HUD Issues Notice Urging Installation of CO Detectors in HUD-assisted Housing

 HUD issued a joint Notice regarding the installation of Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors in HUD-assisted housing. The Notice reminds owners, managers, and agents of most HUD-assisted housing that they should have functioning CO detectors where required by state or local law, code, or other regulations. Where state or local laws do not require CO detectors, the Notice “strongly encourages” installation of CO detectors in units that have fuel-fired/burning appliances (such as furnaces and water heaters) and/or an attached garage, as well as in bedrooms that have a fireplace or a fuel-fired/burning appliance.

The HUD programs cited in the Notice include: Public Housing, Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, Housing Choice Vouchers (tenant-based and project-based), Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly, and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities. It also includes tribal programs administered by the Office of Native American Programs.
The Notice concludes that HUD expects to issue additional guidance and will eventually introduce a proposed rule requiring CO detectors for the public housing, voucher, and multifamily housing programs.

Previously, NLIHC signed on to a letter written by the National Housing Law Project urging HUD Secretary Ben Carson to require CO detectors at all HUD-assisted housing (see Memo, 3/11). HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) sent Inspector Notice No. 2019-01 to inspectors requiring them to collect information about CO detectors in all federally assisted and insured housing (see Memo, 4/8). The information collected will not affect a property’s REAC physical inspection score, however. The requirement became effective on April 1, 2019.
Joint Notice PIH 2019-06, H 2019-05, OLHCHH 2019-01 is at: https://bit.ly/2XhPpm2
A HUD media release is at: https://bit.ly/2VUaaE2