What Indiana Requires for CO Detectors in New Homes and Renovations

Last verified: August 26, 2026

Indiana carbon monoxide detector laws run entirely through code adoption, and which code you are under decides whether there is a requirement at all. A one- or two-family house is a Class 2 structure and answers the 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4, which adopts the 2018 International Residential Code and leaves Section R315 in force, so a dwelling with a fuel-fired appliance or an attached garage carries a carbon monoxide alarm duty at construction and at permitted alteration.

A hotel is a different structure class and the answer there is not the one most summaries give. Indiana is on the 2012 International Building Code and the 2012 International Fire Code, adopted at 675 IAC 13-2.6 and 675 IAC 22-2.5, and both rules delete the carbon monoxide section of the code they adopt in the same words: "Delete Section 908.7 in its entirety without substitution". The fire code's Chapter 11 loses Sections 1101, 1102, 1103 and 1105 as well, so the retrofit route other states use is not there either. No statewide carbon monoxide duty reaches a Class 1 structure, established by reading all 87 sections of the two rules rather than by inference from the deletions alone.

So the Indiana question is which structure class a building falls into, and that is settled by who occupies it rather than by what it is called. IC 22-12-1-4(a)(1)(A) makes a hotel a Class 1 structure because the public occupies part of it, and Class 1 answers the two codes with the section deleted. IC 22-12-1-5 keeps a one- or two-family house in Class 2, and Class 2 answers the residential code with Section R315 standing, whether the owner lives there or lets it to a guest for a weekend. That is why a house let short-term carries a duty here and a hotel does not, which is the reverse of almost every other state. The only route into the hotel gap is local. IC 36-1-24 lets a unit regulate short-term rentals for health and safety, and IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives the Commission's rules precedence over an ordinance covering the same subject matter, so a city ordinance can reach a listing where it cannot reach a building code question.

Key Takeaways

CO detector requirements for Indiana
Applies to homes?	Yes
Applies to rentals?	No
Applies to hotels/STRs?	Yes
Applies to schools?	No
Applies to workplaces?	No

Schools and workplaces

Schools: Indiana places no carbon monoxide detection duty on a school building. Check the district or the local fire authority before treating that as the end of it, because a school board can require more than the state does. Indiana deleted the provision rather than declining to extend it, and the reading behind that is on the record. A school is a Class 1 structure under IC 22-12-1-4(a)(1), which makes it answer the 2014 Indiana Building Code at 675 IAC 13-2.6 and the 2014 Indiana Fire Code at 675 IAC 22-2.5, both built on the 2012 I-Codes where carbon monoxide sits at Section 908.7. Each rule deletes it in identical words: 675 IAC 13-2.6-10(uu) and 675 IAC 22-2.5-10(mmm) read "Delete Section 908.7 in its entirety without substitution". 675 IAC 22-2.5-12 then deletes Sections 1101, 1102, 1103 and 1105 of the fire code Chapter 11, leaving only Section 1104 on means of egress, so the retrofit route is gone as well. All 87 sections of the two rules were read one at a time on 2026-08-10 and the phrase "carbon monoxide" appears in none of them, against a control of nine occurrences of "smoke alarm" or "smoke detector" in the same text. The absence of a code section is not a finding that the hazard is absent, and a local unit may still attach a condition under IC 36-1-24.

Workplaces: Indiana places no carbon monoxide detection duty on an office, shop or other workplace. Federal and state occupational rules set an exposure limit for carbon monoxide in air; they do not require a detector to be installed, and this row is about installation. The same deletion answers this and it answers it for every Class 1 structure at once. An office, shop or factory is a Class 1 structure under IC 22-12-1-4(a)(1) exactly as a school is, so it answers the same two rules, and 675 IAC 13-2.6-10(uu) and 675 IAC 22-2.5-10(mmm) each delete Section 908.7 in its entirety without substitution. The fire code retrofit chapter is deleted at 675 IAC 22-2.5-12 apart from Section 1104. Across all 87 sections read on 2026-08-10 the phrase "carbon monoxide" does not appear once. Indiana one lodging statute, IC 22-11-18-3, requires smoke detectors in hotel corridors and says nothing about carbon monoxide or about workplaces.

