What you need to know about carbon monoxide detectors
Information for tenants and landlords
Q: The Rental Guide on holiday safety was informative, but it should have included reference to carbon monoxide detectors, which are now required by law, in the section dealing with smoke detectors.
A: Carbon monoxide (CO) detectors are indeed required by law in many homes and rental units in Ontario, but not in all homes or in all rental units.
Under provincial law, all residential buildings require one or more CSA-approved carbon monoxide detectors if the building contains a fireplace, an attached garage intended for the parking or storage of motor vehicles, or any kind of fuel-burning appliance. Fuel-burning appliances include oil- or gas-burning furnaces, wood- or gas-burning stoves or clothes dryers, gas-powered refrigerators, gasoline or diesel engines or kerosene heaters.
When there is a fuel-burning appliance or fireplace in a dwelling unit itself, a detector must be installed in the dwelling adjacent to each sleeping area.
If a fuel-burning appliance is located in a building service room, a detector must be installed in the service room AND adjacent to each sleeping area in all suites that have a common wall or floor/ceiling assembly with the service room.
If there is a garage in the building, a detector must be installed adjacent to each sleeping area in all suites that have a common wall or floor/ceiling assembly with the garage.
If there are bedrooms in two different areas, such as both upstairs and in the basement, then an alarm is required adjacent to each sleeping area. The alarm must make sufficient noise to wake people throughout the sleeping area even though any doors in the sleeping area are closed.
The alarm is to be “mechanically fixed, attached, plugged in or placed at the manufacturer’s recommended height or, if the manufacturer has not recommended a height, on or near the ceiling.” Different heights will work because carbon monoxide is very close in weight to ordinary air.
The CO alarm should not be in a corner or hidden behind furniture or drapes. Ideally, the alarm should be between the fuel burning appliance and the sleeping area. CO alarms shall: be permanently connected to an electrical circuit with no disconnect switch between the over-current device and the carbon monoxide alarm, be battery-operated, OR be plugged into an electrical receptacle.
Landlords are required to test CO alarms (and smoke alarms) in rental units: annually when the battery is replaced when changes are made to the electric circuit, and when a new tenant moves in. The required test is to activate the alarm testing feature.
The landlord is required to provide the CO detector (and smoke alarm) maintenance instructions to the tenant. To do that, the landlord should provide the tenant a copy of the instructions so that the landlord keeps the original instructions to make further copies for future tenants.
On their part, tenants are required to notify the landlord if a CO alarm or smoke alarm is inoperable. Tenants are prohibited from disabling CO alarms or smoke alarms. CO alarms do not function as smoke detectors, nor vice versa, but some devices are now designed to function as both alarms.