set forth herein; provided, however, that this subsection shall not be construed to vitiate or render void any contract, lease or sublease subject hereto.
(g) Permits and fees: No smoke detector or alternative system may be directly connected (permanently wired) to the electrical system of the structure unless an electrical permit is first obtained from the Department of Permitting Services or the municipal electrical permit authority having jurisdiction. The County Executive may adopt, under method (3), a fee schedule for the issuance of a permit which must not exceed the cost of administration of this section and may waive, partially or wholly, the fee requirement or issue multiple permits after payment of a single fee.
(h) Supplemental standards: This section is intended to be used with and supplemented by the applicable provisions of the NFPA Standards 72-E and 74, 1974 Editions, which are hereby incorporated herein; however, if there shall be any conflict between this statute and the said supplemental standards, this statute and any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto shall prevail. (1977 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 23; 1984 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 18; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 14, § 2; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 30, §1.)
Cross reference-Housing code provisions for smoke detectors, § 26-21.
(a) The owner of any structure presently existing or constructed in the future must display Arabic numbers designating the address assigned to the structure by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, or by the municipality in which the structure is located. Numbers must be at least five (5) inches high for single-family detached and attached residences and at least six (6) inches high for commercial, industrial or multifamily structures. However, if the numbers designating the address of a single-family residence on April 5, 1988, were at least three (3) inches high, those numbers comply with the size requirement of this section as long as they remain in place. Address displays must be posted on a contrasting background displayed in a conspicuous place that is unobstructed and clearly readable from the street named in the official address of the structure. Where a structure has more than one (1) address or where more than one (1) structure shares a common entry or driveway, numbers must designate the addresses in sequence.
(b) An agency of the county must not require a permit for a sign containing only the address of a residence if the sign is smaller than a maximum size set by the County Executive by regulation.
(c) When a street sign is replaced or a new sign installed, the County Executive must cause the address range of each street to be displayed on each street name sign the county erects or maintains. (1982 L.M.C., ch. 30, § 1; 1988 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1.)
Editor’s note-Section 2 of 1988 L.M.C., ch. 33, reads as follows: "Until June 1, 1989, section 22-97(a), as amended by section 1, does not apply to any single-family residence occupied before this act takes effect."
(a) A person must not make or enforce any deed restriction, covenant, rule, or regulation, or take any other action, that would require the owner of any building to install any roof material that does not have a class A rating, or an equivalent rating that indicates the highest level of fire protection, issued by a nationally recognized independent testing organization.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) A person includes a homeowners’ association as defined in section 24B-1.
(2) The owner of any building includes a unit owner in a condominium, a lot owner in a homeowners’ association, and a shareholder in a cooperative housing corporation.
(c) This section applies to all deed restrictions, covenants, rules, and regulations adopted before and after this section became law [March 9 1989]. (1989 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 1.)
Editor’s note—Section 22-98 is cited in Reiner v. Ehrlich, 212 Md. App. 142, 66 A.3d 1132 (2013).