New York Laws
Article 18 - New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code Act
378 - Standards for New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.

(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.