On March 20th, the Governor of Massachusetts along with the State Fire Marshall issued an emergency executive order regarding licensing and inspections. The inspections information is what we want to highlight in this post, as it will effect real estate transactions during this time.

Here is the exact wording from a memorandum issued by the Governor and Division of Fire Safety:

The second order defers smoke and CO inspections required under Section 26F and 26F ½ for up to ninety (90) days after this state of emergency is lifted provided:

(a)The buyer and seller agree, in writing, that the buyer not the seller shall be responsible to equip the property with compliant smoke and CO detectors/alarms and;

(b)The buyer agrees to equip the property in accordance with 527 CMR 1.00, Chapter 13.

You can read the full order regarding smoke and co detector inspections here.

If you are interested in reading full memorandum and order detailing smoke and co detector inspections, here is a link to the PDF file.

Remember, it’s always a good idea to check the batteries in smoke and co detectors regularly. Now is a great time to add this to the list of home items you might be working on. Stay safe.

Photo credit: “Smoke detector” by Mimooh via WikiMedia Commons.