§ 55 — Egress

§ 55. Egress. 1. In every transient dwelling to which this article is\napplicable there shall be from each story at least two independent means\nof egress accessible to each room, apartment or suite, except as\notherwise provided in section sixty-three with respect to two story\ntransient dwellings.\n 2. The first means of egress shall be an enclosed stair extending\ndirectly to a street, or to a yard, court or passageway affording\ncontinuous, safe and unobstructed access to a street, or by an enclosed\nstair leading to the entrance story, which story shall have direct\naccess to a street. That area of the dwelling immediately above the\nstreet level and commonly known as the main floor, where the occupants\nare registered and the usual business of the dwelling is conducted,\nshall be considered a part of the entrance story; and a required stair\nterminating at such main floor or its mezzanine shall be deemed to\nterminate at the entrance story. An elevator or an unenclosed escalator\nshall not be acceptable as a required means of egress.\n 3. The second means of egress shall be by an additional enclosed\nstair, conforming to the provisions of subdivision two of this section,\na fire-stair or an outside fire-escape. In a non-fireproof dwelling when\nit is necessary to pass through a stair enclosure which may or may not\nbe a required means of egress to reach a required means of egress, such\nstair enclosure and that part of the public hall or corridor leading\nthereto from a room, apartment or suite, shall be fire-retarded as\nprovided in section fifty-two or protected by a sprinkler system; in a\nfireproof dwelling only that part of the hall or corridor leading to\nsuch stair enclosure need be so protected.\n 4. Where it is impractical in such existing transient dwellings to\nprovide a second means of egress, the department may order, in lieu of\nthe second means of egress, additional alteration to the first means of\negress and to shafts, stairs and other vertical openings as the\ndepartment may deem necessary to safeguard the occupants of the\ndwelling, may require the public halls providing access to the first\nmeans of egress to be equipped on each story with an automatic sprinkler\nsystem, and, in non-fireproof dwellings, may also require automatic\nsprinkler heads in the stair which serves as the only means of egress.\n 5. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require the enclosure of\na stair which is ornamental provided such stair does not connect more\nthan two stories.\n 6. A stair, fire-stair or fire-escape supplementary to the egress\nrequirements of subdivisions two, three and four of this section need\nnot lead to the entrance story or to a street, or to a yard or a court\nwhich leads to a street, provided the means of egress therefrom is\napproved by the department.\n 7. A fire-detecting system shall not be acceptable for any of the\nrequirements of this section.\n 8. In lieu of enclosing stairways as required by subdivisions two and\nthree of this section, an automatic sprinkler system may be provided on\nsuch stairs.\n 9. All fire-escapes erected on or after July first, nineteen hundred\nfifty-three, in compliance with this section, shall be arranged,\nconstructed and maintained in accordance with the provisions of section\none hundred thirty-three. Such system shall be installed, arranged and\nmaintained in a manner satisfactory to the department and in accordance\nwith rules adopted by the commission. It shall be unlawful to remove any\nfire-escape without permission from the department.\n