§ 53 — Fire-escapes

§ 53. Fire-escapes. Every fire-escape erected after April eighteenth,\nnineteen hundred twenty-nine, shall be located, arranged, constructed\nand maintained in accordance with the following provisions:\n 1. Access to a fire-escape shall be from a living room or private hall\nin each apartment or suite of rooms at each story above the entrance\nstory, and such access shall not include any window of a stairhall.\n a. Such room or private hall shall be an integral part of such\napartment or suite of rooms and accessible to every room thereof without\npassing through a public hall.\n b. When one or more living rooms of any apartment are rented to\nboarders or lodgers, every such room shall be directly accessible to a\nfire-escape without passing through a public hall, and for separately\noccupied living rooms access to fire-escapes shall be direct from such\nrooms without passing through a public hall or any other separately\noccupied room, except as may be permitted for dormitories in section\nsixty-six.\n c. Access to any fire-escape shall not be obstructed by sinks or\nkitchen fixtures or in any other way. Iron bars, grilles, gates, or\nother obstructing devices on any window giving access to fire-escapes or\nto a required secondary means of egress shall be unlawful unless such\ndevices are of a type approved by the board of appeals and are installed\nand maintained as prescribed by the board; provided, however, that in a\ncity having a population of one million or more, such devices shall be\nof a type approved, installed and maintained as prescribed by the fire\ncommissioner, or as previously approved and prescribed by the board of\nstandards and appeals of such city, except as otherwise provided by said\ncommissioner.\n d. Every such fire-escape shall be accessible to one or more exterior\ndoors or windows opening from the room, apartment, suite of rooms or\nother space which it serves as means of egress, and such window or door\nshall be two feet or more in clear width and two feet six inches or more\nin clear height. The sill of any such window shall be within three feet\nof the floor.\n 2. A required fire-escape may be erected in any of the following\nplaces:\n a. On a wall facing a street or yard;\n b. In a court of a non-fireproof multiple dwelling to serve an\napartment or suite of rooms which does not contain any room fronting\nupon a street or yard, or in any inner court thirty-five feet or more in\nits least horizontal dimension, provided the fire-escape does not\nproject more than four feet from the wall of the dwelling and is\ndirectly connected at the bottom of such court with a fireproof\npassageway at least three feet wide and seven feet high leading directly\nto a street unless the court itself leads to a street;\n c. In any outer court eighteen feet or more in width and thirty feet\nor less in length;\n d. In any outer court more than eighteen feet in width the length of\nwhich does not exceed its width by more than seventy per centum;\n e. In any outer court ten feet or more in width at every point and\nsituated on a lot line;\n f. In any outer court seven feet or more in width at every point which\nis situated on a lot line and extends from a street to a yard;\n g. In a recess on the front wall of a multiple dwelling, provided the\nrecess does not exceed five feet in depth, is used solely for\nfire-escape purposes and has seventy-five per centum or more of its area\nopen to the street, and is otherwise unenclosed and open at the top. No\nsuch recess shall be counted as a part of the unoccupied area of the\npremises or be construed as a court unless its entire area is open to\nthe street.\n 3. No fire-escape may project more than four and one-half feet into a\npublic highway from the lot line of the multiple dwelling it serves.\nEvery part of such fire-escape shall be at least ten feet above any\nsidewalk directly below.\n 4. a. Every fire-escape shall be constructed of open balconies and\nstairways of iron or stone capable of sustaining a load of at least\neighty pounds per square foot. The use or reuse of old materials or cast\niron in the construction of fire-escapes shall be unlawful.\n b. Balconies for fire-escapes shall be three feet or more in clear\nwidth except that a party-wall balcony as permitted by paragraph f of\nsubdivision one of section one hundred eighty-seven may be two feet in\nclear width.\n c. Every stairway shall be placed at an angle of sixty degrees or less\nwith flat open steps at least six inches in width and twenty inches in\nlength and with a maximum rise of nine inches. The opening in any\nbalcony for such a stairway shall be at least twenty-one by twenty-eight\ninches.\n 5. a. There shall be provided from the lowest balcony a drop ladder\nfifteen inches in width and of sufficient length to reach to a safe\nlanding place beneath. Such ladder shall be constructed, located and\narranged so as to be held in proper position at all times and, unless\nproperly counter-balanced, shall be placed in guides so that it can be\neasily lowered.\n b. The distance from the lowest balcony to the ground or safe landing\nplace beneath shall be not more than sixteen feet, except that the\ndepartment may permit such lowest balcony to be up to eighteen feet\nabove a public sidewalk because of structural conditions in any multiple\ndwelling erected before April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine.\n c. No drop ladder shall be required where the distance from the lowest\nbalcony to a safe landing place beneath is five feet or less.\n 6. The balcony on the top story shall be provided with a stairway or a\ngooseneck ladder from such balcony to and above the roof and securely\nfastened thereto, except that no such stairway or ladder shall be\nrequired:\n a. On multiple dwellings two stories or less in height erected after\nApril eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine; or\n b. Wherever there is a peak roof with a pitch in excess of twenty\ndegrees;\n c. When the fire-escape is on the front of the dwelling, in a recess\non the front of the dwelling, or on an outer court opening to a street.\n 7. Every fire-escape if constructed of material subject to rusting\nshall be painted with two or more coats of good paint in contrasting\ncolors; in the case of a new fire-escape the first coat before erection,\nand the second coat after erection. Whenever a fire-escape becomes\nrusty, the owner shall repaint it with two additional coats of good\npaint.\n 8. a. Whenever a non-fireproof multiple dwelling is not provided with\nsufficient means of egress in case of fire, the department may order\nsuch additional fire-escapes or balconies as in its judgment may be\ndeemed necessary.\n b. The owner of a multiple dwelling shall keep and maintain every\nfire-escape thereon in good order and repair.\n c. No person shall at any time place any encumbrance of any kind\nbefore or upon any fire-escape, or place or keep a cover of any kind\nover the stairway opening in a balcony of such fire-escape. An occupant\nor tenant of a multiple dwelling who shall violate or assist in the\nviolation of the provisions of this paragraph shall be guilty of a\nmisdemeanor punishable as provided in section three hundred four.\n 9. No fire-escape shall be removed from or constructed on any existing\nmultiple dwelling without permission from the department. No fire-escape\nshall be removed from any apartment without due precaution against\nleaving occupants of such apartment without adequate means of egress in\ncase of fire. A wire, chain cable, vertical ladder or rope fire-escape\nis an unlawful means of egress. Every such fire-escape, if required as a\nmeans of egress, shall be removed and replaced by a system of\nfire-escapes constructed and arranged as provided in this section.\n 10. The department shall have the power to make supplementary\nregulations relating to fire-escapes.\n