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.