2022 New York Laws
EXC - Executive
Article 18 - New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code Act
378 - Standards for New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.
§ 378. Standards for New York state uniform fire prevention and
building code. The uniform code shall address the following subjects:
1. Standards for the construction of all buildings or classes of
buildings, or the installation of equipment therein, including standards
for materials to be used in connection therewith, and standards for
safety and sanitary conditions. Notwithstanding the above, sleeping
quarters in a children's overnight camp as defined in subdivision one of
section thirteen hundred ninety-two of the public health law shall be
governed by subdivision one of section thirteen hundred ninety-four of
such law.
1-a. a. Standards for the construction of all new buildings and for
the construction or renovation of existing buildings that undergo a
substantial improvement, as defined by the council, located wholly or
partially in an area designated on the applicable Federal Emergency
Management Agency ("FEMA") flood insurance rate map, as amended from
time to time, as a Special Flood Hazard Area or Moderate Risk Flood
Hazard Area, for the purposes of safeguarding life and property therein
and thereabout from the hazards of sea level rise, flooding, saltwater
corrosion, coastal or riparian erosion, storms, and other degradation
that may arise out of characteristics of the coastal environment.
b. The standards in paragraph a of this subdivision shall (i) be
developed to address future physical climate risk due to sea level rise,
and/or storm surges and/or flooding, based on available data from
nationally recognized sources or data produced by state agencies based
on nationally recognized procedures, analysis, and studies predicting
the likelihood of extreme weather events, including hazard risk analysis
data if applicable, and after consultation with the department of
environmental conservation, and (ii) if appropriate, provide for regular
inspection, and repair, as necessary, of the interior structural
elements of buildings.
2. Standards for the condition, occupancy, maintenance, conservation,
rehabilitation and renewal of certain existing buildings, structures and
premises and for the safeguarding of life and property therein and
thereabout from the hazards of fire, explosion or release of toxic gases
arising from the storage, handling or use of combustible or hazardous
substances, materials or devices.
3. Standards for passenger elevators to promote uniformity and ease of
use for the handicapped including, but not limited to:
a. placement and identification of operating controls,
b. door jamb markings,
c. operation and leveling features,
d. operation, width, and safety features for doors,
e. hall buttons, and
f. hall lanterns.
4. Standards for areas of public assembly requiring:
a. approved fire protection equipment and systems shall be installed;
b. interior finishes shall be of appropriate grade to materially
retard the spread of smoke and flame, taking into consideration the fire
protection equipment and systems in place, and shall be maintained in
that condition;
c. no combustible material shall be placed in such amounts and
locations as would cause existing fire protection equipment and systems
to be substantially overburdened, nor shall any material be placed in
such manner as would cause safe exit to be significantly impeded; and
d. incorporation of the retroactivity provisions of article
eighteen-AA of this chapter.
e. for buildings included in group C5 of paragraph (f) of section
900.2 of title nine of the official compilation of codes, rules and
regulations of the state of New York, that water closets and urinals
provided for occupants, based upon capacity, shall be deemed sanitary
fixtures and shall be distributed on a basis such that the number of
such sanitary fixtures provided in rest facilities for men shall be
equal to the number of water closets provided in rest facilities
provided for women in buildings with an occupancy of four hundred or
less. For buildings consisting of more than four hundred occupants, an
additional water closet shall be added to a rest facility provided for
women for each sanitary fixture added to a similarly situated rest
facility provided for men.
The standards shall include provisions for the type, number, spacing
and location of fire protection equipment and systems, the
classification and maintenance of interior finishes, and the
accumulation of materials.
5. Standards for hotels, motels and lodging houses, requiring that a
notice be posted in a prominent place in each guest room, including but
not limited to the following information:
a. location of nearest exits and fire alarms;
b. procedures to be followed when the fire or smoke detector gives
warning; and
c. procedures to be followed in the event of fire or smoke
development.
5-a. Standards for installation of carbon monoxide detectors requiring
that every one or two-family dwelling, or any dwelling accommodation
located in a building owned as a condominium or cooperative in the state
or any multiple dwellings shall have installed an operable carbon
monoxide detector of such manufacture, design and installation standards
as are established by the council. Carbon monoxide detectors required by
this section are required only where the dwelling unit has appliances,
devices or systems that may emit carbon monoxide or has an attached
garage. For purposes of this subdivision, multiple dwelling means a
dwelling which is either rented, leased, let or hired out, to be
occupied, or is occupied as the temporary or permanent residence or home
of three or more families living independently of each other, including
but not limited to the following: a tenement, flat house, maisonette
apartment, apartment house, apartment hotel, tourist house, bachelor
apartment, studio apartment, duplex apartment, kitchenette apartment,
hotel, lodging house, rooming house, boarding house, boarding and
nursery school, furnished room house, club, sorority house, fraternity
house, college and school dormitory, convalescent, old age or nursing
homes or residences. It shall also include a dwelling, two or more
stories in height, and with five or more boarders, roomers or lodgers
residing with any one family. New construction shall mean a new facility
or a separate building added to an existing facility.
