By: West S.B. No. 1715

(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2009; March 20, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce; April 14, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 14, 2009, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1715 By: Estes

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the requirements for a smoke detector in a multifamily residential unit.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 92.254, Property Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) A smoke detector must be:

(1) designed to detect both the visible and invisible products of combustion;

(2) designed with an alarm audible to a person in the bedrooms it serves;

(3) powered by battery, alternating current, or other power source as required by local ordinance;

(4) tested and listed for use as a smoke detector by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., Factory Mutual Research Corporation, or United States Testing Company, Inc.; and

(5) in good working order.

(a-1) If requested by a tenant as an accommodation for a person with a disability or as required by law as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability, a smoke detector must, in addition to complying with Subsection (a), be capable of alerting a hearing-impaired person in the bedrooms it serves.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.

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