Kitsap County Sellers…You Need to Read This!

The Washington State legislature has finalized the law for carbon monoxide (CO) detectors on single-family homes on the market for sale.  All sellers of residential property must install CO monitors prior to closing (funding and recording).  It doesn’t matter whether your property includes fuel fired appliances or an attached garage.

In all of the temporary rules, the rules that were in effect pending development of the final rule, tenant-occupied housing was targeted with a date certain by which all units would have to be equipped with CO alarms.  That element is not part of the final rule.  To the contrary, there are now only two triggers for installation of CO alarms in existing housing.  A property owner must install CO monitors when the property owner undertakes significant interior remodeling, requiring a building permit and a seller must install CO monitors prior to closing.  But, unless an existing residence is remodeled or sold, there is no requirement for installation of CO monitors.

 When required, CO monitors must be installed outside of each sleeping area, in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms.  There must be at least one monitor on each floor of a residence.  CO monitors may be battery operated or plug-in and can be purchased for approximately $25.  Dual alarms, includiing both smoke and CO, are available and are more expensive.  Carbon monioxide is heavier than air so the monitors should be installed at the height above the floor of people sleeping in a particular area.

The legislation amended the seller disclosure form to include CO monitors and also provides that real estate brokers shall not be liable in any civil, administrative or other proceeding for the failure of any seller to comply with this legislation.

Why the legislation?  In our state more than 1,000 people reportedly suffered CO poisoning in the recent past and eight died in the aftermath of the 2006 windstorm.  Many people were also treated for CO poisoning during the power outages that followed this year’s January storm.