5-b. Standards for installation of single station smoke detecting
alarm devices requiring that:
a. every one or two-family dwelling or any dwelling accommodation
located in a building owned as a condominium or cooperative in the state
used as a residence shall have installed an operable single station
smoke detecting alarm device or devices,
b. such device or devices shall be installed in an area so that it is
clearly audible in each bedroom or other room used for sleeping
purposes, with intervening doors closed, in accordance with rules to be
promulgated by the council,
c. such device or devices shall be in compliance with the uniform
code, provided, however, that for purposes of this subdivision, battery
operated devices shall be permitted,
d. upon conveyance of any real property containing a one or two-family
dwelling or a condominium unit used as a residence and the transferor of
the shares allocated to an apartment located in a building owned by a
cooperative housing corporation where such apartment is used as a
residence, the grantor shall deliver to the grantee at the time of
conveyance an affidavit indicating that the grantor is in compliance
with this subdivision. The grantee shall have ten days from the date of
conveyance within which to notify the grantor if the alarm or alarms are
not operable. Upon notification, the transferor shall bear any cost of
compliance with the provisions of this subdivision,
e. notwithstanding any other provision of law, a failure to comply
with the provisions of this subdivision shall not be a breach of any
warranty in a conveyance of real property, nor shall it be a defense to
any claim made under a policy of insurance issued to insure the property
against fire or other casualty loss.
5-c. Standards for inspections of solid fuel burning heating
appliances, chimneys and flues requiring:
a. prior to the installation of any solid fuel burning heating
appliance, chimney or flue in any dwelling used as a residence, the
owner thereof, or his agent, shall first secure a building permit from
the appropriate local government official;
b. an appropriate and qualified inspector, as determined by the local
government, shall cause an inspection to be made of the solid fuel
burning heating appliance, chimney or flue at a time when such
inspection will best determine conformity of such installation with the
uniform code, provided, however, that the local government official may
waive such inspection for good cause shown;
c. upon approval of such installation, the appropriate local
government official shall issue a certificate evidencing compliance with
the appropriate provisions of the uniform code;
d. no owner of any dwelling used as a residence shall operate, or
cause to be operated, any solid fuel burning heating appliance until
such installation, including chimney and flue, has been approved and a
certificate indicating such approval obtained from the appropriate local
government official;
e. in the event of an accidental fire, requiring the services of a
fire department, in a solid fuel burning heating appliance, chimney or
flue, the chief of the fire department so responding may issue a
temporary thirty day certificate indicating substantial conformity with
the uniform code, until such time as an official inspector, as
determined by local law, or in the case of a locality that relies on
state inspection, a state inspector, shall cause an inspection to be
made and a certificate to be issued indicating conformity of such solid
fuel burning heating appliance, chimney or flue with the uniform code;
f. the issuance of such certificate of compliance shall not be deemed
to give rise to any claim or cause of action for damages against the
local government or local official for damages resulting from operation
or use of such solid fuel burning heating appliance, chimney or flue;
g. the local government in which such property is located may
establish and collect a reasonable fee for such inspection from the
owner of such property or his agent;
h. any violation of this subdivision shall be deemed a violation and
be punishable by a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars;
i. notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subdivision, in
the event of an emergency, where a delay occasioned by the requirement
of securing a building permit could reasonably be expected to cause
irrepairable damage to the property or serious personal injury to the
occupants or other person, the owner or his agent may commence such
installation without first obtaining such building permit provided
application therefore is filed within three business days after such
work is commenced.
5-d. Standards for installation of carbon monoxide detecting devices
requiring that the owner of every building that contains one or more
restaurants and the owner of every commercial building in the state
shall have installed in such building and shall maintain operable carbon
monoxide detecting device or devices of such manufacture, design and
installation standards as are established by the council. Carbon
monoxide detecting devices shall only be required if the restaurant or
commercial building has appliances, devices or systems that may emit
carbon monoxide or has an attached garage.
6. Standards for the use of lead in water supply systems constructed
or portions added on or after January first, nineteen hundred
eighty-six, including limiting the amount of lead in solder which may be
utilized in piping to convey potable water to not more than two-tenths
of one percent.
