Lumber Yards and Wood Waste Materials

NYC Admin. Code tit. 29, ch. 2, ch. 28

in effect

NYC Fire Code § FC 2801 General

Section FC 2801: General 2801.1 Scope. This chapter shall govern the manufacture, storage and handling of lumber, wood products and wood waste material. 2801.2 Permit. Permits shall be required as set forth in FC 105.6. 2801.3 General. Lumber and wood waste materials shall be stored and handled in accordance with this chapter. Facilities used for such purposes shall be designed, installed, operated and maintained in accordance with this chapter. 2801.4 Manufacturing prohibited. The manufacture of lumber, including plywood and other manufactured wood sheets, from trees and other natural wood materials, is prohibited, except as approved by the commissioner.

NYC Fire Code § FC 2802 Definitions

Section FC 2802: Definitions 2802.1 Terms defined in FC Chapter 2. Terms used in this chapter and defined in FC 202 shall have the meanings set forth therein.

NYC Fire Code § FC 2803 General Requirements

Section FC 2803: General Requirements 2803.1 Open yards. Open yards required by the construction codes, including the Building Code, shall be maintained around buildings and other structures in which lumber and wood waste are stored and handled. 2803.2 Dust control. Indoor installations that generate combustible dust shall be provided with explosion protection and other combustible dust mitigation measures in accordance with FC Chapter 22 and the construction codes. 2803.3 Housekeeping. Lumber yards, woodworking facilities and other locations at which lumber is cut or otherwise processed and/or wood waste materials generated, shall be cleaned at the end of each workday, to collect and remove from the premises sawdust and other waste materials. 2803.4 Reserved. 2803.5 Control of ignition sources. Protection shall be provided from ignition sources in accordance with FC Chapter 3 and FC 2803.5.1 through 2803.5.3. 2803.5.1 Hot work. Hot work shall comply with the requirements of FC Chapter 35. 2803.5.2 Static electricity. Static electricity shall be prevented from accumulating on equipment and systems subject to static electricity buildup by permanent grounding and bonding wires or other approved means. 2803.5.3 Smoking. It shall be unlawful to smoke in a lumber yard, woodworking facility or other facility in which wood or wood waste materials are manufactured, stored or handled.

NYC Fire Code § FC 2808 Outdoor Storage of Wood Chips and Other Wood Waste Materials

Section FC 2808: Outdoor Storage of Wood Chips and Other Wood Waste Materials 2808.1 General. Wood chips and other wood waste materials shall be stored and handled in accordance with this section. 2808.2 Storage areas. Storage areas shall be level and on solid ground or other all-weather surface. Storage areas shall be thoroughly cleaned before transferring wood products to the area. 2808.3 Size of piles. Piles shall not exceed 25 feet (7620 mm) in height, 150 feet (45 720 mm) in width and 250 feet (76 200 mm) in length. Exception: The commissioner may authorize increased pile sizes provided that adequate fire safety is ensured by installing additional fire protection in accordance with FC Chapter 9 and the construction codes, including the Building Code. The increase shall be based upon the capabilities of the system installed. 2808.4 Pile separation. Piles shall be separated from adjacent piles by approved fire apparatus access roads. 2808.5 Combustible waste. The storage of wood chips or other wood waste materials, the accumulation and handling of combustible materials, the control of vegetation and the disposal of combustible waste shall comply with the requirements of FC Chapter 3. 2808.6 Pile protection. Piles of wood chips or other wood waste materials shall be monitored by an approved means to measure internal temperatures within the piles. Internal pile temperatures shall be measured and recorded weekly. 2808.7 Reserved. 2808.8 Fire protection. The commissioner may require that a yard hydrant system and/or monitor nozzles connected to a fixed water supply be installed upon the premises where the facility arrangement, pile arrangement, pile heights, number of piles or total volume of piles would hamper the effectiveness of hose streams to control or extinguish a fire. Portable fire extinguishers in compliance with the requirements of FC 906 and with a minimum rating of 4-A:60-B:C shall be readily available throughout the premises. 2808.9 Material-handling equipment. Approved material-handling equipment shall be available for moving wood chips and other wood waste materials during firefighting operations.

NYC Fire Code § FC 2809 Outdoor Storage of Finished Lumber Products

Section FC 2809: Outdoor Storage of Finished Lumber Products 2809.1 General. Finished lumber products shall be stored in accordance with this section. 2809.2 Size of piles. Outdoor lumber storage shall be arranged to form stable piles with a maximum height of 20 feet (6096 mm). Piles shall not exceed 150,000 cubic feet (4248 m3) in volume. 2809.3 Fire apparatus access roads. Fire apparatus access roads in accordance with FC 503 and the construction codes, including the Building Code, shall be located so that a maximum grid system unit of 50 feet by 150 feet (15 240 mm by 45 720 mm) is established. 2809.4 Security. Permanent outdoor lumber storage areas shall be surrounded with an approved fence. 2809.5 Fire protection. The commissioner may require that the yard hydrant system specified in FC 507.2.3 to include monitor nozzles connected to the fixed water supply where the facility arrangement, pile arrangement, pile heights, number of piles or total volume of piles would hamper the effectiveness of hose streams to control or extinguish a fire. Portable fire extinguishers shall be provided in accordance with FC 906 for extra-high hazards and located so that the travel distance to the nearest portable fire extinguisher does not exceed 75 feet (22 860 mm).

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/NYCadmin/0-0-0-146800Fetched: 10/24/2026