§ 103 — Egress from apartments

§ 103. Egress from apartments. 1. a. Except as provided in paragraph\nb of this subdivision, there shall be at least one means of egress from\neach apartment on each and every story of such apartment, and a second\nmeans of egress if the first means is not within fifty feet of every\nliving room in such apartment on such story. When two means of egress\nare required, they shall open from different rooms.\n b. In any class A fireproof dwelling or section thereof erected under\nplans filed in the department after September first, nineteen hundred\nfifty-one, an apartment occupying parts of not more than two stories\nshall have at least one means of egress. Such required means of egress\nshall be not more than forty feet from any room within such apartment\nand shall open directly upon a public hall. Such public hall shall\nprovide access to at least two fire-stairs. Any stair within an\napartment shall be at least two feet six inches in width and a terminus\nshall be not more than twenty feet from the door which provides the\nrequired egress to a public hall, provided, however, that such stair\nwithin an apartment shall extend downwards or upwards to the story which\nprovides the required access to at least two fire-stairs. In the event\nof but one such means of egress, and if the stair within the apartment\nextends downwards to provide egress to a public hall, there shall be a\nbalcony upon the upper story of the apartment. If, however, such stair\nextends upwards to provide egress to a public hall, the balcony shall be\nlocated on the lower story of the apartment. Such balcony shall provide\naccess from the apartment to a room of an adjoining apartment on the\nsame story. Such balcony shall be constructed of incombustible material\nand be capable of sustaining a load of at least eighty pounds per square\nfoot. Access to such balcony shall not be obstructed by sinks or kitchen\nfixtures or in any other way, and shall be maintained unobstructed at\nall times. Bars, gates, grilles or other obstructing devices on any\nwindow or door giving access to or egress from such balcony shall be\nunlawful.\n 2. Except as otherwise expressly provided in paragraph b of\nsubdivision six of section one hundred two for certain dwellings six\nstories or less in height, at least one fire-stair shall be within\nseventy-five feet of at least one means of egress from each apartment on\neach story thereof.\n 3. When any such fire-stair serving any apartment as a required means\nof egress from the dwelling opens on the entrance story of the dwelling\nexclusively into an entrance hall, no other fire-stair serving the same\napartment as a required means of egress from the dwelling shall open on\nsuch story exclusively into the same entrance hall. Any required\nfire-stair not opening on such story exclusively into an entrance hall\nshall open on a street or in a yard, court or passageway affording\ncontinuous, safe and unobstructed access to a street; but any such\nrequired fire-stair serving any apartment as a means of egress from the\ndwelling may have a supplementary entrance into the same entrance hall\nas that into which any other fire-stair serving the same apartment as a\nrequired means of egress from the dwelling opens exclusively.\n 4. When any apartment occupies parts or all of three or more stories,\nevery stair within such apartment leading to the third or any higher\nstory of such apartment shall be enclosed with fireproof partitions with\na fireproof door and assembly with the door self-closing at the second\nstory landing of such stair and at every higher story landing from which\nthe stair continues upward within the apartment; or in lieu of such\nfireproof partitions and doors at least two means of egress from such\napartment opening from different rooms shall be provided on the first,\nthird and alternate higher stories, if any, of such apartment.\n 5. No means of egress from any apartment shall open into any stair,\nfire-stair or fire-tower required under the provisions of this section\nexcept through a vestibule or public hall.\n