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Md. Code, Public Safety § 9-201

This is the official text of Md. Code, Public Safety § 9-201, part of Maryland’s Code, Public Safety — governs police, fire, and emergency services.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§9–201.

Official statutory text

(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.

(b) (1) “Dormitory” means a building or space in a building that:

(i) is under joint occupancy and single management; and

(ii) provides group sleeping accommodations:

1. with or without meals, but without individual cooking facilities;

2. for more than 16 individuals who are not members of the same family group; and

3. in one room or in a series of closely associated rooms.

(2) “Dormitory” includes a school dormitory, fraternity house, and military barracks.

(c) “Dwelling unit” means a single unit that:

(1) provides complete, independent living facilities for one or more individuals; and

(2) contains permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.

(d) (1) “Hotel” means a building or group of buildings that:

(i) is under the same management;

(ii) contains more than 16 sleeping accommodations for hire; and

(iii) is used primarily by transients who are lodged with or without meals.

(2) “Hotel” includes an inn, motel, club, and apartment hotel.

(e) (1) “Lodging or rooming house” means a building:

(i) in which separate sleeping rooms are rented; and

(ii) that provides sleeping accommodations:

1. for 16 or fewer individuals;

2. on either a transient or permanent basis; and

3. with or without meals, but without individual cooking facilities.

(2) “Lodging or rooming house” includes an inn, club, and bed and breakfast establishment.

(f) (1) “Multifamily residential dwelling” means a building or part of a building that:

(i) contains more than two dwelling units; and

(ii) is not classified as a one or two family dwelling.

(2) “Multifamily residential dwelling” does not include a town house.

(g) (1) “Public water system” means a system that:

(i) provides the public with piped water for human consumption; and

(ii) has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves at least 25 individuals.

(2) “Public water system” includes:

(i) a collection, treatment, storage, or distribution facility that is under the control of the operator of the system and is used primarily in connection with the system; and

(ii) a collection or pretreatment storage facility that is not under the control of the operator of the system and is used primarily in connection with the system.

(h) “Sprinkler system” means a device that:

(1) opens automatically by operation of a heat responsive releasing mechanism;

(2) discharges water in a specific pattern over a designated area to extinguish or control fire; and

(3) uses the same service water supply pipe to the dwelling unit that the public water system uses.

(i) “Town house” means a single family dwelling unit that is constructed in a horizontal series of attached units with property lines separating the units.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.