Building owners are required to install carbon monoxide detectors (alarms) in:
- All new and existing one- and two-family homes
- Apartment buildings
- Hotels, motels, and lodging or rooming houses
- Apartment hotels, school dormitories, single room occupancy hotels, and welfare houses
- Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, old age homes, and nurseries
- Schools, academies, libraries, and colleges
For multiple dwellings and one- and two-family homes, you must install detectors within 15 feet of the primary entrance to each sleeping room.
To report a broken or missing carbon monoxide detector in a rental unit, use the Apartment Maintenance Complaint page.
You may not be able to get a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy or a final Certificate of Occupancy until detectors are properly in place.
Carbon monoxide detectors are required to be replaced as their useful life expires, according to the manufacturer's instructions and based on the original date of installation. The replacement device must be a model that has an end-of-life alarm.
While owners are required to install and replace carbon monoxide detectors, tenants are responsible for maintaining them and changing the batteries. Tenants must pay the owner $25 when the owner installs a new carbon monoxide detector, replaces a carbon monoxide detector that has reached the end of its useful life, or replaces one that the tenant lost or damaged. Tenants have up to 1 year to make the payment.
Co-ops and Condos
For owner-occupied co-ops and condos, the board and the shareholders must decide who is responsible for installing carbon monoxide detectors.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Tenants
Tell your landlord if you are a deaf or hard of hearing tenant who cannot hear sounds from a standard carbon monoxide or smoke detector. The landlord is required to install a detector that fits your needs. Usually, these detectors have a strobe light and must be hardwired into the building's electrical system.
Exempt Buildings
If your building has no fossil fuel burning furnaces or boilers, some units may be exempt from carbon monoxide rules. Additional information is available on the Department of Buildings website.
Visit the DOB website.
Installation by Tenant
Owners are required to provide and install at least one carbon monoxide detector in each apartment. Tenants can install a carbon monoxide detector, but they need to have an agreement with the owner to do it. This agreement should provide the owner access to the apartment to confirm the device is approved, installed properly, and working. If the tenant and landlord have such an agreement, the tenant does not have to pay the $25.
Non-Residential and Commercial Buildings
There is no requirement to install carbon monoxide detectors in commercial buildings, unless they are mixed with residential units. If there are residential units, these units need to have detectors.
Learn more about carbon monoxide detectors and regulations.
