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§27-954 Required Sprinklers
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A system of automatic sprinklers shall be provided in the areas listed in this section and as required in subchapters four through eight of this chapter. A summary of sprinkler requirements is given in table 17-2.
Notes for Table 17-2:
- Buildings classified in high hazard occupancy group A.
- Spaces classified in high hazard occupancy group A.
- Buildings classified in storage occupancy group B-1 exceeding one thousand square feet in floor area, or seventy-five feet or more in height, except as modified under subdivisions a, b and c of section 27-455 of article ten of subchapter seven of this code.
- Spaces classified in storage occupancy group B-1 exceeding five hundred square feet in floor area, except as modified under subdivisions a, b and c of section 27-455 of article ten of subchapter seven of this code.
- Such storage spaces less than five hundred square feet in area shall install a system of automatic sprinklers, when required by the commissioner or the fire commissioner.
- Buildings and spaces classified in storage occupancy group B-2 exceeding five thousand square feet in floor area, or seventy-five feet or more in height, except as modified under subdivisions a, b and c of section 27-455 of article ten of subchapter seven of this code.
- Spaces in high rise buildings classified in mercantile occupancy group C, spaces classified in mercantile occupancy group C exceeding seventy-five hundred square feet in floor area or with an unenclosed stair or escalator between any two or more floors.
- Buildings classified in industrial occupancy group D when required by section two hundred eighty of the labor law or when seventy-five feet or more in height.
- Spaces classified in industrial occupancy group D-1 exceeding seventy-five hundred square feet, in floor area excluding heliports.
- Buildings classified in occupancy group E, one hundred feet or more in height having air-conditioning and/or mechanical ventilation systems that serve more than the floor in which the equipment is located, and on or before January eighteenth, nineteen hundred seventy-six, in existing office buildings one hundred feet or more in height having such systems, showroom spaces exceeding seventy-five hundred square feet in area located more than forty feet above curb level. The sprinkler system may be connected to the domestic water supply and/or the standpipe risers. Where connected to a standpipe riser, provision shall be made to prevent excessive pressure on the sprinkler heads. If such work is not completed on or before July eighteenth, nineteen hundred seventy-four, the owner shall submit a statement to the commissioner, with a copy to the fire commissioner, setting forth a plan and time schedule for the performance of the work and completion within the prescribed time. Such plan and schedule shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner. Failure to comply with the provisions of this subdivision, or to perform the work in accordance with the time schedule, as approved by the commissioner, shall constitute a violation.
- Dressing rooms and property rooms used in conjunction with all places of assembly, except for F-1B places of assembly not providing live entertainment.
- Corridors and exit passageways of buildings classified in institutional occupancy group H where the building or building section is not otherwise required to be fully sprinklered as provided in subchapter four. Patient rooms in H-2 occupancies shall be protected with smoke detectors complying with provisions of section 27-955 of this article when not required to be sprinklered by the provisions of subchapters four through seven.
- Regardless of occupancy group classification, any story above grade that cannot be ventilated by at least twenty square feet of free openable area and the first story below grade when it cannot be ventilated by at least thirty-five square feet of openable area per ten thousand cubic feet of volume. Such ventilation shall be provided by operable windows or other natural ventilation sources complying with section 27-749 of article six of subchapter twelve of this chapter. All other stories below grade shall be sprinklered. Sprinklers may be omitted in toilets, shower rooms, stairs, and mechanical and electrical equipment rooms.
For purposes of this subdivision fixed windows may be considered as "openable" (may be broken inward) if they are not more than one hundred feet above grade, or fifteen feet below grade; or if they are located within six feet of an accessible roof or setback; or if they are located within six feet of an operable window having at least three foot by three foot openings.- Buildings classified in occupancy group J-2 with not more than three dwelling units and buildings classified in occupancy group J-3 shall be exempt from this provision provided all spaces classified in storage occupancy group B-2 exceeding one thousand square feet have been sprinklered in accordance with the requirements of this subchapter.
