PRINTER'S NO. 1465
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1115
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY MUTH, BREWSTER, FONTANA, HAYWOOD, SCHWANK AND
COSTA, MARCH 28, 2024
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MARCH 28, 2024
AN ACT
Amending Title 58 (Oil and Gas) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes, in utilization, providing for combustible gas
detectors; and imposing a penalty.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 58 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes is amended by adding a chapter to read:
CHAPTER 37
COMBUSTIBLE GAS DETECTORS
Sec.
3701. Scope of chapter.
3702. Definitions.
3703. Fuel gas detector required.
3704. Residential rental units.
3705. Transfer of building.
3706. Noninterference.
3707. Construction.
3708. Enforcement.
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§ 3701. Scope of chapter.
This chapter relates to combustible gas detectors.
§ 3702. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Assembly occupancy." An assembly occupancy classification
consistent with the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code.
"Business occupancy." The business occupancy classification
consistent with the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code.
"Child care." Care in lieu of parental care given for part
of the day to a child under 16 years of age away from the
child's own home. The term does not include child care furnished
in a place of worship during religious services.
"Child-care facility." Any of the following:
(1) A premises in which child care is provided for a
period exceeding 24 hours for a child under 16 years of age
who is not a relative of the operator and is not accompanied
by a parent, individual standing in loco parentis or legal
guardian. The term does not include a premises selected for
care of a child by a parent, loco parentis or legal guardian
for a period of 30 days or less or a facility operated under
social service auspices.
(2) A premises in which child care is provided
simultaneously for seven or more children who are not
relatives of the operator, except a facility operated under
social service auspices.
(3) A home where child care is provided at any time to
no less than four children and no more than six children who
are not relatives of the caregiver.
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(4) A nursery school that is licensed and regulated by
the Commonwealth.
"Dormitory." A building that contains one or more housing
units owned or leased by an institution of higher education and
is used as a residence by the students of that institution.
"Fuel gas detector." A device that meets all of the
following requirements:
(1) Has an assembly that incorporates a sensor control
component and an alarm notification that detects elevations
in propane, natural gas or any liquefied petroleum gas.
(2) Sounds a warning alarm.
(3) Is approved or listed for the purpose specified in
paragraph (2) by a nationally recognized independent testing
laboratory.
"Housing unit." A room or suite of two or more rooms
occupied, leased for occupation or intended or designed to be
occupied as a residence by the students of an institution of
higher education.
"Install." To attach a fuel gas detector to a wall or
ceiling and:
(1) hard-wire the fuel gas detector into electrical
wiring;
(2) directly plug the fuel gas detector into an
electrical outlet without a switch, other than a circuit
breaker; or
(3) if the fuel gas detector is battery-powered, place
fully charged batteries into the fuel gas detector.
"Lodging establishment." As follows:
(1) Any of the following:
(i) A hotel, motel, inn, guest house or other
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structure held out by any means, including advertising,
license, registration with an innkeepers' group,
convention listing association, travel publication or
similar association or with a government agency, as being
available to provide overnight lodging or use of facility
space for consideration to persons seeking temporary
accommodation.
(ii) A place that advertises beds, sanitary
facilities or other space for a temporary period to
members of the public at large.
(iii) A place recognized as a hostelry.
(2) The term includes any portion of a facility devoted
to a person who pays consideration to occupy one or more
units as an established permanent residence.
"Mercantile occupancy." The mercantile occupancy
classification consistent with the provisions of the Uniform
Construction Code.
"Multifamily dwelling." A house or building, or a portion of
a house or building, intended or designed to be occupied or
leased for occupation, or occupied as a home or residence for
three or more households living and cooking in separate
apartments.
"Residential building." Detached one-family and two-family
dwellings and multiple single-family dwellings not more than
three stories in height with a separate means of egress,
including accessory structures.
"Uniform Construction Code." The Uniform Construction Code
adopted at 34 Pa. Code § 403.21 (relating to uniform
construction code) under the authority granted in the act of
November 10, 1999 (P.L.491, No.45), known as the Pennsylvania
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Construction Code Act.
§ 3703. Fuel gas detector required.
(a) Duty of owner to install.--
(1) An owner of any of the following buildings shall
install, or cause to be installed, in accordance with the
manufacturer's requirements, at least one approved fuel gas
detector in every room containing an appliance fueled by
propane, natural gas or any liquefied petroleum gas:
(i) A residential building.
