By Danny YadronThe Daily Northwestern
Students should have swept the New Year’s Eve confetti off their apartment floors by now, but they might want to take a second look at their ceilings before settling into 2007.
The Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act, passed last May, requires all Illinois residences to install carbon monoxide detectors. As of Jan. 1, homes need to have one unit within 15 feet of all sleeping areas.
While the act does allow for some exceptions, Evanston Fire Inspector Bob Nelson said nearly all of Evanston falls under the new law. This includes all of Northwestern’s dorms.
“Very few buildings in Evanston fall under the exception,” Nelson said. “(The building) would have to be completely electric: no water heaters, no gas heaters, no gas stoves.”
However, students renting off-campus apartments don’t need to scramble to CVS. The law says building owners alone are required to purchase and install the detectors.
For northern Chicago property manager Parliament Enterprises, this means spending at least $30 per detector on several hundred units located in Evanston. But according to Sheldon Kantofs, president and property manager, the cost distribution is so minimal that it won’t directly cause a rent increase.
Still, he feels the law is a bit much.
“We’ve never had carbon monoxide poisoning in the 16 years I’ve managed Enterprise,” Kantofs said.
The property manager said installation is nearly complete on all the group’s properties. The same appears to be true for other Evanston landlords.
Zumi Topic, an assistant manager of Ridge One, said that all its buildings were outfitted with new detectors before the new year. Tenants were notified 48 hours before installation via memo.
While other landlords gave similar accounts, students might want to check their apartments while owners are still installing.
McCormick senior Shannon Binder, who lives at 2127 Ridge Ave. – a property managed by Ridge One – said she doesn’t know if her unit has a carbon monoxide detector.
“I haven’t received anything from my landlord about carbon monoxide,” Binder said.
The Evanston Fire Department can’t be sure everyone is complying because it doesn’t have the manpower to check every residence, Nelson said.
“If we go into a building and notice there’s no carbon monoxide detector, we would write them a ticket,” Nelson said. “We’re not going to go out and inspect every building.”
Tenants are responsible for maintaining the detectors once they are installed. For instance, if an inspected unit’s detector is tampered with or dead, the tenant gets the ticket, not the owner.
This is an easy problem to avoid for students who usually don’t live in Evanston year round, Nelson said.
He recommends making sure the landlord has installed fresh batteries and that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are in every sleeping area.
“Evanston (landlords are) pretty good. They don’t want to get fined.”
Reach Danny Yadron at [email protected].
Causes of carbon monoxide-Defective gas, oil furnaces or water heaters-Cracked chimney flues-Indoor use of charcoal grills-Using a gas oven to warm a room-Running a car in an enclosed area-Closing fireplace damper before fire is completely out