- Rubbish chutes, laundry chutes, and chutes for similar uses. Sprinklers, protected from damage, shall be provided in accordance with reference standard RS 17-2, RS 17-2A, or RS 17-2B, as applicable.
- Soiled linen collection and sorting areas.
- Workshops exceeding one hundred square feet except in one- and two-family dwellings.
- Refuse collection and disposal areas.
- Drying area of laundries or similar spaces in which two or more clothes drying machines are installed. Sprinklers to be spaced to cover area five feet in front, rear, and sides of machines.
- Sprinklers for cooling towers, where required by subchapter five of this chapter, shall be either a dry pipe or deluge system designed in accordance with the provisions of reference standard RS 17-4.
- Buildings classified in occupancy group J-1, buildings classified in occupancy group J-2 with four or more dwelling units, spaces classified in occupancy group J-1, and spaces classified in occupancy group J-2 with four or more dwelling units.
- Places of assembly located within a building classified in occupancy group J-1.
- Catering establishments and banquet halls with an occupant load of three hundred or more persons.
- In all existing buildings classified in occupancy group J-1 (except for "residential hotels," as such term is defined by the commissioner pursuant to rules,) all spaces listed in subdivisions (c), (d), (l), (m), (n), (o), (p) and (q) of this section, except that an approved smoke detection alarm system may be installed in those locations described under subdivisions (o) and (q) in lieu of sprinklers other than in those locations where sprinklers are required pursuant to section 27-123.2 of this chapter. Such smoke detection system shall be of the supervisory type connected to an approved central station.
- High rise buildings classified in occupancy group F-1, F-3, F-4, or G, or any spaces classified in such occupancy groups located within a high rise building or building section more than seventy-five feet above curb level.
- Spaces in existing high rise buildings classified in occupancy group C and any space in an existing building classified in occupancy group C with an unenclosed stair or escalator between any two or more floors.
- Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision i of this section, high rise buildings classified in occupancy group E and low rise buildings classified in occupancy group E with a total gross floor area of one hundred thousand square feet or more.
- Regardless of occupancy group classification, in each basement, cellar or other location below grade, regardless of the floor area of such space, in any mercantile establishment in which the fire commissioner permits the storage of flammable or combustible mixtures pursuant to sections 27-4066, 27-4070 or 27-4094 of this code, except that, where such flammable or combustible mixtures are stored in such basement, cellar or other location below grade, in a room or other area that is segregated, vertically and horizontally, from surrounding spaces by a fire separation of not less than a two-hour fire-resistance rating, such system of automatic sprinklers shall be required only within such room or other area. Such system of automatic sprinklers shall conform to the requirements for automatic sprinklers for spaces classified in storage occupancy group B-1 pursuant to subdivision d of this section.
| Automatic Sources Required |
Partial System Permitted |
Connection to Domestic Permitted |
Alternate Permitted (§27-955) |
Siamese Required (§27-959) |
Centrala Station Required (§27-955) (§27-967) |
Waterb Flow Alarm Required (§27-957) |
Automatic Dry Sprinkler Permitted (§5212 of RS-17) |
Dry Nonautomatic Sprinkler Permittedc |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Hazard Bldg. — Group A (§27-954(a)) |
2 | No | No §27-961(c) |
No | Yes | Nonea | Yes | Yes | No |
| High Hazard Spaces — Group A (§27-954(b))b |
1 | Yes | No §27-961(c) | No | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Nonea | Yes If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Yes | No |
| Storage Occupancy Bldg. — Group B1 (§27-954(c)) |