When Are CO Alarms Required?

Buildings with fuel-burning appliances
Buildings with attached garages
New construction
When building permits are required

Where to Install CO Alarms

Class 2 structures, meaning one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses, under IRC Section R315.3 as adopted at 675 IAC 14-4.4: outside each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms.
Class 1 structures, which is where a hotel sits: no placement rule was found. Both 675 IAC 13-2.6-10(uu) and 675 IAC 22-2.5-10(mmm) delete Section 908.7, the carbon monoxide section of the 2012 codes Indiana adopts, without substitution, and nothing in the sections read replaces it.

For detailed placement guidance beyond legal requirements, see where to place carbon monoxide detectors.

Device Requirements

UL 2034 listed carbon monoxide alarms are used in the adopted R315 pathway.
Combination smoke and CO units follow UL 2034 and UL 217 pathways.
Battery backup applies where required by adopted code language and project conditions.

Landlord and Tenant Responsibilities

Landlord: Indiana writes no carbon monoxide duty for landlords, and the duty a tenant can actually enforce arrives through two general clauses rather than a named one. IC 32-31-8-5 requires a landlord to deliver the premises "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition", to "comply with all health and housing codes applicable to the rental premises", and to "provide and maintain" electrical systems "in good and safe working condition, if provided on the premises at the time the rental agreement is entered into". Read against this state's code that produces a narrow but real duty. Where the residential code required an alarm, at new construction or at permitted alteration, addition or system replacement under 675 IAC 14-4.4, clause (2) makes complying with it the landlord's obligation rather than a matter between the owner and the building department. And where a hardwired alarm was already on the premises when the tenancy began, clause (4)(A) puts it inside the electrical system the landlord must keep in good and safe working condition, whether or not any code required it to be there. What the landlord does not owe is an alarm in a rental that never triggered the code and never had one, and that is why the table above answers no on rentals: Indiana has no rule that a dwelling must have a carbon monoxide alarm because it is rented. The duties above attach to the code moment and to equipment already installed, not to the tenancy itself. IC 32-31-8-4 makes the chapter non-waivable, so a lease cannot sign either of them away. Provision: IC 32-31-8-5.

Tenant: Indiana wrote a tenant duty for smoke detectors and wrote none for carbon monoxide alarms, and the two sit in the same list. IC 32-31-7-5(6) requires a tenant to "ensure that each smoke detector installed in the tenant's rental unit remains functional and is not disabled", to replace its batteries where it is battery operated, and to notify the landlord under IC 22-11-18-3.5(e)(2) where it is hardwired and appears not to work. No subsection names a carbon monoxide alarm, which is the same asymmetry that runs through the building code and the hotel statute: the smoke provision survives everywhere the carbon monoxide one is absent. Three general clauses in the same section still reach the device. IC 32-31-7-5(1) requires the tenant to comply with obligations that health and housing codes impose primarily on tenants, (3)(A) to use electrical systems in a reasonable manner, and (4) to "refrain from defacing, damaging, destroying, impairing, or removing any part of the rental premises", which reaches disabling an alarm that is part of the premises. What none of them creates is the specific, named battery-replacement duty the same subsection gives a smoke detector. The practical consequence is worth stating plainly. A tenant who pulls the battery from a smoke detector is breaking a statute written for that device. A tenant who pulls one from a carbon monoxide alarm is arguing about clause (4). IC 32-31-7-4 makes this chapter non-waivable too, so the lease cannot enlarge or remove it. Read for this answer: IC 32-31-7-5, the tenant obligations list, read for a carbon monoxide duty beside the smoke detector duty at subsection (6).

