City Code, ExplainedBetaPardon our dust while we build this out — expect some changes along the way.

This chapter covers the installation of wood/coal-burning stoves, chimneys, and fireplaces, and separately requires carbon monoxide detectors and alarms in dwellings that rely on fossil fuel combustion. It also regulates the use of outdoor wood-fired furnaces.

Who this affects

Property owners, tenants, and agents installing a chimney, fireplace, stove pipe, or wood/coal-burning appliance must obtain a permit and follow clearance and construction rules. Owners of one-family, two-family, and multiple dwellings heated, ventilated, or supplied hot water by fossil fuel combustion must install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors; tenants share responsibility for testing and battery replacement in their own units.

Key rules

• No owner, agent, or tenant may begin installing a chimney, fireplace, stove pipe, or wood/coal-burning stove without first obtaining a $10 permit from the City.
• The Fire Chief must inspect the completed installation and countersign the permit before the appliance is placed into use; noncompliant installations cannot be used until corrected and reinspected.
• Detailed clearance and construction specifications apply to stoves, connector pipes, and chimneys, including minimum distances from combustible materials and required shielding materials (e.g., asbestos millboard, sheet metal, brick veneer) depending on distance.
• Chimneys must be built of brick, stone, reinforced concrete, or UL-listed Class A chimney, lined continuously with fire clay tile, with walls at least four inches thick, and must project at least three feet above a flat roof or two feet above any roof surface within 10 feet.
• Carbon monoxide detectors and alarms must be installed in hallways no less than 15 feet from each bedroom in one- and two-family dwellings, and within 40 feet of dwelling unit or sleeping area doors in multiple dwellings.
• Carbon monoxide detectors must be directly wired with no intervening switch, battery-powered, or plug-in without an intervening switch, and must not be mounted in areas of low air movement.
• Owners of one-family, two-family, or multiple dwellings relying on fossil fuel combustion for heat, hot water, or ventilation must install and maintain operable carbon monoxide detectors; subsequent owners inherit this maintenance responsibility.
• Certain residential units are exempt from the carbon monoxide detector requirement, such as those not relying on fossil fuel combustion and not near a ventilated carbon monoxide source, or those heated by steam, hot water, or electric heat with no ductwork connection to a fossil-fuel-burning boiler or heater.
• It is unlawful to remove batteries from or otherwise make inoperable a required carbon monoxide detector, except for normal battery replacement by an owner, manager, or agent.
• Owners must supply and install required carbon monoxide detectors, test and maintain those outside dwelling units, and provide written testing/maintenance information to at least one adult tenant per unit; tenants must test, maintain, and replace batteries for detectors in their own units.
• Installation of new outdoor wood-fired furnaces is prohibited; existing ones require a permit and must be located at least 200 feet from any residence not on the same property, or have a stack extending at least two feet above the roofline of a nearby structure.
• Outdoor wood-fired furnaces may only burn clean wood (plus paper and cardboard), may only operate between September 1 and May 31, and may not burn rubbish, waste oil, asphalt, treated or painted wood, plastics, or rubber.
• City representatives with credentials may inspect properties for compliance with the outdoor wood-fired furnace provisions; a special inspection warrant may be sought if access is denied.

Penalties

Violations of the wood/coal stove, chimney, and carbon monoxide detector provisions, and of the outdoor wood-fired furnace provisions, are each punishable by a fine of not more than $600 and, in default of payment of fine and costs, imprisonment for not more than 90 days, with each day's continued violation constituting a separate offense.

Notable and archaic details

• The chapter's older stove and chimney installation standards call for materials like asbestos millboard as approved fireproofing shields, reflecting the ordinance's 1980 origin.
• The carbon monoxide detector requirements apply not just to new construction but bind 'all subsequent owners' of a property to ongoing maintenance responsibility.