7. Standards for the construction of water supply systems which shall
prohibit the use of asbestos cement pipe to convey potable water for any
new or modified construction on or after January first, nineteen hundred
ninety-two.
8. Standards for hotels, motels and lodging houses requiring (in
addition to any other requirement) portable smoke-detecting alarm
devices for the deaf and hard of hearing of audible and visual design,
available for three percent of all units available for occupancy, with a
minimum of one unit. If any other law or regulation requires a central,
closed circuit interior alarm system, such device shall be incorporated
into or connected to the system so as to be capable of being activated
by the system. Incorporation into the existing system shall be in lieu
of the portable alarms. Standards shall require operators of any such
establishment to post conspicuously at the main desk or other similar
station a notice in letters at least three inches in height stating that
smoke-detector alarm devices for the deaf and hard of hearing are
available. The council shall mandate by rule and regulation the specific
design of the smoke-detector alarm devices.
9. Standards for buildings (designated as "Group B3-senior citizens"
in regulations promulgated pursuant to the New York state uniform fire
prevention and building code act) housing senior citizens, intended
primarily for persons sixty-two years old or more, who are in good
physical condition and do not require physical assistance, requiring
that a notice be posted in a prominent place in each residential unit,
including but not limited to the following information:
a. location of nearest exits and fire alarms;
b. procedures to be followed when the fire or smoke detector gives
warning; and
c. procedures to be followed in the event of fire or smoke
development.
10. Standards for assistive listening systems for new construction
commenced after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-one requiring the
installation of assistive listening systems at all places of public
assembly so designated by the appropriate building and fire code for use
by persons who are deaf or hard of hearing who require use of such a
system to improve their reception of sound.
a. For purposes of this subdivision, the term (i) "assistive listening
system" shall mean situational-personal acoustic communication equipment
designed to improve the transmission and auditory reception of sound;
and (ii) "place of public assembly" shall mean a facility which is open to
the public as a theater, meeting hall, hearing room, amphitheater,
auditorium, or in any other similar capacity.
b. Standards for such systems shall be developed by the state fire
prevention and building code council upon receiving recommendations from
the advisory board on assistive listening systems in places of public
assembly.
c. The appropriate building code or ordinance shall designate such
places of public assembly which shall be required to install such
assistive listening systems.
11. Standards for buildings shall authorize the installation of
potable water heaters for all domestic uses, including space heating.
* 12. a. Standards for bed and breakfast dwellings shall be
promulgated for fire safety. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
article, for the purposes of this subdivision a "bed and breakfast
dwelling" shall include an owner-occupied residence providing at least
three but not more than five rooms for temporary transient lodgers with
sleeping accommodations and a meal in the forenoon of the day. Such
standards shall distinguish bed and breakfast dwellings from one and two
family dwellings, provide specific options for hard-wired single-station
smoke detectors and provide a notice to each guest that contains:
(i) the location of nearest exits and fire alarms;
(ii) procedures to be followed when fire or smoke detectors give
warning; and
(iii) procedures to be followed in the event of fire or smoke
development.
b. Such standards shall also include egress design options to preserve
the aesthetic charm and historical significance of such dwellings that
shall be limited to one of the following:
(i) an automatic sprinkler head in the stairwell area of any means of
egress;
(ii) an external second floor egress; or
(iii) a portable escape device for each guest room.
c. The standards required by this subdivision shall be promulgated and
implemented not later than one hundred twenty days after the effective
date of this paragraph.
* NB There are 2 sub 12's
* 12. Standards for hospice residences, as defined in section four
thousand two of the public health law, which shall be deemed to be
either a single family dwelling or a two family dwelling for the
purposes of local laws and ordinances relating to fire safety and
building construction standards.
* NB There are 2 sub 12's
13. Standards for the abandonment or removal of heating oil storage
tanks and related piping in connection with the conversion of liquid
fuel burning appliance to alternative fuel requiring:
a. The entire contents of the heating oil storage tank and related
piping shall be emptied, cleaned and purged of all vapor. The contents
of the storage tank and related piping shall be removed from the
premises or property and disposed of in accordance with applicable
local, state or federal rules and regulations;
b. If the heating oil storage tank is to be abandoned in place, the
vent line shall remain open and intact, unless the tank is filled with
an inert material. The oil fill pipe and other related piping shall
either be removed, or the oil fill pipe shall be filled with concrete;
c. If the heating oil storage tank is to be removed, the vent line,
oil fill pipe and related piping shall also be removed, or the oil fill
pipe shall be filled with concrete;
d. An appropriate and qualified inspector, as determined by the local
government, shall cause an inspection to be made of the abandonment or
removal in connection with the conversion to determine conformity with
the uniform code; provide, however, that the local government official
may waive such inspection for good cause shown; and
e. No approval of such abandonment or removal shall be granted unless
written proof of the heating oil storage tank's oil fill pipe having
been removed or filled with concrete in accordance with appropriate
provisions of the uniform code has been provided by the property owner
to the local inspector or, in the event that an inspection has been
waived for good cause shown, to the local government official.