The cited Indiana sources do not establish one statewide statute that fully allocates landlord, tenant, and operator CO duties across every occupancy type.
Indiana's two lodging halves diverge, which happens in three of the fifty-one: Illinois and Kansas are the others, and Indiana is the only one of the three where the short-term let is covered and the hotel is not. Short-term rentals are covered because a house let short-term is a Class 2 structure under IC 22-12-1-5 and answers IRC Section R315 through 675 IAC 14-4.4, which amends only R315.2.2 and leaves the section standing. Hotels are not covered, because a hotel is a Class 1 structure under IC 22-12-1-4(a)(1)(A), occupied by the public, and answers the Building Code, where the carbon monoxide section was deleted without substitution. That answer was left open on 2026-08-10 and settled as no the same day, once the reading it was waiting on came back: all 36 sections of 675 IAC 13-2.6 and all 51 of 675 IAC 22-2.5 were fetched and searched, "carbon monoxide" appears in none of the 87, and the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission's own table of every rule it administers, across articles 12 to 31, contains the phrase zero times.
The existing-buildings answer moved to no on 2026-08-10, and the search record that stood in its place until then is preserved here. What was read: 675 IAC 13-2.6-1, which adopts the International Building Code, 2012 Edition; the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission's own table of rules in effect, which lists 675 IAC 13-2.6 as current with every earlier building code in the article repealed and no later rule; up.codes, which carries an Indiana IBC 2012 view and returns 404 for an Indiana IBC 2021; and then all 87 sections of the two adopting rules through Cornell LII at law.cornell.edu/regulations/indiana/675-IAC-13-2.6-<n>, the route that answers when www.in.gov refuses connections and iar.iga.in.gov returns a script shell. The field was held at null for one day after the evidence was complete, because the published sentence for a false said the state "imposes this on what gets built and nothing on a hotel that was standing" and Indiana imposes it on neither. That sentence now branches on whether a new-construction duty exists at all, so the value can say what the evidence says.
Two "915" hits in that sweep are worth recording so nobody re-chases them. 675 IAC 13-2.6-10 deletes "Section 915, Emergency Responder Radio Coverage", which is what Section 915 is in the 2012 International Building Code and a useful reminder of why the record's old "IBC 2021 §915" citation was not a small slip. The other, in 675 IAC 13-2.6-13, is a 915 millimetre dimension in an accessibility figure.

Enforcement

Enforced by: Local building departments and inspection officials under Indiana code-adoption and permitting workflow.

Enforcement typically occurs:

At permit review and field inspections for covered construction or system work.
At correction and reinspection stages when code deficiencies are identified.

What a Tenant Can Do in Indiana

When a carbon monoxide alarm stops working in a rented home in Indiana, these are the five routes a tenant can take and where each one comes from.

"Via general law" means the Indiana carbon monoxide statute itself is silent and the remedy comes from the state's landlord-tenant law instead. The remedy is available even though the alarm rule does not contain it.

"No provision found" is a finding rather than a gap in the research: the chapter that would carry that remedy was read and contains nothing either way. What was read is named beside the row.

Tenant remedies for a defective carbon monoxide alarm in Indiana, with the citation or the body of law searched for each.
Rent withholding	No provision foundSearched: IC 32-31-8 (landlord obligations and tenant remedies), sections 32-31-8-1 through 32-31-8-6, including the chapters that 32-31-8-6 preserves, IC 32-31-3 on security deposits, IC 32-31-5 and IC 32-31-6. The chapter's remedies are judicial and listed: actual and consequential damages, attorney's fees and court costs, injunctive relief, and any other remedy appropriate in the circumstances. Withholding appears nowhere, and no provision bars it either, so this is silence rather than a prohibition of the kind Alabama and North Carolina wrote down.
Repair and deduct	No provision foundSearched: IC 32-31-8, sections 32-31-8-1 through 32-31-8-6, read for any provision authorising a tenant to have work done and charge it against rent. Nothing authorises it. The route Indiana provides is to give notice, allow a reasonable time, and then sue, which means the cost of a defective alarm is recovered afterwards through a court rather than fixed at once by the tenant. For a device that costs less than the filing fee, that gap is the practical finding.
Right to end the lease	No provision foundSearched: IC 32-31-8, sections 32-31-8-1 through 32-31-8-6, together with the termination-notice chapter it cross-references at IC 32-31-5. No provision lets a tenant end the tenancy because the landlord failed to repair. IC 32-31-5 governs how a tenancy is ended procedurally rather than supplying a habitability ground for ending one. A court could reach termination through the catch-all for any other remedy appropriate in the circumstances, but that is a judge's discretion after suit, not a right the tenant exercises by serving notice.
Notice the tenant must give	Via general lawIC 32-31-8-6. Notice is a statutory precondition to suing rather than a step that unlocks a remedy. The tenant gives the landlord notice of the noncompliance, allows a reasonable amount of time for repairs, and can only bring the action once the landlord has failed or refused. No form is prescribed and no period is set.
Landlord cure period	Via general lawIC 32-31-8-6. A reasonable amount of time, with nothing in the chapter defining it and no shorter tier for a hazard. Twelve of the fifty-one carry no number in either duration column and Indiana is one of them, so a tenant cannot work out in advance the date on which the right to sue matures. What Indiana adds to that is the absence of any faster tier for a hazard, where several of the other eleven run a shorter clock once the condition is dangerous.

