§ 1601-7. Early Fire Warning System.
(a)
The owner or person in control of a building shall install and maintain an early fire warning system outside of each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the sleeping areas in each living unit. Each of these detectors shall be audible in each adjacent, separate sleeping area in each living unit when all intervening doors are closed and all household equipment that may be in operation at night are in full operation. An early fire warning system shall also be placed, and maintained, on each additional story without a sleeping area, including basements or cellars but excluding crawl spaces and unfinished attics.
(b)
An owner or person in control may not permit a building or dwelling unit to be occupied without an approved and properly operating detector.
(c)
No person shall occupy a living unit without an approved and operating detector.
(d)
In any residential building in which the owner or person in control is required to have an early fire warning system it shall be the responsibility of the tenant to:
(1)
Replace an expired battery with a working battery in all detectors within the living unit when a monthly test or supervisory signal indicates the need for replacement.
(2)
Notify the owner or person in control and the Cincinnati Fire Department of an inoperative detector within 24 hours of learning of the inoperative status of the detector. This subsection does not require notice when the only inoperative item is a battery of a detector located within a living unit.
(3)
Test, upon initial occupancy and once a month thereafter, each detector with an exterior test device within the tenant's living unit.
(e)
In any residential building in which the owner or person in control is required to have an early fire warning system it shall be the responsibility for the owner to:
(1)
Replace an expired battery with a working battery in all detectors in common areas when a monthly test or supervisory signal indicates the need for replacement.
(2)
Test each common area detector at least once a month to ensure that each detector battery is operational.
(3)
Properly repair or replace an inoperative detector within 24 hours of learning of the inoperative status of a detector.
(4)
Test, upon purchase of the building and once a month thereafter, each detector with an exterior test device within common areas.
(5)
Test each detector in each dwelling unit upon the execution of a new lease or the renewal of a lease. At a minimum, the owner shall test each detector at least once every twelve (12) months.
(6)
Replace all detectors once every ten (10) years.
(7)
The owner shall fill out a City-issued form documenting each test or replacement of a detector.
(f)
Within one hundred eighty (180) days of the effective date of this ordinance, or in the event a new tenant moves into a living unit, whichever is earlier, the owner or person in control of any residential rental property with twelve (12) or fewer living units:
(1)
Shall install photoelectric detectors outside of each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the sleeping areas in each living unit.
(2)
May install an ionization detector in the immediate vicinity of the kitchen area of each living unit.
(g)
Within seven hundred thirty (730) days of the effective date of this ordinance, or in the event a new tenant moves into a living unit, whichever is earlier, the owner or person in control of any residential rental property with thirteen (13) or greater living units:
(1)
Shall install photoelectric detectors outside of each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the sleeping areas in each living unit.
(2)
May install an ionization detector in the immediate vicinity of the kitchen area of each living unit.
Whoever violates this section is guilty of a first degree misdemeanor.
Whoever destroys, disconnects, or tampers with a detector shall be liable for a Class B Civil Fine.
(Ordained by Ord. No. 158-2006, § 1, eff. June 1, 2006; a. Ord. No. 418-2010, § 41, eff. Nov. 24, 2010; Emer. Ord. No. 045-2013, § 1, eff. Feb. 27, 2013)