Fabio
84 lines
6.8 KiB
Markdown
84 lines
6.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Housing; installation and maintenance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rental property."
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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."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2018"
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identifier: "HB 609"
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citation: "Virginia HB 609 (2018)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: ["Counties", "Cities and Towns", "Housing", "Property and Conveyances"]
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Betsy B. Carr"]
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version_count: 4
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action_count: 18
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vote_count: 6
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first_action: "2018-01-08"
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last_action: "2018-02-26"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5fb90ecc-0de4-4c52-842e-5f9f2784956e"
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source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+HB609"
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source_hash: "ffe9f9076511494f923ed7c6b8d84db76f0ccabcc0920090d1c97825690071bb"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia HB 609 (2018) — Housing; installation and maintenance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rental property.
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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.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0041)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+CHAP0041)
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2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB609ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB609ER)
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3. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18104508D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB609)
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4. **House: Printed as engrossed 18104508D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB609E)
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## Votes
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- Reported from General Laws with amendments — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments — **8–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
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- Reported from General Laws and Technology — **14–0** (pass) · legislature
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## Sponsors
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- Betsy B. Carr — primary (person)
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- Dawn M. Adams — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2018-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18104508D `introduction`
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- **2018-01-08** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
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- **2018-01-19** Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
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- **2018-02-01** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2018-02-02** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2018-02-02** Committee amendments agreed to
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- **2018-02-02** Engrossed by House as amended HB609E
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- **2018-02-02** Printed as engrossed 18104508D-E
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- **2018-02-05** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2018-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed
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- **2018-02-06** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
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- **2018-02-15** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2018-02-19** Enrolled
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- **2018-02-19** Signed by Speaker
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- **2018-02-21** Signed by President
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- **2018-02-22** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/22/18
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- **2018-02-22** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 1, 2018
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- **2018-02-26** Approved by Governor-Chapter 41 (effective 7/1/18) `executive-signature`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5fb90ecc-0de4-4c52-842e-5f9f2784956e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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