Applies to every row above:Indiana is not a URLTA state, and its landlord-tenant chapter is among the thinnest in the country. The carbon monoxide obligation arrives through the residential code at permit-driven moments rather than through a rental statute, so it never reaches the tenant remedy chapter at all. That chapter, IC 32-31-8, gives the tenant one thing: the right to sue after notice. There is no self-help route of any kind, no escrow, no deduction, and no statutory number anywhere in this row. Three of the five cells are none_found not because the search fell short but because Indiana did not legislate the remedies most states take for granted.

Remedies last checked 2026-08-03. Compare Indiana with the other states.

What Indiana Requires in Lodging

The Indiana carbon monoxide requirement reaches hotels and short-term rentals.

Note the split. The Indiana requirement does not reach hotels and does reach short-term rentals, which is the reverse of what most operators expect and the reason the two are recorded separately here.

Hotels already standing: not covered, and not because the requirement stops at the door. Indiana places no carbon monoxide duty on a hotel of any age, so an operator of an older property carries no retrofit duty because there is nothing to retrofit from. That is worth checking against a local ordinance rather than treated as the end of the question.

Operator duty: Indiana puts no carbon monoxide duty on a hotel operator, and that is a finding rather than a gap. A hotel is a Class 1 structure under IC 22-12-1-4(a)(1)(A), so it answers the 2014 Indiana Building Code at 675 IAC 13-2.6 and the 2014 Indiana Fire Code at 675 IAC 22-2.5, which adopt the 2012 International Building Code and the 2012 International Fire Code. Carbon monoxide sits at Section 908.7 in that cycle, and both rules delete it in the same words: 675 IAC 13-2.6-10(uu) and 675 IAC 22-2.5-10(mmm) each read "Delete Section 908.7 in its entirety without substitution". 675 IAC 22-2.5-12 then deletes Sections 1101, 1102, 1103 and 1105 of the fire code's Chapter 11, which is where a retrofit provision would sit, leaving Section 1104 on means of egress as the only surviving part of it. All 87 sections of the two rules were read on 2026-08-10 and the phrase "carbon monoxide" appears in none of them, against a control of nine occurrences of "smoke alarm" or "smoke detector" in the same text. The one statute aimed at lodging, IC 22-11-18-3, requires functional smoke detectors in hotel and motel corridors and says nothing about carbon monoxide. What an operator does have is that smoke detection duty, any condition a local unit attaches to a permit under IC 36-1-24, and an ordinary duty of care that the absence of a code section does not touch.

Full Indiana hotel and short-term rental requirements

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Indiana has no statewide carbon monoxide fine to name, and the reason is worth stating because a figure circulates anyway. What the codes carry is bare authority: a stop-work order, and denial or revocation of a certificate of occupancy for non-compliant new construction. IC 36-1-24-13 is sometimes cited for a penalty and does not contain one. That section governs how long a short-term rental permit lasts and caps what a unit may charge for it, at $150 for an initial or post-revocation permit and nothing for a renewal, which is a fee ceiling rather than a sanction. A municipality may attach its own penalty to its own permit, and Bloomington has: Section 16.10.030 prices disabling a detector at $100 under an ordinance the state code does not supply. That is local and does not make the state figure exist.

