Wisconsin Carbon Monoxide Law

Wisconsin carbon monoxide law, under 2009 Wisconsin Act 205, requires that any residential building have a carbon monoxide detector.

The definition of residential building includes any building used for sleeping and lodging, such as houses, apartment buildings, dormitories, jails and bed & breakfast establishments. The definition does not include hospitals or nursing homes. This is interesting as I can recall a story about a nursing home in Michigan that experienced a carbon monoxide poisoning: http://www.mcknights.com/guest-columns/carbon-monoxide-poisoning-is-entirely-preventable/article/401912/. Luckily, they had carbon monoxide detectors installed, and there were no fatalities.

Wisconsin law requires that the owner of a residential building should install a carbon monoxide alarm in the following places: the basement of a building, if the basement has a fuel-burning appliance; within 15 feet of each unit that has a fuel-burning appliance; within 15 feet of each sleeping area of a unit that is immediately adjacent to a unit that has a fuel-burning appliance; in each room that has a fuel burning appliance that is not a sleeping area; and in each hallway that leads from a unit with a fuel-burning appliance.

In addition, the owner must reasonably follow the maintenance instructions to maintain the carbon monoxide detector.

If there is a problem with the carbon monoxide detector, the tenants must notify the owner of the building in writing. The owner should respond to the maintenance or installation request within five days of receipt of the notice.

Again, these types of notification requirements seem written more to protect the landlord from liability than to save lives. If the tenant is sophisticated enough to figure out the requirement to notify the landlord in writing of a problem, five days seems like an eternity to fix something that comes with an immediate risk of death.

Tampering with a carbon monoxide device in any way is explicitly prohibited. The law does not apply to owners of residential buildings that do not use fuel-burning appliances, or that do not have an attached garage.

The Wisconsin carbon monoxide law, under 2009 Wisconsin Act 158, states that the owner of a dwelling should install a carbon monoxide detector. This law applies to every dwelling whose initial construction began before, on, or after the effective date, which was February 1, 2011.

The requirements of the law state that the owner must install a carbon monoxide detector in the basement of a dwelling and on each level except for a garage, attic, or storage area. They do not apply to units with no attached garage, no fuel-burning appliance, or no fireplace.

In summary, CO detectors are required in homes, apartment buildings, dormitories, jails and bed & breakfast establishments, but not hospitals or nursing homes.