§ 270 — Construction of buildings erected after October first, nineteen hundred and thirteen

§ 270. Construction of buildings erected after October first, nineteen\nhundred and thirteen. No factory shall be conducted in a building\nerected after October first, nineteen hundred and thirteen, unless such\nbuilding shall conform to the following requirements:\n 1. Fireproof construction. All buildings more than four stories in\nheight shall be fireproof.\n 2. Roofs and walls. Roofs shall be covered either with incombustible\nmaterial, or tar and slag, or plastic cement or such other materials as\nthe board may approve, supported and laid according to its\nspecifications. Cornices shall be constructed of incombustible material.\nAll exterior walls within twenty-five feet of a non-fireproof building\nshall be built of brick, stone, concrete, cinder or concrete block or\ntile, terra cotta or other fireproof material acceptable to the state\ndepartment of labor.\n 3. Required exits. a. On each floor used as a factory there shall be\nnot less than two exits remote from each other, except that a single\nexit may be accepted by the commissioner from a floor or other area, of\none thousand square feet or less, so long as no person is regularly\nemployed on such floor or other area. One such exit on each floor used\nas a factory shall be a grade exit, an interior or exterior enclosed\nfireproof stairway or ramp. The other shall be either such a grade exit,\nstairway, ramp, or a horizontal exit, except that unenclosed exterior\nstairways or ramps within the property line, extending up or down to\ngrade may be substituted for enclosed stairways from a floor immediately\nabove or below the ground or first floor. Elevated runways and working\nplatforms on which there is no regular or permanent occupancy shall not\nbe construed as floors.\n b. No point in any floor above or below the ground or first floor\nshall be more than one hundred feet distant from the entrance to one\nsuch exit at that floor and in a sprinklered building more than one\nhundred and fifty feet distant from such exit. No point in any ground,\nor first floor shall be more than two hundred feet distant from an exit\nfrom that floor and in a sprinklered building more than two hundred and\nfifty feet distant from such exit; provided that no point in any ground,\nor first floor of a building erected after July first, nineteen hundred\nforty-eight, in which a factory is conducted, shall be more than one\nhundred fifty feet distant from an exit from that floor and in a\nsprinklered building more than two hundred feet distant from such exit.\n c. In every building over one hundred feet in height there shall be at\nleast one exterior fireproof enclosed stairway which shall be accessible\nfrom any point in the building.\n 4. Stairways and ramps. a. All required interior stairways and ramps\nshall be constructed of incombustible material. Two hour fire test\nenclosures shall be provided in buildings over two stories in height,\nand in all subgrade stories. One hour fire test enclosures shall be\nprovided for all other stairs and ramps in buildings two stories or less\nin height. All stairways and ramps shall have an unobstructed width of\nat least forty-four inches throughout their length except that hand\nrails may project not more than three and one-half inches into such\nwidth. There shall be not more than twelve feet six inches in height\nbetween successive landings. The treads shall be not less than ten\ninches wide and the risers shall be closed and not more than seven and\nthree-fourths inches. No stairway with "winders" shall be permitted as a\nrequired exit. The treads shall be constructed and maintained so as to\nprevent persons from slipping thereon. Ramps used in place of required\nexit stairways shall have a slope not exceeding one foot in eight feet\nand shall comply with the requirements for stairways as to material,\nwidth, enclosure, ventilation, landings and shall have non-slip\nsurfaces.\n b. Every such required interior stairway shall be enclosed and\nventilated in a manner conforming to rules adopted by the board, except\nthat unenclosed stairways, no part of whose floor opening is more than\ntwenty feet from an open side of the mezzanine and which lead to the\nfloor immediately below, may be accepted from an unenclosed mezzanine\nnot exceeding twenty-five hundred feet in area, unless otherwise\nspecified by the board in its rules.\n c. Exterior windows within twenty-five feet of a non-fireproof\nstructure shall be fire windows. Skylights, unless provided with wired\nglass, shall have thereunder a shield of wire mesh in substantial frame\nwork.\n d. Whenever safe egress may be had from the roof of a building\nexceeding two stories in height to an adjacent structure all stairways\nserving as required exits shall extend to the roof, provided that in\nbuildings over five stories in height at least one of the stairways\nserving as required exits shall extend to the roof. All stairways\nserving as required exits shall lead (a) continuously to the street, or\n(b) to a fireproof passageway independent of other exits from the\nbuilding opening on a road or street, or (c) to an open area affording\nunobstructed passage to a road or street, except that unobstructed\naccess to exits on the floor immediately below may be accepted for\nstairways from a mezzanine floor unless otherwise specified by the board\nin its rules. Provision shall be made for the adequate lighting of all\nstairways, ramps and passageways by artificial light. Where more than\ntwo stairways are provided in a building, not more than two may lead\nthrough a common fireproof passage to a street. Required stairways\nterminating at a floor below roof shall be connected at floor at which\nsuch stairs terminate through a fireproof passage to at least one other\nrequired stairway.\n 5. Doors and doorways. All doors at required exits or that lead to\nrequired exits shall open outwardly. The width of the fireproof\npassageways and exit doorways including stops, leading to the street at\nthe grade level shall be not less than the aggregate required width of\nall stairways and ramps leading to them. The aggregate capacity of all\nother required exit doorways shall be calculated on the basis of\ntwenty-two inches for each fifty persons or fraction thereof to be\nserved by such doorways, but no such doorway shall be less than\nthirty-six inches in width.\n The provisions of this section shall not apply to a building, in a\ncity having a population of more than one million, used exclusively by\none employer and in which not more than one-tenth of all the persons\nemployed therein are engaged in work for a factory and which, except for\nsuch factory work, would be classified as a mercantile establishment.\n