IC 36-1-24-13 read in full rather than taken from the citation that circulates for it, which is what settled the Indiana hotel answer at no. The reading is carried on the hotel subpage as well, and the two now agree. Bloomington Municipal Code Sections 16.10.020(i) and 16.10.030 read 2026-08-10 with the municipal sweep.

Additional Notes

No standalone statewide CO alarm statute identified as of 2026. Requirements derive from 675 IAC 14-4.4 adopted under IC 22-13-2-2 authority.
Indiana compliance is primarily code-and-permit driven in the cited statewide materials.
Hotel applicability is absent rather than narrow, and the reason is a deletion rather than a gap in the search. 675 IAC 13-2.6-10(uu) and 675 IAC 22-2.5-10(mmm) each delete Section 908.7, the carbon monoxide section of the 2012 codes Indiana adopts, in identical words and without substitution, and 675 IAC 22-2.5-12 removes the fire code's Chapter 11 retrofit sections. The record carried the opposite claim until 2026-08-10 on the strength of a code-status tracker rather than the rule text.
No statewide transfer-trigger statute was confirmed in the cited Indiana sources.

Local Rules That Differ From State Law

At least one Indiana municipality sets CO requirements that go beyond the statewide rule. Where your property sits decides which applies, and the stricter one governs.

Bloomington

Bloomington adds an offence and a price rather than a standard, and in a state with no carbon monoxide statute that is not a small thing. Its Title 16 runs a Residential Rental Unit and Lodging Establishment Inspection Program. Section 16.04.020(a) lists the nine Indiana codes a rental must be maintained to, at the edition in force when the unit was built or remodelled, and Section 16.05.010 extends the same duty to the owner of a lodging establishment. That much is adoption by reference and changes the forum rather than the standard. Three provisions are Bloomington's own. Section 16.10.020(i) makes it a violation for any person to remove batteries from, or in any way render inoperable, a carbon monoxide detector or smoke detector, except while inspecting, maintaining, repairing or replacing it or its batteries. Section 16.10.030 prices that at $100, alongside $50 for failing to appear for a scheduled inspection. And Section 16.05.030 makes it unlawful to operate a lodging establishment, or to let any part of one, unless it is maintained to the title. Indiana has no state anti-tampering provision for carbon monoxide because it has no carbon monoxide statute at all, so a Bloomington tenant who finds the batteries pulled has a local offence to point at that a tenant elsewhere in the state does not. Section 16.02.020 defines the device by listing rather than by brand: a detector that produces a distinct audible alarm and is listed by a nationally recognised independent product safety testing laboratory.

Bloomington Municipal Code Title 16, Sections 16.02.020, 16.04.020, 16.05.010, 16.05.030, 16.10.020(i) and 16.10.030, Ord. No. 12-27 (14 November 2012) Checked 2026-08-11.

Lafayette

Lafayette adopts an instrument the state does not have. Section 13.03.010 adopts the International Property Maintenance Code as a city standard, and Bloomington's list of the nine codes Indiana actually adopts, at its Section 16.04.020(a), shows what that adds: building, residential, fire, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fuel gas, energy and accessibility, and no property maintenance code among them. So Indiana has no statewide instrument aimed at a building already standing, and Lafayette has one. The carbon monoxide part of it is Section 705. Alarms go in dwellings within or near each separate sleeping area and on each level of a dwelling. Alarms and detection systems are to be maintained and tested annually, and any alarm or detector that becomes inoperable or starts producing an end-of-life signal is to be replaced. An annual test written into a maintenance code is a continuing duty, which is precisely what the deletion of the fire code's existing-buildings sections removed everywhere else in the state.

