§ 218 — Alterations

§ 218. Alterations. 1. Any non-fireproof tenement erected after May\nfifteenth, nineteen hundred two, having apartments extending from street\nto yard and having one or more outer courts on a side lot line four feet\nor more in width or inner courts which alone or together with adjoining\ncourts are eight feet or more in width and twelve feet six inches or\nmore in depth, may be altered into apartments opening either on the\nstreet or the yard, provided all such altered apartments also have\nwindows opening on such a court. All such altered apartments shall be\nprovided with a second means of egress as required by section two\nhundred thirty-one. The entrance and stair halls of such tenement shall\nbe fire-retarded.\n 2. No room in the cellar or basement of any tenement shall be\nconstructed or altered to be occupied for living purposes unless all of\nthe conditions of section thirty-four and of subdivision eight of\nsection twenty-six in regard to multiple dwellings erected after April\neighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, are complied with, except that\nthe minimum depths of yards and courts prescribed for tenements in\nsubdivision one of section two hundred twelve shall be substituted for\nthe minimum depths referred to in section thirty-four.\n 3. Any additional room or hall constructed or created in a tenement\nshall comply in all respects with the provisions of this article\nrespecting rooms or halls in tenements erected after April eighteenth,\nnineteen hundred twelve, except that in any tenement erected after April\nfourteenth, nineteen hundred three, such rooms or halls may be of the\nsame height as the other rooms or halls on the same story.\n 4. The number of apartments or suites of rooms on any story in any\ntenement erected after April twelfth, nineteen hundred one, may be\naltered so as to increase or decrease the number of living rooms\nprovided such dwelling shall conform with the applicable provisions of\nsections two hundred thirty-five and two hundred thirty-six.\n 5. If the number of apartments or suites of rooms in any old-law\ntenement is increased, the entrance hall and both sides of the walls of\nthe stair halls adjoining the altered apartment shall be fire-retarded,\nthe stairs shall extend to the roof and there shall be no inside stairs\nfrom the entrance story to a cellar, or to a basement or other story\nbelow the entrance story. However, such inside stair may be permitted\nprovided such stair is constructed of incombustible material, has closed\nrisers, is enclosed between the entrance story and the next lowest story\nwith fireproof materials having a standard fire-resistive rating of at\nleast three hours, and has fireproof doors and door assemblies at the\ntop and bottom with the doors and door assemblies at the top and bottom\nwith the doors self-closing. The soffit of any stair immediately above\nan inside cellar stair shall be fire-retarded and the jib partitions\nenclosing such cellar stair at the first story shall be of incombustible\nmaterial or fire-retarded on both sides with materials having a standard\nfire-resistive rating of at least one hour.\n 6. If any old-law tenement shall be so altered as to increase the\nnumber of rooms therein by one-third or more, or if such tenement is\nincreased both in number of rooms and in height and after such\nalteration is more than four stories or parts of stories above the curb\nlevel, or if such tenement is over three stories in height and is\ncombined with another old-law tenement and the combined area on any\nstory exceeds three thousand square feet, the stair halls, entrance\nhalls and other public halls of the whole dwelling shall be made to\nconform to the requirements of subdivision two of section two hundred\nthirty-three and sections two hundred thirty-four to two hundred\nthirty-eight inclusive, except that such combined tenements, if over\nthree stories in height, shall have in the roof a fireproof bulkhead\nwith a fireproof self-closing door.\n 7. In lieu of fire retarding required under subdivision five, there\nmay be installed in public halls an automatic dry pipe valve system or,\nwhere halls are heated, an automatic wet pipe system. Where a sprinkler\nsystem is installed it shall be equipped on each story with heads in\nsuch number and spaced to protect the complete area of the public halls\nand stairs and shall be constructed, located and arranged on every stair\nand entrance hall and in every closet opening therefrom in such a manner\nas the department may require. Such sprinkler system shall be maintained\ncontinuously in good repair and serviceable condition.\n