Italy Short-Term Rentals: Gas and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

October 9, 2024

The Law of December 15, 2023 was published in the Official Gazette. The new legislation stipulates that houses and apartments rented out for tourist purposes are obliged to install carbon monoxide and combustible gas detectors.

Here are the specific requirements in the regulations:

“Residential real estate units leased for tourism purposes or pursuant to Article 4 of Legislative Decree No. 50 of 24 April 2017, converted, with amendments, by Law No. 96 of 21 June 2017, managed in the business forms referred to in paragraph 8, are equipped with the system safety requirements, as prescribed by current state and regional legislation.

In any case, all real estate units are equipped with functioning devices for the detection of combustible gases and carbon monoxide as well as portable fire extinguishers in compliance with the law.

The fire extinguisher must be located in accessible and visible positions, in particular near the entrances and near the areas of greatest danger.

In any case, it must be installed at a rate of one for every 200 square meters of floor, or fraction, with a minimum of one fire extinguisher per floor.”

The short-term rentals mentioned in the regulations mainly refer to holiday homes, homestays, Airbnb hosts, tourist accommodation facilities (including hotels and non-hotels) that are used for tourist rentals or short-term rentals (less than 30 days). Anyone who rents out a property that does not comply with the new law can expect to be fined up to €8,000 (antincendionatalini, n.d).

Carbon Monoxide Detector Requirements

Certificate - Regulations require that carbon monoxide detectors must comply with the European standard EN 50291, which is intended for use in domestic environments. Using an electrochemical cell sensor, a carbon monoxide detector can signal whether the carbon monoxide content in a room exceeds a safe level. Under normal circumstances, the alarm will sound immediately if the carbon monoxide concentration exceeds 300ppm within 3 minutes. A concentration of 300ppm means that the human body will experience severe poisoning symptoms and may even cause death by suffocation. Therefore, it is crucial to have a detector that accurately detects carbon monoxide concentrations. During use, keep the room well ventilated and avoid behaviors such as closing doors and windows for a long time to reduce the risk of excessive carbon monoxide concentrations.

Installation location - It must be placed in all environments where there is a fuel system, such as kitchens, bathrooms or boiler rooms. For correct measurement, the maximum distance between the carbon monoxide detector and any device that may release gas or CO is 15 meters (recomindustriale, 2024.03) . 1 to 3 meters away from burning appliances such as cookers or boilers. If it is placed on the wall, it must be 15 cm from the ceiling.

Requirements for gas detectors

Certificate - It is necessary to ensure that methane and LPG detectors comply with the European standard EN 50194. This certification specifies the general requirements for the construction, testing and performance of electrically powered devices for the detection of flammable gases (antincendionatalini, n.d). In the methane and LPG versions, they are calibrated to detect gas concentrations equal to 10% of the LEL (lower explosion limit). This value is the alarm value of the gas detector, which means that the flammable gas content only reaches ten percent of its lower explosion limit, which is generally a first alarm. When it exceeds 20%, it is a second alarm.

Installation - For gas detectors, avoid battery-powered types, as the catalytic sensor must remain hot at all times to react to the gas that may be present. We recommend the socket-type. Methane and LPG gas detectors have slightly different installation requirements. Methane gas detectors must be installed no more than 30 cm from the ceiling. LPG gas detectors must be installed a maximum of 30 cm from the floor. Both must be within 1 to 4 meters of combustion equipment using gas (antincendionatalini, n.d).

natural gas alarm

When installing carbon monoxide detectors and gas detectors, please do not forget to maintain them regularly to ensure accurate detection. As an owner, if you do not want to lose customers and be fined, please install carbon monoxide detectors and gas detectors for your house as soon as possible. If you have any technical and installation questions, you can contact us and we will help you.

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Carbon Monoxide Detectors