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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6580 (File 354, as amended by House “A”)*
AN ACT REVISING CERTAIN CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
RELATED TO SMOKE AND CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS IN
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS.
SUMMARY
This bill makes several changes in a smoke and carbon monoxide
detector disclosure law for residential buildings.
Under current law, the transferor (e.g., seller) of a one- or two-family
residence must generally give the transferee (e.g., buyer) an affidavit
certifying certain conditions about the detectors or credit the transferee
with $250 at the closing. The bill eliminates the credit option and extends
the affidavit requirement to transfers of units in residential common
interest communities. (The law already applies to common interest
community residential units located in single-family buildings and
duplexes; the bill’s extension presumably applies to units in buildings
designed to be occupied by more than two families.)
The bill changes the content required in the affidavit and when it
must be given. It also expands the exemptions from the law’s
requirements by exempting transfers of property acquired by a
judgment of strict foreclosure or by foreclosure by sale.
Additionally, the bill requires the State Fire Marshal’s Office to create
a (1) model form that may be used for the affidavit and (2) guide
outlining smoke detector requirements to help transferors complete the
affidavit. The office must consult with an association representing fire
marshals’ interests for the model form and guide, as well as with a bar
association and an association representing realtors’ interests for the
model form.
*House Amendment “A” principally (1) extends the affidavit
requirement to every unit in a residential common interest community 2023HB-06580-R01-BA.DOCX
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regardless of occupancy design, (2) removes the underlying bill’s
requirement for a compliance form instead of an affidavit, (3) requires
the State Fire Marshal’s Office to create the model form and guide, (4)
eliminates a process for when a transferred property lacks the
satisfactory detectors or has inoperable ones, and (5) expands the
exemptions from the law’s requirements.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2023
AFFIDAVIT CHANGES
Under current law, the affidavit must be given before transferring
title and certify that the residence:
1. has smoke detection and warning equipment (i.e., smoke
detectors) that satisfy specified conditions in the law, the Fire
Safety Code, the State Fire Prevention Code, and the State
Building Code; and
2. either (a) has carbon monoxide detection and warning
equipment (i.e., carbon monoxide detectors) that satisfy the law’s
conditions or (b) does not pose a risk of carbon monoxide
poisoning because it does not have a fuel-burning appliance,
fireplace, or attached garage.
The bill instead requires it to be (1) given at the time of the
transaction’s closing and (2) signed and dated by the transferor. It also
requires the transferor to state, rather than certify, that the equipment
satisfies the law’s conditions, except the bill changes several of them,
eliminating the requirement that the smoke detectors satisfy the above
fire and building codes, and requiring specific disclosures about any
smoke detectors (see below). By law, nothing in the affidavit constitutes
a warranty beyond the transfer of title.
SMOKE DETECTOR CONDI TIONS
Under current law, the residence’s smoke detectors must be:
1. able to sense visible or invisible smoke particles;
2. installed following the manufacturer’s instructions and in the
immediate vicinity of each bedroom; 2023HB-06580-R01-BA.DOCX
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3. able to give an alarm suitable to warn occupants when activated;
4. powered by the household electrical service, unless the residence
was issued a new occupancy building permit before October 1,
1976 (in which case, it may have battery-operated detectors);
5. for residences issued a new occupancy building permit on or
after October 16, 1989, interconnected so that activating one
smoke detector alarm causes all the alarms for all detectors to
activate; and
6. for residences issued a new occupancy building permit on or
after May 1, 1999, in all sleeping areas.
Under the bill, the residence’s smoke detectors must be installed in
or in the immediate vicinity of each bedroom and produce an audible
alarm when the equipment’s test button is depressed.
SMOKE DETECTOR DISCL OSURES
Under the bill, affidavits must specify, if applicable and to the best of
the transferor’s knowledge, whether the smoke detectors:
1. are battery powered or powered by the household electrical
service;
2. are in or in the immediate vicinity of each bedroom;
3. are interconnected in a way that the alarm activation on any
detector in the residence or unit causes the alarms on all the
residence’s or unit’s detectors to activate; and
4. have the following statement: “State law requires that all
properties have operable smoke and carbon monoxide detection
and warning equipment. This law is to save lives—your life, and
the lives of your family members and your pets—as well as to
protect your property.”.
However, for any residence or unit built before January 1, 1990, the
bill allows a transferor to specify on the affidavit that the conditions
about interconnectivity are not applicable to the residence or unit. 2023HB-06580-R01-BA.DOCX
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CARBON MONOXIDE DETE CTOR CONDITIONS
Under current law, the carbon monoxide detectors must be able to (1)
sense the amount of carbon monoxide present in parts per million and
(2) give an alarm suitable to warn occupants when activated. It also
requires them to be installed according to the manufacturer’s
instructions. The bill instead requires them to produce an audible alarm
when the detectors’ test buttons are depressed. By law, unchanged by
the bill, the detectors may be battery-operated.
EXEMPTIONS
Existing law exempts transferors from the affidavit requirements
during the following transfers:
1. from one co-owner to another or to the transferor’s spouse,
parent, sibling, child, grandparent, or grandchild where no
consideration is paid;
2. under a court order or by executors, administrators, trustees, or
conservators;
3. by the federal government or any of its political subdivisions;
4. by deed in lieu of foreclosure;
5. involving refinancing of an existing mortgage debt; or
6. by mortgage deed or other instrument to secure a debt where the
transferor’s title to the property is subject to a preexisting
mortgage debt.
The bill expands this exemption by exempting properties transferred
through a judgement of strict foreclosure or by foreclosure by sale.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Safety and Security Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 25 Nay 0 (03/16/2023)