Lafayette City Code Section 13.03.010, adopting the International Property Maintenance Code including Section 705 Checked 2026-08-11.

What was checked:Indiana is the state where the local layer matters most and can do least, and both halves of that need saying together. Indiana has no carbon monoxide statute. The Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission deleted Section 908.7 from both the building code and the fire code it adopts, in the same words and without substitution, and stripped Sections 1101, 1102, 1103 and 1105 from the fire code's existing-buildings chapter as well. So no statewide duty reaches a Class 1 structure or a building already standing, and the whole answer for a hotel is that there is no answer. What a city may do about that is bounded. IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) makes the Commission's rules take precedence over any ordinance of a political subdivision covering the same subject matter as its fire safety or building rules. Subsection (c) then opens a door and puts a lock on it: a city, town or county may adopt an ordinance with more stringent or detailed requirements that do not conflict with the Commission's rules, but the ordinance is subject to approval under Section 5 of the chapter. Bloomington's own code confirms how real that hierarchy is, because Section 16.10.060(b) sends anyone seeking a variance from the adopted state codes to the state Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission rather than to the local board of housing and quality appeals. There is one clear carve-out running the other way: IC 36-1-24 lets a municipality regulate short-term rentals for public health and safety. That leaves a genuinely open question this dataset should not pretend to answer. Where the Commission has deleted the carbon monoxide section without substitution, it is arguable either that the subject matter is no longer covered, so a local rule is not displaced, or that the Commission has occupied the field and decided against a requirement, so a local rule conflicts. Neither city below tests it, because neither writes a carbon monoxide installation standard of its own. Anyone drafting one in Indiana should get advice before assuming which way it falls. Five municipalities read on 2026-08-11: Indianapolis, Bloomington, South Bend, Lafayette and Carmel. Indianapolis and South Bend carry nothing, both control-tested. Carmel could not be read at all and must not be counted clean: its publisher record holds a City Code product with no published edition behind it, so every search returns zero, the fifth time this survey has met that shape after Malden, Park City, Astoria and Freeport. Fort Wayne, Evansville and the Lake Michigan shore towns were not searched.

Local sweep last reviewed 2026-08-11.

