This bill amends RCW 43.44.110 to require smoke detection devices in dwelling units that are occupied by nonowners on or after December 31, 1981, built or manufactured in Washington after December 31, 1980, or sold on or after July 1, 2019. It requires owners to install devices and tenants to maintain them (including battery replacement as specified by the manufacturer), and requires owners to ensure devices are operational before reoccupying a vacant unit. For units sold on or after July 1, 2019, sellers must provide at least one smoke detection device before the buyer or another person occupies the unit; failure to provide a device does not affect transfer of title, ownership, or possession. The bill makes other procedural and enforcement changes: smoke detection devices must meet nationally accepted standards and rules promulgated by the chief of the Washington State Patrol through the director of fire protection under the Administrative Procedure Act. Interconnection is not required where it is not already present in buildings undergoing repairs solely as a condition of sale. Real estate brokers licensed under chapter 18.85 RCW and persons or nonprofits who assist with installing a device are protected from civil, administrative, or other liability related to a seller’s or owner’s failure to comply or the installation itself. The Washington State Patrol must develop education materials for county fire marshals and local fire officials. The bill creates penalties and an enforcement procedure: owners, sellers, or tenants who fail to comply may be fined up to $200; an owner is subject to a $5,000 fine if their failure is followed by a fire that causes property damage, personal injury, or death to a tenant or a member of a tenant’s household. Fines, less administrative enforcement costs, must be deposited into the smoke detection device awareness account (RCW 43.44.115). Enforcement by the Washington State Patrol is to occur after a fire when it is evident that a dwelling unit sold on or after July 1, 2019, lacked at least one smoke detection device. The text references RCW 43.44.115 and chapter 34.05 RCW for related procedures; the details of the awareness account and the specific national standards and rules to be adopted are not included here.

If enacted, owners will be required to have smoke detectors installed in most dwelling units they rent or sell and must make sure detectors are working before someone moves back in after a vacancy. Installation costs fall to owners, while routine upkeep and battery replacement become the tenant’s responsibility, and sellers of units sold on or after July 1, 2019 must provide at least one detector before occupancy. Noncompliance can lead to fines (up to $200 generally and up to $5,000 for an owner if a later fire causes tenant injury, death, or property damage), but failing to comply does not stop a sale or transfer of title. The Washington State Patrol will write rules, enforce violations (primarily after fires), and produce education materials for local fire officials, and fines (minus enforcement costs) go into the smoke detection device awareness account. Real estate brokers and people or nonprofits who help install detectors are protected from liability, and interconnection of alarms is not required where repairs are done only as a condition of sale. The bill does not specify the exact technical standards or the details of the awareness account, so those implementation specifics remain unclear.