f. For the purposes of this subdivision, "heating oil storage tank"
shall mean a tank used for storing heating oil for consumptive use on
the premises where stored.
g. In cities with a population of over one million, such cities' local
code provisions shall be at least as stringent as the provisions of this
subdivision.
h. The property owner shall provide written notice to his or her home
heating oil supplier or suppliers to inform them of such conversion to
an alternate fuel prior to the commencement of the new home heating
service.
14. Provide that any:
a. gates required to be provided in a swimming pool enclosure shall be
self-closing and self-latching with the latch handle located within the
enclosure and at least forty inches above grade, and shall be securely
locked with a key, combination or other child proof lock sufficient to
prevent access to such swimming pool through such gate when such
swimming pool is not in use or supervised;
b. residential or commercial swimming pool constructed or
substantially modified after the effective date of this paragraph shall
be equipped with an acceptable pool alarm capable of detecting a child
entering the water and of giving an audible alarm; and
c. hot tub or spa with a safety cover which complies with American
Society of Testing and Materials International standard F1346 (2003) or
any similar standard which may be approved by the council shall be
exempt from the provisions of this subdivision and any swimming pool,
other than a hot tub or spa, with an automatic power safety cover which
complies with American Society of Testing and Materials International
standard F1346 (2003) or any similar standard which may be approved by
the council shall be exempt from the provisions of paragraph b of this
subdivision.
d. temporary swimming pool enclosure shall be required to be replaced
by a permanent enclosure which is in compliance with New York state
codes, regulations or local laws within ninety days from the issuance of
a local building permit or the commencement of the installation of an
in-ground swimming pool, whichever is later. A local building department
may issue a waiver to allow an extension of such ninety day time period
for good cause including but not limited to adverse weather conditions
delaying construction.
15. Standards for temporary swimming pool enclosures used during the
installation or construction of swimming pools requiring that any such
enclosure shall sufficiently prevent any access to such swimming pool by
any person not engaged in the installation or construction of such
swimming pool and shall sufficiently provide for the safety of any such
person.
16. Standards requiring the installation and maintenance of at least
one safe, sanitary, and convenient diaper changing station, deck, table,
or similar amenity which shall be available for use by both male and
female occupants and which shall comply with section 603.5 (Diaper
Changing Tables) of the two thousand nine edition of the publication
entitled ICC A117.1, Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities,
published by the International Code Council, Inc., on each floor level
containing a public toilet room in all newly constructed buildings in
the state that have one or more areas classified as assembly group A
occupancies or mercantile group M occupancies and in all existing
buildings in the state that have one or more areas classified as
assembly group A occupancies or mercantile group M occupancies and
undergo a substantial renovation. The council shall prescribe the type
of renovation to be deemed to be a substantial renovation for the
purposes of this subdivision. The council may exempt historic buildings
from the requirements of this subdivision.
17. Standards requiring that, in each building that has one or more
areas classified as assembly group A occupancies or mercantile group M
occupancies and in which at least one diaper changing station, deck,
table, or similar amenity is installed, a sign shall be posted in a
conspicuous place in each public toilet room indicating the location of
the nearest diaper changing station, deck, table, or similar amenity
that is available for use by the gender using such public toilet room.
The requirements of this subdivision shall apply without regard to
whether the diaper changing station, deck, table, or similar amenity was
installed voluntarily or pursuant to subdivision sixteen of this section
or any other applicable law, statute, rule, or regulation. No such sign
shall be required in a public toilet room in which any diaper changing
station, deck, table, or similar amenity is located.
18. Standards requiring that grease traps or interceptors located in a
place that may be accessible by the public, or located inside any food
service establishment, or located in any other building that is open to
the public, shall be designed and maintained to withstand expected loads
and to prevent unauthorized access. Such standards shall also include
requiring the installation of a warning sign or symbol, as determined by
the council, on or in the vicinity of such grease traps or interceptors.
Such standards shall apply to new and existing grease traps and
interceptors. For the purposes of this subdivision, "food service
establishment" shall have the same meaning as in part fourteen of title
ten of the New York code of rules and regulations.