Official Sources & References

Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, rules of the Commission with adoption and repeal dates , 675 IAC 13-2.6, 675 IAC 22-2.5 and 675 IAC 14-4.4, each shown as currently in effect (agency guidance, accessed 2026-08-26)
An edition-currency check, run on 2026-08-26 against the Commission's own table of what is in force rather than against a code catalogue. All three Indiana codes cited here are the ones in force: 675 IAC 13-2.6, the 2014 Indiana Building Code, adopting the International Building Code 2012 Edition, effective 1 December 2014; 675 IAC 22-2.5, the 2014 Indiana Fire Code, adopting the International Fire Code 2012 Edition, effective 1 December 2014; and 675 IAC 14-4.4, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, adopting the 2018 International Residential Code, effective 26 December 2019. All three read "Currently in Effect". A newer set is drafted and is not law yet, which is the part worth knowing before relying on any of it. The Commission has an LSA document adding 675 IAC 22-2.6 to adopt the International Fire Code 2024 Edition as the 2026 Indiana Fire Code and repealing 22-2.5, with a companion document for the building code. Both are styled "Final Rule" and both carry the placeholders "LSA Document #XX-XXX" and "Effective XXXX", so no rule number and no effective date have been assigned. Indiana has not moved. A summary asserting that Indiana has adopted the 2024 editions is describing that draft rather than the code in force.
Indiana Code chapter 32-31-8, Landlord Obligations Under a Rental Agreement , IC 32-31-8-1 application, IC 32-31-8-4 waiver, IC 32-31-8-5 landlord obligations, IC 32-31-8-6 tenant cause of action including subsections (b), (d) and (e) (state code, accessed 2026-08-20)
The chapter read in full as a plain PDF of the enrolled text, because iga.in.gov answers this network with a 691-byte shell and law.justia.com returns 403. Section 5 is the source of the landlord duty above and carries no carbon monoxide language of its own: what reaches an alarm is clause (2), "comply with all health and housing codes applicable to the rental premises", and clause (4)(A), which puts electrical systems among the things a landlord must "provide and maintain in good and safe working condition, if provided on the premises at the time the rental agreement is entered into". Section 6 sets the enforcement route and two details in it are easy to miss. Under (b)(2) the tenant must allow the landlord access to make the repair, so refusing entry defeats the claim. Under (e) the landlord's liability begins when the landlord "has notice or actual knowledge of noncompliance" and has either refused to remedy it or failed to do so within a reasonable time, "whichever occurs first", which means actual knowledge can start the clock without the tenant having served notice at all. Neither (b)(2) nor (e)(2)(B) puts a number on "a reasonable amount of time", and the statute supplies none anywhere. Whether an Indiana appellate decision has fixed one was searched and not settled: decisions construing this chapter do exist and are findable, which is the control that makes the rest of this sentence meaningful, but public.courts.in.gov answers this network with HTTP 000 and no opinion text could be read to a standard worth citing. Recorded as unresolved rather than as an absence.
Indiana Code chapter 32-31-7, Tenant Obligations , IC 32-31-7-4 waiver, IC 32-31-7-5 tenant obligations, IC 32-31-7-7 landlord cause of action (state code, accessed 2026-08-20)
The source of the tenant duty above, and of the asymmetry that is the useful thing in it. Section 5(6) writes a named, device-specific duty for smoke detectors, that each one "remains functional and is not disabled", with battery replacement and a notice route for hardwired units at IC 22-11-18-3.5(e)(2). Read the whole section for a carbon monoxide equivalent and there is none. What is left for an alarm is general: clause (1) on tenant-side health and housing code obligations, (3)(A) on reasonable use of electrical systems, and (4) on not defacing, damaging, impairing or removing any part of the rental premises. That asymmetry is the same one the building code and the hotel statute show, which is why it is worth naming at a third instrument rather than treated as an oversight in one.
Indiana Code 22-13-2-2 (Statewide Code of Fire Safety and Building Laws) , IC 22-13-2-2 directing adoption of statewide fire safety and building laws (state code, accessed 2026-02-18)
No standalone statewide CO alarm statute identified as of 2026. IC 22-13-2-2 is the enabling statute directing the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission to adopt building codes. CO alarm requirements enter Indiana law through 675 IAC 14-4.4 (adopted under this authority), which incorporates IRC Section R315.
2020 Indiana Residential Code Final Rule (675 IAC 14-4.4) , 675 IAC 14-4.4 and R315 adoption language (building code, accessed 2026-02-16)
Primary statewide adoption source for Indiana residential CO alarm requirements.
2020 Indiana Residential Code Final Rule (R315.2.2 permit-triggered provisions) , R315.2.2 alterations, additions, and systems replacement context (building code, accessed 2026-02-16)
Clarifies permit-triggered compliance path and related exceptions used in field enforcement.
Indiana DHS Code Services CO Alarm Template Addition , R315 excerpt and implementation language (agency guidance, accessed 2026-02-16)
State-published implementation aid reflecting Indiana CO alarm code text and location logic.
Indiana DHS Code Services CO Alarm Template Addition (device and power references) , Listing and power-source references in R315 context (agency guidance, accessed 2026-02-16)
Supporting guidance for device listing and power expectations during compliance review.
2014 Indiana Building Code, 675 IAC 13-2.6, and 2014 Indiana Fire Code, 675 IAC 22-2.5 , 675 IAC 13-2.6-1, adopting the International Building Code, 2012 Edition; 675 IAC 13-2.6-10(uu) and 675 IAC 22-2.5-10(mmm), each deleting Section 908.7 in its entirety without substitution; 675 IAC 22-2.5-12, deleting Sections 1101, 1102, 1103 and 1105 of Chapter 11 (building code, accessed 2026-08-10)
Promoted on 2026-08-05 as "the instrument behind Indiana's hotel answer" while describing an IBC 2021 adoption, and rewritten on 2026-08-10 when that adoption turned out not to exist. Indiana is on the 2012 editions of both codes, where carbon monoxide is Section 908.7, and both adopting rules delete it. What that leaves is a Class 1 structure with no carbon monoxide provision found in the sections read, and a Class 2 structure that keeps IRC Section R315 through 675 IAC 14-4.4. The instrument text is at Cornell LII, which answers when the Commission's own host does not.

