republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2018/sb-391.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Housing; installation and maintenance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rental property."
description: "Creates a statewide standard for the installation and maintenance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rental property. The bill requires a landlord (i) to install a smoke alarm but does not permit a locality to require new or additional wiring or the upgrading of smoke alarms under certain conditions and (ii) to certify annually that smoke alarms have been installed and maintained in good working order in a residential dwelling unit pursuant to the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (§ 27-94 et seq.) and the Uniform Statewide Building Code (§ 36-97 et seq.). The landlord is also required to install a carbon monoxide alarm upon request by a tenant; the installation and subsequent maintenance must be in compliance with the Statewide Fire Prevention Code and the Uniform Statewide Building Code. A tenant of a rental dwelling unit with a smoke alarm or both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms shall not tamper or remove such alarms. Under the bill, a reasonable accommodation must be made for persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, upon request. Localities that have enacted a fire and carbon monoxide alarm ordinance must conform such ordinances with these state standards by July 1, 2019. The bill also requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation with the Department of Fire Programs, to develop a form for landlords for use in certifying inspections that summarizes smoke alarm maintenance requirements for landlords and tenants. The bill, as introduced, is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission. This bill incorporates"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "SB 391"
citation: "Virginia SB 391 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["George L. Barker"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2018-01-09"
last_action: "2018-03-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/28008987-82bb-4542-a358-e0f7dd084326"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+SB391"
source_hash: "bee2091e90f21ef48887097ae32059ae861305a83440cdac134507dba402ed26"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 391 (2018) — Housing; installation and maintenance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rental property.

Creates a statewide standard for the installation and maintenance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rental property. The bill requires a landlord (i) to install a smoke alarm but does not permit a locality to require new or additional wiring or the upgrading of smoke alarms under certain conditions and (ii) to certify annually that smoke alarms have been installed and maintained in good working order in a residential dwelling unit pursuant to the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (§ 27-94 et seq.) and the Uniform Statewide Building Code (§ 36-97 et seq.). The landlord is also required to install a carbon monoxide alarm upon request by a tenant; the installation and subsequent maintenance must be in compliance with the Statewide Fire Prevention Code and the Uniform Statewide Building Code. A tenant of a rental dwelling unit with a smoke alarm or both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms shall not tamper or remove such alarms. Under the bill, a reasonable accommodation must be made for persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, upon request. Localities that have enacted a fire and carbon monoxide alarm ordinance must conform such ordinances with these state standards by July 1, 2019. The bill also requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation with the Department of Fire Programs, to develop a form for landlords for use in certifying inspections that summarizes smoke alarm maintenance requirements for landlords and tenants. The bill, as introduced, is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission. This bill incorporates

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB391ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+SB391ER)
2. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 18105785D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+SB391S1)
3. **Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18101367D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+SB391)

## Votes

- Reported from General Laws — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed House BLOCK VOTE — **100–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute — **15–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed Senate — **39–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- George L. Barker — primary (person)
- Adam P. Ebbin — cosponsor (person)
- Bill R. DeSteph, Jr. (incorporated chief co-patron) — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18101367D `introduction`
- **2018-01-09** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-23** Incorporates SB743 (DeSteph)
- **2018-01-25** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2018-01-25** Reading of substitute waived
- **2018-01-25** Committee substitute agreed to 18105785D-S1
- **2018-01-25** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB391S1
- **2018-01-31** Placed on Calendar
- **2018-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2018-01-31** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-19** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2018-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2018-02-20** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2018-02-22** Enrolled
- **2018-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2018-02-23** Signed by President
- **2018-02-26** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 26, 2018
- **2018-02-26** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 5, 2018
- **2018-03-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 81 (effective 7/1/18) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/28008987-82bb-4542-a358-e0f7dd084326`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).