Phase two of carbon monoxide enforcement is underway

Ottawa residents are reminded during Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week, November 1 to 7, to ensure that their homes meet safety standards required by Ontario law.

To help, residents achieve this standard, the City, in partnership with the Ottawa Community Support Coalition (OCSC) will begin distributing and installing carbon monoxide alarms to up to 1,400 vulnerable older adults. Residents who qualify for the alarms will be identified through the OCSC.

Any residential property with a fuel-fired appliance or attached garage must have a carbon monoxide alarm installed near each sleeping area. In multi-residential dwellings, CO alarms are required in service areas, units that are attached to service areas and units that have fuel-burning appliances.

This law was enacted in October 2014 with a one-year grace period for homeowners to comply. The grace period has passed and the law now applies to all property owners, including owners of properties with six or more residential units.

Often called the silent killer, carbon monoxide is an invisible, odourless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel are potential sources of carbon monoxide. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

Like smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms should be tested at least once a month and replaced according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When you changed your clocks last weekend, it was recommended that you also change the batteries in all your household alarms and emergency kits.

If the audible trouble signal sounds on your alarm:

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Check for low batteries. If the battery is low, replace it.

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If it still sounds, or you suspect CO in your home, have everyone in the home exit to the outdoors and then call 9-1-1.

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Remain at the fresh air location until emergency personnel arrive to assist you.

Find out more on carbon monoxide safety at ottawa.ca .