1 | No | No §27-961(c) |
No | Yes | Nonea | Yes | Yes | No |
| **Storage Occupancy Spaces — Group B1 (§27-954(d)) And Permitted Below Grade Flammable/Combustible Storage Spaces in Mercantile Establishments (§27-954(aa) |
1 | Yes | Yes §27-962(c) |
No | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Nonea | Yesb If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Yes | No |
| Storage Occupancy Spaces — Group B2 (§27-954(e)) |
1 | Yes | No | No | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Nonea | Yesb If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Yes | No |
| Mercantile Occupancy Spaces — Groups C Exceeding 7,500 sq. ft. (§27-954(f)) |
2 sources if exceeding 20,000 sq. ft. 1 source if not more than 20,000 sq. ft. |
No | No | No | Yes | Nonea | Yes | Yes | No |
| Industrial Occupancy Bldg.— Group D-1, When required by Labor Law (§27-954(g)) |
1 source if not hazardous occupancy |
No | No | No | Yes | Nonea | Yes | Yes | No |
| Industrial Occupancy Spaces— Group D-1, exceeding 7,500 sq. ft., (§27-954(h)) |
1 | No | No | No | Yes | Nonea | Yes | Yes | No |
| Business Occupancy Spaces— Group E Showrooms when Required by (§27-954(i)) |
1 | Yes | Yes and/ or StandpipeRiser | No | Yes | Nonea | Yes | Yes | No |
| Assembly Occupancy Spaces— Group F-1a (§27-954(j)) |
1 | Yes | Yes | No | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Nonea | Yesb | No | No |
| Institutional Occupancy Group H — Corridors and Exit Passageway (§27-954(k)) |
1 | Yes | Yes | No | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Nonea | Yes | No | No |
| Unventilated Areas Above or Below Grade (§27-954(l)) d | 1 | Yes | Yes | No | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Nonea | §27-962(e)(8) | Yes | No |
| Rubbish—Laundry and Similar Chutes (§27-954(m)) d,e |
1 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yesa | None | Yes | No |
| Soiled Linen—Collection and Sorting Area (§27-954(n)) |
1 | Yes | Yes | No | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Nonea | Yes §27-962(e)(8) |
Yes | No |
| Workshops (§27-954(o))d |
1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Yes If smoke detector is used in lieu of sprinkler |
Yes §27-962(e)(8) |
Yes | No |
| Refuse Collection and Disposal Areas (§27-954(p)) |
1 | Yes | Yes in Occupancy Groups E, G, J |
No | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Nonea | Yes §27-962(e)(8) |
Yes | No |
| Drying Areas—Laundries or Similar Spaces (§27-954(q)) d |
1 | Yes | Yes in Occupancy Groups E,G, J |
Yes | §27-959 (a)(3) If over 36 heads in a fire section |
Yes If smoke detector is used in lieu of sprinkler |
Yes §27-962(e)(8) |
No | No |
| Cooling Towers (§27-954(r)) | 1 | No | Yes | No | No | Nonea | Yes | Yes | No |
| Building and Spaces in Residential Occupancy Group J-1 (§27-954(t)) |
1 | No | Nof | No | Yes, except as provided in §27-959(a)(3) | No | Yes | No | No |
| Buildings and Spaces in Residential Occupancy Group J-2 with 4 or more Dwelling Units and not exceeding Six Stories or 75 Feet in Height (§27-954(t)) |
1 | No | Yesg | No | Yes, except as provided in §27-959(a)(1) and §27-959(a)(5) |
No | Yes | No | No |
| Buildings and Spaces in Residential Occupancy Group J-2 with 4 or more Dwelling Units and Exceeding Six Stories or 75 Feet in Height (§27-954(t)) |
1 | No | Noh | No | Yes, except as provided in §27-959(a)(3) | No | Yes if over 36 heads |
No | No |
Notes for Table 17-2:
- Central Station supervision required only when booster pump is provided under §27-964 or when non-automatic sprinkler is permitted by the commissioner.
- Water flow alarms required when more than 36 heads are installed in a fire section or fire area.
- Only when permitted by the commissioner (§27-967(c)).
- See §27-954(w) for requirements pertaining to these spaces located in a building classified in occupancy group J-1.
- See section 4-4.8 of reference standard RS 17-2.
- Except as provided in reference standard RS 17-2A.
- Notwithstanding section 27-962(i) of this chapter.
- Except as provided in section 27-962(i) of this chapter.
*Amended by Local Law 10-1999.
**Amended by Local Law 26-2002
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