2023 New York Laws › MRE - Multiple Residence › Article 2 - Miscellaneous Application Provisions › 15 - Smoke Detecting Devices.

§  15.  Smoke  detecting  devices.  1. This section shall apply to all
multiple dwellings, whenever constructed, provided however, that for the
purposes of this section the term "multiple dwelling" shall also include
any dwelling accommodation used as a temporary  or  permanent  residence
located in any building owned as a condominium or cooperative.
2. (a) The owner of every multiple dwelling to which the provisions of
this  section  apply shall equip each apartment or other separate living
unit in such multiple  dwelling  with  approved  and  operational  smoke
detecting  devices  in  conformity  with  the  state fire prevention and
building code; provided, however, that any multiple dwelling not subject
to the provisions of such code may, in the alternative, be equipped with
battery-operated smoke detecting devices  of  a  type  accepted  by  the
division of housing and community renewal.
(b)  In  hotels,  tourist  houses,  lodging  houses,  rooming  houses,
boarding houses, boarding and nursery schools,  furnished  room  houses,
club   houses,  sorority  and  fraternity  houses,  college  and  school
dormitories, convalescent, old age and nursing homes, any dwelling which
is two or more stories in height, with five or more boarders, roomers or
lodgers residing with any one family, and any multiple dwelling used for
single room occupancy, at least one  smoke  detecting  device  shall  be
located  within  each  room  used  for  sleeping  purposes. In any other
multiple dwelling or portion thereof, there shall be at least one  smoke
detecting  device located within each apartment or separate living unit,
in an area so that it is clearly audible in each bedroom or  other  room
used  for  sleeping  purposes,  with intervening doors closed; provided,
however, that no smoke detecting device be located more  than  ten  feet
from  the  entrance  to  any  bedroom  or  other  room used for sleeping
purposes.
(c) Each smoke detecting device shall include a test device to  permit
the occupant to readily determine if it is operational.
(d)  In addition to complying with the provisions of this section, the
type, location, number, and manner of installation  of  smoke  detecting
devices  shall  be  in accordance with standards prescribed by the state
fire prevention and building code council.
3. (a) With respect to  multiple  dwellings  which  are  occupied  for
permanent  residential purposes only, other than any portion of any such
dwelling  used  for  single  room  occupancy,  and  notwithstanding  the
provisions  of  sections forty and one hundred seventy-four or any other
provision of this chapter, or of any other law or requirement, state  or
local,  the  duties  of  the  owner  and  tenant  with  respect to smoke
detecting devices  installed  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  be  as
provided in subdivisions four and five of this section.
(b)  With respect to multiple dwelling units as specified in paragraph
(b) of subdivision two of this section, or any portion of  any  multiple
dwelling  used  for single room occupancy, the provisions of subdivision
five of this section  shall  not  apply,  and  smoke  detecting  devices
installed as required by this section shall be subject to the provisions
of section forty or one hundred seventy-four of this chapter.
(c)  The  owner  of every multiple dwelling shall keep such records as
the state fire prevention and  building  code  council  shall  prescribe
relating  to the installation and maintenance of smoke detecting devices
in the building and make  such  records  available  to  any  local  code
enforcement official on request.
4.  In  addition  to  initially  providing  and  installing  the smoke
detecting devices, the owner shall:
(a) replace within thirty days after the receipt of written notice any
such device which becomes inoperable within one year of the installation

of such device due to a defect in the manufacture  of  such  device  and
through no fault of the occupant of the apartment or other unit;
(b)  upon  the  occurrence of a vacancy, replace or properly equip any
such device which has been removed or  rendered  inoperable,  so  as  to
provide operational smoke detecting devices for any new tenant; and
(c)  notify  tenants  in writing, individually or through posting of a
notice in a common area of the building, of  the  respective  duties  of
owners and tenants under this section.
5.  Except  as  provided in paragraph (b) of subdivision three of this
section, the tenant shall keep and maintain any smoke  detecting  device
installed  pursuant  to this section in good repair and replace any such
device which becomes inoperable during his occupancy.
6. An owner need not furnish or install a smoke detecting device where
one has already been installed, provided  that  (a)  the  type  of  such
device  and the manner of its installation comply with the provisions of
this section and the standards prescribed by the state  fire  prevention
and  building  code council, (b) the existing device is tested and found
to be operational, and (c) the existence of such device in  lieu  of  an
owner-furnished  device  is  noted  on  the  records  kept  by the owner
pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision three of this section.