(ii) Each unit in a multifamily dwelling.
(iii) A dormitory.
(iv) A child-care facility.
(v) A lodging establishment.
(vi) A mixed-use occupancy building containing a
dwelling unit.
(2) Beginning January 1, 2025, an owner of a building
with any of the following occupancy classifications shall
install, or cause to be installed, in accordance with the
manufacturer's requirements, at least one approved fuel gas
detector in every room containing an appliance fueled by
propane, natural gas or any liquefied petroleum gas:
(i) Assembly occupancy.
(ii) Business occupancy.
(iii) Mercantile occupancy.
(b) (Reserved).
§ 3704. Residential rental units.
(a) Duties of landlord.--A landlord of a residential unit
occupied under the terms of a rental agreement or under a month-
to-month tenancy shall:
(1) Provide fuel gas detectors, if fuel gas detectors
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are not already present.
(2) Maintain each fuel gas detector in working
condition.
(3) After notification, in writing, by the tenant of a
deficiency in a fuel gas detector, repair or replace the fuel
gas detector, if deficient.
(b) Annual inspection.--The landlord shall conduct a yearly
inspection of the fuel gas detector to ensure that it is in
working condition and shall certify at the end of each
inspection that a proper inspection occurred.
(c) Limitations.--If the landlord complied with the duty to
maintain the fuel detectors in accordance with this chapter and
did not know or had not been notified of the need to repair or
replace a fuel gas detector, the landlord's failure to repair or
replace the fuel gas detector may not be considered evidence of
negligence in a subsequent civil action arising from death,
property loss or personal injury.
(d) Duties of tenant.--
(1) A tenant may not disconnect or disable a fuel gas
detector in the unit occupied by the tenant from the
electrical service in the building.
(2) The tenant shall periodically test the fuel gas
detectors in a battery-powered fuel gas detector.
(3) The tenant shall promptly communicate any deficiency
of the fuel detector to the landlord.
§ 3705. Transfer of building.
(a) General rule.--A person that, after January 1, 2025,
acquires by sale or exchange a building listed in section
3703(a)(1) (relating to fuel gas detector required) shall:
(1) Install fuel gas detectors in the building in
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accordance with section 3703 within 30 days of acquisition or
occupancy of the building, whichever is later, if fuel gas
detectors are not already present.
(2) Certify at the closing of the transaction that fuel
gas detectors will be installed.
(b) Method of installation.--The person shall install a fuel
gas detector in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements
at the time of installation in each area containing an appliance
fueled by propane, natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas.
(c) Immunity.--A person may not have a claim for relief
against a property owner, a property purchaser, an authorized
agent of a property owner or purchaser, a person in possession
of real property, a closing agent or a lender for any damages
resulting from the operation, maintenance or effectiveness of a
fuel gas detector.
(d) Title unaffected by violation.--A violation of this
section does not create a defect in title to the property.
§ 3706. Noninterference.
(a) General rule.--A person may not knowingly interfere with
or make inoperative a fuel gas detector required under this
chapter.
(b) Exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply to an owner or
agent of an owner of a building who temporarily disconnects a
fuel gas detector in a dwelling unit or common area if:
(1) The fuel gas detector is disconnected only for
construction or rehabilitation activities when the activities
are likely to activate the fuel gas detector or make it
inactive.
(2) The fuel gas detector is immediately reconnected at
the cessation of construction or rehabilitation activities
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each day, regardless of the intent to return to construction
or rehabilitation activities on succeeding days.
§ 3707. Construction.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to create a cause
of action against an owner required to comply with section 3703
(relating to fuel gas detector required) or 3704 (relating to
residential rental units) if the owner has conducted an
inspection of the required fuel gas detectors immediately after
installation and has reinspected the fuel gas detectors prior to
occupancy by each new tenant, unless the owner was given at
least 24 hours' actual notice of a defect or failure of the fuel
gas detector to operate properly and failed to take action to
correct the defect or failure.
§ 3708. Enforcement.
(a) Complaint.--A person that is aggrieved by a violation of
this chapter may bring a civil action against an owner who fails
to comply with this chapter.
(b) Penalty.--An owner who violates this chapter shall be
subject to a civil fine of not more than $500 for each
violation. The court may waive any penalty or cost against a
violator upon satisfactory proof that the violation was
corrected within 10 days of the service of a complaint.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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