CHAPTER 792. SMOKE DETECTORS IN HOTELS
HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
TITLE 9. SAFETY
SUBTITLE C. FIRE
CHAPTER 792. SMOKE DETECTORS IN HOTELS
Sec. 792.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Hotel" means a building in which members of the public
obtain sleeping accommodations for consideration, including a
hotel, motel, tourist home, tourist house, tourist court, hostel,
lodging house, rooming house, or inn. The term does not include:
(A) a hospital, sanitarium, or nursing home; or
(B) a building in which all or substantially all of the
occupants have the right to use or possess their sleeping
accommodations for at least 28 consecutive days.
(2) "Person" has the meaning assigned by Section 1.07, Penal
Code.
(3) "Smoke detector" means a device that is:
(A) designed to detect the presence of visible or invisible
products of combustion in the air; and
(B) designed with an alarm audible throughout the room in which
it is installed to alert the occupants of the room of the
presence of visible or invisible products of combustion in the
air of the room.
(4) "Smoke detector for hearing-impaired persons" means a smoke
detector that, in addition to the sound alarm, uses a xenon
design strobe light with a visible effective intensity of not
less than 100 candela, as tested and labeled in accordance with
ANSI/UL Standard 1638, and with a flash rate of not less than 60
nor more than 120 flashes per minute.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
Sec. 792.002. SMOKE DETECTORS IN HOTELS; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a)
A person who operates a hotel commits an offense if the person:
(1) does not maintain a smoke detector in good working order in
every room of the hotel that is regularly used for sleeping;
(2) does not maintain smoke detectors for hearing-impaired
persons as prescribed by Subsection (b); or
(3) does not comply with the requirements of Subsection (c) if a
hotel patron requests a room with a smoke detector for
hearing-impaired persons.
(b) A person who operates a hotel shall maintain one smoke
detector for hearing-impaired persons for each 60, or fraction of
60, rooms of the hotel that are regularly used for sleeping,
except that the operator is not required to maintain more than
five smoke detectors for hearing-impaired persons.
(c) If a hotel patron requests a room with a smoke detector for
hearing-impaired persons, the operator of the hotel shall:
(1) assign the patron to a room in which a hard-wired smoke
detector for hearing-impaired persons has been properly
installed; or
(2) install in the patron's room a portable smoke detector for
hearing-impaired persons using a receptacle that cannot be
controlled by a wall switch.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
(e) A person commits a separate offense under this section on
each calendar day the person commits the offense.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
Sec. 792.003. SMOKE DETECTOR LIST. (a) To qualify for use
under this chapter, a smoke detector must be listed by the state
fire marshal after the device has been tested and shown to be
effective by the state fire marshal or by a testing laboratory
under conditions and procedures approved by the state fire
marshal.
(b) In lieu of or in addition to the list made under Subsection
(a), the state fire marshal may substitute or use a list of
devices that comply with standards of manufacture and
installation adopted under Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 628, Sec. 9, eff. Sept. 1,
1991.