Filing and Approval of a Fire Safety Plan for Buildings Containing Transient Occupants Such as Hotels and Motels.
1 RCNY § 15-05
in effect§ 15-05 Filing and Approval of a Fire Safety Plan for Buildings Containing Transient Occupants Such as Hotels and Motels.
(a) Number of occupants. These rules and regulations shall apply to buildings or parts thereof classified in Article 11 of Subchapter 3 of Chapter 1 to Title 27 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York as occupancy group J-l, J-2 occupied or arranged to be occupied in whole or part by a transient occupancy. For the purpose of these rules and regulations, buildings or parts thereof which contain a total of more than 30 sleeping rooms or can accommodate a total of more than 30 lodgers, or contains more than 15 sleeping rooms or can accommodate more than 15 lodgers above the first or ground story, used for living or sleeping purposes by the same person or persons for a period of ninety days or less shall be considered as being occupied by a transient occupancy. Such buildings shall include but are not limited to buildings occupied as hotels, motels, lodging houses, dormitories and single room occupancies. All such buildings occupied or arranged to be occupied in whole or part by a transient occupancy, regardless of the number of sleeping rooms or accommodations, over 75 feet in height, shall comply with these rules and regulations. The owner or other person having charge of such building shall file a Fire Safety Plan with the Fire Department indicating compliance with 1 RCNY § 15-05(b) within 30 days after the effective date of these rules and regulations. The owner or other person shall resubmit the revised Fire Safety Plan for approval within 30 days after receiving comments from the Fire Department. Upon approval, the Fire Safety Plan shall be immediately put into effect. The owner or other person having charge of such building shall comply with 1 RCNY §§ 15-05(c)(1) to 15-04(c)(5) within 30 days of the effective date of these rules and regulations.
(b) Details of fire safety plan.
(1) A fire safety plan for fire drill and evacuation procedures in accordance with the requirements of the Fire Commissioner shall be submitted to the Fire Department and the approval of the Fire Commissioner shall be obtained. The applicable parts of the fire safety plan shall be distributed to the building service employees. All employees of the building shall participate and cooperate in carrying out the provisions of the fire safety plan.
(2) Fire safety director and deputy fire safety director.
(i) One employee shall be designated as fire safety director and a sufficient number of employees shall be designated as deputy fire safety directors. Such employees shall have a knowledge of the building's fire protection systems and shall have a certificate of fitness, in accordance with the requirements of the Fire Commissioner, qualifying him to conduct fire drills, evacuations and related activities such as organizing, training and supervising a fire brigade when required. In the absence of a fire safety director, when a fire safety director is required to be on duty in the building, such deputy fire safety director shall act as fire safety director.
(ii) As the building is continuously occupied, there shall be a fire safety director continuously on duty in the building with the required certificate of fitness. During fire emergencies, the primary responsibility of the fire safety director shall be the manning of the fire command post and the direction and execution of the evacuation as provided in the fire safety plan and to assist the Fire Department with his knowledge of the building's fire protection systems. Such activities shall be subject to the Fire Department control.
(3) If sufficient personnel are available, as determined by the Fire Department, a fire brigade shall be organized.
(4) Fire drills shall be conducted, in accordance with the fire safety plan, at least once every three months on each shift. A written record of such drills shall be kept on the premises for a three year period and shall be readily available for inspection by the Fire Department.
(5) In buildings where compliance would cause practical difficulty or undue hardship, the Fire Commissioner may waive or modify the requirements of this subdivision and accept alternatives fulfilling the intent of these requirements consistent with public safety.
(c) Signage.
(1) Elevator landings. A sign shall be posted and maintained on every floor at the elevator landing. The sign shall read "IN CASE OF FIRE, USE STAIRS UNLESS OTHERWISE INSTRUCTED." The lettering shall be at least one-half inch block letters and of contrasting color from the background or as otherwise approved by the Commissioner of Buildings. Such lettering shall be properly spaced to provide good legibility. The sign shall also contain a diagram showing the location where it is posted and the location and letter identification of the stairs on the floor. The sign shall be at least eight inches by ten inches, located directly above a call button and securely attached to the wall or partition. The top of such sign shall not be above six feet from the floor level. The diagram on such sign may be omitted provided that signs containing such diagram are posted in conspicuous places on the respective floor. In such case, the sign at the elevator landing shall be at least two and one-half inches by ten inches and the diagram signs shall be at least eight inches by ten inches.
(2) Floor numbering. A sign shall be posted and maintained with each stair enclosure on every floor, indicating the number of the floor. The numerals and background shall be in contrasting colors. The sign shall be securely attached to the stair side of the door.
(3) Stairs and elevators. Each stair and each bank of elevators shall be identified by an alphabetic letter. A sign indicating the letter of identification for the elevator bank shall be posted and maintained at each elevator landing directly above or as part of the sign specified in 1 RCNY § 15-05(c)(1). The stair identification sign shall be posted and maintained on the occupancy side of the stair door. The letter on the sign shall be at least three inches high, of bold type and of contrasting color from the background. Such signs shall be securely attached.
(4) Sign material. Signs shall be of metal or other durable material.
(5) Placing, size and content of signs. A sign shall be posted and maintained on the inside of every door opening onto a public corridor giving access to a sleeping room. The sign shall contain a diagram showing the location where it is posted and the location and letter identification of the exit stairs on the floor. The diagram shall indicate the number of doors opening onto the public corridor which must be passed to reach each exit stair. The sign shall be at least eight inches by ten inches, located on the inside of the door and securely attached thereto. The top of such signs shall not be above six feet from the floor level. These signs are in addition to the signs required in 1 RCNY § 15-05(c)(1). These signs may contain such additional information as the Fire Department may require.
(6) Additional sign requirements. When floors or parts of floors are used as accessory to a J-l and J-2 transient occupancy, "Elevator Landings" 1 RCNY § 15-05(c)(1), "Floor Numbering" 1 RCNY § 15-05(c)(2) and "Stairs and Elevators" 1 RCNY § 15-05(c)(3) shall be required.
Source: City of New York, Charter, Administrative Code and Rules (American Legal Publishing XML export, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/newyorkcity/latest/NYCrules/0-0-0-623Fetched: 10/24/2026