19. a. To support the goal of zero on-site greenhouse gas emissions
and help achieve the state's clean energy and climate agenda, including
but not limited to greenhouse gas reduction requirements set forth
within chapter one hundred six of the laws of two thousand nineteen,
also known as the New York state climate leadership and community
protection act, the uniform code shall prohibit the installation of
fossil-fuel equipment and building systems, in any new building not more
than seven stories in height, except for a new commercial or industrial
building greater than one hundred thousand square feet in conditioned
floor area, on or after December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-five,
and the uniform code shall prohibit the installation of fossil-fuel
equipment and building systems, in all new buildings on or after
December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-eight.
b. The provisions set forth in paragraph a of this subdivision shall
not be construed as applying to buildings existing prior to the
effective date of the applicable prohibition, including to:
(i) the repair, alteration, addition, relocation, or change of
occupancy or use of such buildings; and
(ii) the installation or continued use and maintenance of fossil-fuel
equipment and building systems, including as related to cooking
equipment, in any such buildings.
c. In addition, in effectuating the provisions set forth in paragraph
a of this subdivision the code shall include exemptions for the purposes
of allowing the installation and use of fossil-fuel equipment and
building systems where such systems are installed and used:
(i) for generation of emergency back-up power and standby power
systems;
(ii) in a manufactured home as defined in subdivision seven of section
six hundred one of the executive law; or
(iii) in a building or part of a building that is used as a
manufacturing facility, commercial food establishment, laboratory, car
wash, laundromat, hospital, other medical facility, critical
infrastructure, including but not limited to emergency management
facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, and water treatment and
pumping facilities, agricultural building, fuel cell system, or
crematorium, as such terms are defined by the code council.
d. Where the uniform code includes an allowed exemption pursuant to
subparagraph (i) or (iii) of paragraph c of this subdivision, other than
agricultural buildings as defined by the council, such exemption shall
include provisions that, to the fullest extent feasible, limit the use
of fossil-fuel equipment and building systems to the system and area of
the building for which a prohibition on fossil-fuel equipment and
building systems is infeasible; except with respect to servicing
manufacturing or industrial processes, require the area or service
within a new building where fossil-fuel equipment and building systems
are installed be electrification ready; and minimize emissions from the
fossil-fuel equipment and building systems that are allowed to be used,
provided that such provisions do not adversely affect health, safety,
security, or fire protection. Financial considerations shall not be
sufficient basis to determine physical or technical infeasibility.
e. Exemptions included in the uniform code pursuant to this
subdivision shall be periodically reviewed by the code council to assure
that they continue to effectuate the purposes of paragraph a of this
subdivision and subparagraph three of paragraph b of subdivision two of
section three hundred seventy-one of this article to the fullest extent
feasible.
f. The code shall allow for exemption of a new building construction
project that requires an application for new or expanded electric
service, pursuant to subdivision one of section thirty-one of the public
service law and/or section twelve of the transportation corporations
law, when electric service cannot be reasonably provided by the grid as
operated by the local electric corporation or municipality pursuant to
subdivision one of section sixty-five of the public service law;
provided, however, that the public service commission shall determine
reasonableness for purposes of this exemption. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "grid" shall have the same meaning as electric plant, as
defined in subdivision twelve of section two of the public service law.
g. For the purposes of this subdivision:
(i) "Fossil-fuel equipment and building systems" shall mean (A)
equipment, as such term is defined in section 11-102 of the energy law,
that uses fossil-fuel for combustion; or (B) systems, other than items
supporting an industrial or commercial process as referred to in the
definition of equipment in section 11-102 of the energy law, associated
with a building that will be used for or to support the supply,
distribution, or delivery of fossil-fuel for any purpose, other than for
use by motor vehicles.
(ii) "Electrification ready" means the new building or portion thereof
where fossil-fuel equipment and building systems are allowed to be used
which contains electrical systems and designs that provide sufficient
capacity for a future replacement of such fossil-fuel equipment and
building systems with electric-powered equipment, including but not
limited to sufficient space, drainage, electrical conductors or
raceways, bus bar capacity, and overcurrent protective devices for such
electric-powered equipment.
20. a. Except as otherwise provided by statute, no change to the
building code shall become effective until at least ninety days after
the date on which notice of such change has been published in the state
register, unless the council finds that:
(i) an earlier effective date is necessary to protect health, safety
and security; or
(ii) the change to the code will not impose any additional compliance
requirements on any person.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision,
the council may provide that, in the period during which changes to the
code have been adopted but are not yet effective pursuant to paragraph a
of this subdivision, a person shall have the option of complying with
either the provisions of the code as changed or with the code provisions
as they were set forth immediately prior to the change.
