A new obligation for apartment owners. Some will only have 30 days

A week ago, the Minister of Interior and Administration, Tomasz Siemoniak, signed a regulation that introduces new obligations regarding the use of fire detectors (smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors). – I signed a regulation that introduces new rules regarding the use of detectors. It imposes various obligations – informed the head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration.

The regulation aims to introduce changes in two areas of fire protection in buildings. In the first area, the change involves specifying the obligation to use appropriate devices that detect threats related to fire or carbon monoxide release. The primary goal of this change is to reduce the number of deaths and injuries in fires and carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) poisoning. The change in the second area concerns the introduction of the obligation to appropriately mark the places of connection of the fire separation wall with the external wall and with the roof in large-scale commercial, production and warehouse buildings. Marking these places in the manner specified in the regulation will enable firefighters to immediately identify the boundaries of fire zones in the building, which will, in turn, allow for more effective fire-fighting actions and limiting the possibility of the fire spreading to adjacent fire zones.

Detectors in hotel facilities from mid-2026.

Pursuant to the regulation, rooms and residential premises in which hotel services are provided (related to the short-term, generally available rental of houses, apartments, rooms, beds, etc.) should be equipped with autonomous smoke detectors and autonomous carbon monoxide detectors as soon as possible.

– Because in this type of activity we deal with cases of making rooms or premises available to other people who stay overnight there and are not familiar with the building and the fire protection solutions it contains. – explains the Ministry of Interior and Administration.

The date of introduction of the obligation is scheduled for June 30, 2026.

In the case of residential premises and their rooms in which solid, liquid or gaseous fuels are burned and used as such premises or rooms on the date of entry into force of the regulation, the requirements for installing autonomous smoke detectors and autonomous carbon monoxide detectors will apply from January 1, 2030 r.

Sensors mandatory in new buildings

In other cases (newly constructed residential buildings and residential rooms or residential units intended for the provision of hotel services), the obligations regarding the installation of autonomous smoke detectors and autonomous carbon monoxide detectors must be fulfilled after 30 days from the date of publication of the regulation.

In buildings for which a decision on an occupancy permit was issued before the entry into force of the regulation, including those where an application for a building permit or a separate application for approval of a plot or area development plan or an architectural and construction design was submitted – and these applications were prepared pursuant to the existing fire protection regulations, or the construction or construction works have been notified – the requirements for marking fire separation walls are to apply from January 1, 2026.

– We want to give a strong signal from the state that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors should be something that everyone has in their home – sums up the head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration.