Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms in Required in Residential Buildings July 1
All Saskatchewan residential buildings will require working carbon monoxide and smoke alarms by July 1, 2022
Carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke alarms are required to be installed in all residential buildings in Saskatchewan, regardless of the building’s age. Prior to last year’s amendment, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms were only required in new residential construction that were built since 1988 and 2009 respectively.
Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odourless, poisonous gas that is often produced when fuel-burning appliances like furnaces, stoves, water heaters and fireplaces malfunction. Carbon monoxide incidents happen frequently; between 2018 and 2020, an average of 1,200 CO incidents were reported annually to SaskEnergy. If there isn’t a working CO alarm to alert you to its presence in your home, continued CO exposure can lead to confusion, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, brain damage and death.
Smoke from residential fires spread quickly. Since residential fires can become life-threatening in less than two minutes, a working smoke alarm can alert you and your family to escape before a fire spreads.
In their 2020-21 annual report, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency noted that of all fires reported to the agency during that period, 36 per cent (440 fires) impacted residential structures.
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