Effective April 13, 2000 the Rules of the City of New York were amended to add a new chapter, Local Law 10 High Rise Residential Sprinkler Bill. This section applies to all residential buildings and spaces including apartment houses, apartment hotels, school dormitories and other residential buildings and spaces that are primarily occupied for the shelter and sleeping accommodation of individuals on a month-to-month or long term basis.
Local Law 10 requires that owners of residential buildings or space prepare a fire safety plan and distribute the plan to the building's occupants and employees no later than October 31, 2000. If the owner distributes the fire safety plan in conjunction with the window guard notice distribution then distribution may be made no later than January 31, 2001.
CO-OPS/CONDOS
In buildings and spaces with a cooperative or condominium board form of ownership and management, the board of directors, condominium association or other party generally responsible for maintenance of the common areas shall be responsible for the preparation and distribution of the fire safety plan; the preparation, posting and maintenance of fire safety notices in common areas and the preparation and distribution to individual dwelling unit owners or proprietary lessees of fire safety notices for dwelling unit doors. The owners of proprietary lessees of the individual dwelling units in such residential buildings and spaces shall be responsible for the posting and maintenance of the fire safety notice on their respective dwelling unit doors.
FIRE SAFETY PLAN
The purpose of the fire safety plan is to inform building occupants and service employees as to the building's construction, fire safety systems, means of egress and evacuation and other procedures to be followed in the event of a fire.
The plan must include the above stated information, printed as a single- or double-sided document, stapled or bound, in full-page or booklet format, on paper not smaller than 8_" x 11" nor larger than 8_" x 14" in size. The text must be legible, using contrasting lettering and a type size not smaller than 11 point Times New Roman or the equivalent. The plan must be printed in English though the owner may print the fire safety plan in other languages that he feels would benefit the occupants and employees of the building or space.
The fire safety plan shall consist of two sections: a building information section and a fire emergency information section. The fire emergency information section shall include basic fire prevention and fire preparedness measures; building construction information; means of egress; information on the fire sprinkler, fire alarm and public address systems; emergency fire safety and evacuation instructions, etc.
The building information section shall be competed by the owner with the following information: the address of the building; name and address of the owner or his representative; number of floors; year of construction; type of construction (combustible or non-combustible); sprinkler and/or alarm systems, etc.
The owner of each residential building or space shall be responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in the building information section of the fire safety plan and for the accurate reproduction of the fire emergency section of the plan.
DISTRIBUTION
The fire safety plan shall be distributed to each dwelling unit in the building or space and to each building service employee. It must be distributed on an annual basis by hand delivery or by first class mail during Fire Safety Week (the first week of October). Or, if the plan is distributed together with the window guard notice as mentioned above, it shall be delivered, annually, in accordance with the rules of the Department of Health.
A new occupant must be given a copy of the fire safety plan along with the signing of a lease, sublease or other agreement allowing occupancy of the dwelling unit or space. If there is no written agreement, the occupant must be given a copy of the plan when he assumes occupancy of the premises.
A new building service employee shall be provided with a copy of the plan no later than the date upon which he commences the performance of his duties on the premises.
FIRE SAFETY NOTICES
The purpose of the fire safety notice is to inform all building occupants, service employees and visitors as to the evacuation and other procedures to be followed in the event of a building fire. The notice must be printed on a single-sided sheet of paper framed under a clear plexiglas cover or laminated with a firm backing and designed to be affixed by mounting hardware or an adhesive, or printed on a matte-finish vinyl adhesive-backed decal not less than three mils in thickness, using thermal printing, screen printing or other permanent, water-resistant printing technique.
The notice must be 5_" x 8_" in size (excluding the frame). Fire safety notices posted in common areas may be up to 8_" x 11". Print must be legible and not smaller than 10 point Times New Roman or equivalent. The notice must be printed in English. Again, the owner may print the fire safety notice in other languages that he feels would benefit the occupants and employees of the building or space.
A fire safety notice must be posted on the inside surface of the front or main entrance door of each dwelling unit in the building or space. A notice must be posted in a conspicuous location near any common mailbox area customarily used by the occupants of the building or space. If there is no common mailbox area, any conspicuous location in or near the elevators or main stairwell will do.
Each fire safety notice must be securely affixed to the door or wall so that no part of the notice is lower than four feet from the floor or higher than 5_ feet from the floor.
If you would like a copy of Local Law 10 High Rise Residential Sprinkler Bill along with sample notices and fire department information, we can fax or mail you the 23-page document. Please call NYARM at 212-505-8770 with your preference.