AURORA — Colorado’s new law requiring homes to have carbon-monoxide detectors is being applied inconsistently — or not at all — by Front Range cities.
The law, which went into effect July 1, requires that all new or sold residential properties have carbon-monoxide alarms on each floor of the property. Rental units are required to add the alarms when tenants change.
But the rule lacks an enforcement clause, so how the law is applied is left up to municipalities.
Aurora recently shot down a proposal that would have required the alarms in rental properties and called for city building officials to check for the alarms when they were inside homes for any other inspection.
Aurora City Councilwoman Sue Sandstrom said she does not support enforcing the alarms for owner-occupied homes.
“I would have supported a more narrow ordinance that allowed enforcement in situations where people don’t have control of their living space, such as an (rental) apartment building,” she said. “I don’t believe single-family, owner-occupied homes are our responsibility.”
The state legislature passed the law this year after several high profile deaths due to carbon-monoxide poisoning, including a Denver family that died in a vacation home in Aspen last Thanksgiving.
Arvada informs people seeking building permits that the state requires CO detectors, said chief building official Noel Vargo.
“We tell them it’s required by the state, but we don’t tell them we’re not going to enforce it,” Vargo said.
The city, however, plans to upgrade its codes after the 2009 International Building Codes are finalized, Vargo said. The IBC, followed by most municipalities, includes the CO detector requirement.
The city of Denver requires anyone who pulls a building permit to install CO detectors.
This week, the Denver Public Safety Committee will consider an ordinance that would allow inspectors to check for the CO alarms when they are at a home to sign off on another permit.
“If any sort of permit is required, they can check to see if carbon-monoxide detectors are installed,” said Masoud Sabounchi, chairman of an advisory committee that is beefing up fire and carbon-monoxide alarm codes.
Similar to the state law, the Denver ordinance would require that the alarms be installed in rental properties when there is a change of tenant, he said.
Don Johnson of Windsor is on a quest to make sure every municipality is enforcing the law. His daughter, Lauren Johnson, a 23-year-old University of Denver graduate student, died from carbon-monoxide poisoning in her off-campus apartment Jan. 5.
“What Aurora did was help me realize my work is not done yet,” Johnson said. “We’ll continue to pursue it until the law is enforced.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
Coming codes
The 2009 International Building Codes and International Residential Codes are being drawn up now. Cities use these codes as models when they develop their own rules for construction.
The 2009 version is expected to include the requirement that carbon-monoxide alarms be installed near every sleeping area of a home, except for homes that do not have fuel-fired appliances (such as all-electric homes) and attached garages.
The code also will require that the alarms be checked when a home is being inspected inside for another reason.