Disclaimer: This page explains the law as it stood on August 26, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice, and reading it creates no attorney-client relationship. Requirements vary by city, county and building type, and statutes and codes are amended: confirm the current text with the issuing authority before acting on it. Each requirement here cites the instrument it comes from, so you can check it at source.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Indiana permit or occupancy scenarios trigger mandatory CO alarms?

Indiana's clearest statewide requirements appear through 675 IAC 14-4.4 and adopted R315 pathways when covered dwellings enter permit-driven construction, alteration, or system replacement workflows. Fuel-burning appliances and attached garages are central trigger conditions in these code pathways. Because enforcement is inspection-based, owners should confirm requirements at permit intake instead of waiting for final walkthroughs. Project files should include trigger notes, placement plans, and correction records. Indiana DHS and local inspectors should be cited in project compliance correspondence.

Are Indiana CO alarm duties enforced through permits and inspections?

Yes. In practice, Indiana code compliance for CO alarms is handled through local permitting, field inspection, correction, and reinspection workflow. That means operational control lives in project management quality, not only in legal interpretation. Builders and property teams should coordinate designers, electricians, and inspectors early so detector placement and device selection are verified before final approval. This approach reduces schedule delays and enforcement friction. Indiana permit files should include 675 IAC 14-4.4 references at each correction stage.

What penalties apply if Indiana CO alarm requirements are missed?

The cited Indiana CO sources emphasize permit and inspection enforcement rather than a single statewide CO-specific fine table. Even without one dedicated penalty line, unresolved deficiencies can delay occupancy, trigger reinspection cycles, and increase liability exposure after an incident. Owners should treat correction timelines as high priority and preserve dated proof of remediation. Local authorities can apply enforcement consequences through code administration channels. Indiana teams should log each notice to show timely corrective action.

In Indiana, what attached-garage checks can still trigger alarms in all-electric homes?

Not automatically. While source-based triggers are important, all-electric labeling alone may not resolve every code question in mixed-use or multifamily contexts. Attached garages, adjacent fuel-burning systems, and specific permit conditions can still affect compliance analysis. Indiana operators should verify actual building conditions and local interpretation before classifying any unit as outside CO alarm duties. Documenting that decision in the property file is a practical risk-control step. Indiana officials may request rationale during plan review or field inspection follow-up.

How should Indiana landlords manage CO compliance when statewide duty split is limited?

Where statewide statute language does not provide one complete landlord-tenant CO allocation, Indiana landlords should rely on code compliance records, lease language, and maintenance procedures aligned with local enforcement expectations. A strong operational model includes move-in verification, repair-ticket tracking, and written notice workflows for residents. This creates evidence for inspections and disputes while improving life-safety reliability. Property managers should coordinate legal and facilities teams on one documented protocol. Indiana lease addenda should reference local code enforcement pathways and response timelines.

How do Indiana code pathways compare with Ohio requirements?

Indiana relies heavily on adopted code workflow in 675 IAC 14-4.4, while Ohio operators often work under a different statute-and-code mix depending on occupancy and jurisdiction. Regional teams should maintain separate state checklists and avoid treating Midwest markets as one uniform framework. Before harmonizing procedures across neighboring states, review Ohio CO detector laws and compare triggers, enforcement channels, and documentation standards. Indiana and Ohio files should not share one default remediation timeline without local validation.

Practical CO Detector Guides

Beyond legal requirements, these guides help you choose, install, and maintain CO alarms:

Where to place carbon monoxide detectors, room-by-room placement recommendations
CO detector beeping patterns, what different alarms mean
What to do if your detector goes off, emergency response checklist
CO resources and links, official agencies and safety information