Residential Apartments & High Rises

Families in apartment buildings live close together and affect each other's fire safety risks.  Here are fire guidelines to help keep you, your family and neighbors safe.

  • Know your exits. There must be two exits from your building.
  • Your first exist is your apartment door into either and unenclosed stairway, not separated by walls and doors, or through a public hallway to an enclosed stairway leading to the street.
  • Your second exit should be one that leads directly or indirectly to the street level, either an additional enclosed stairway accessible from the public hallway, an enclosed fire tower-stairway accessible from the public hallway, or a fire-escape accessible from through a window or door within your apartment.
  • Properly maintain fire doors and exits. Maintain your apartment doors leading into the public hall or vestibule as fire-proof and self-closing.
  • Make sure your apartment door lock can be opened from the inside with a thumb turn and without the use of a key.
  • Maintain doors leading from the public hallway into the stairway or fire tower as fire-proof.
  • Tampering with the self-closing hinge or blocking the self-closing of such doors is illegal.
  • Get rid of the clutter. Keep stairways and outside fire escapes free of obstructions at all times. Do not store anything such as baby strollers, bicycles or rubbish on or under stairways or on stairway landings. Keep fire escape windows clear of all obstructions such as furniture, plants and air conditioners.
  • If your apartment building has an outside fire escape, only FDNY-approved window security gates that open without the use of a key may be installed on the fire escape window. This requirement also applies to any secondary exit window on the grade level.
  • When buying a security gate be sure that it is stamped or labeled with the FDNY approval number. Installation of an unapproved security gate is strictly prohibited in New York City. FDNY approved gates do not require the use of a tool, a key, or special effort to open.
  • Make sure that everyone in your home can operate the security gate release device.
  • Child safety window guards are small barriers installed to protect children from falling out of windows. The New York City Health Code requires owners of multiple dwellings to install these if a child 10 years old or younger lives in the apartment. These guards must not be installed on your fire escape window to help ensure everyone’s safety during a fire.
  • Know your way out. Owners of residential buildings with 3 or more units are required by law to develop a Fire Safety Plan specific for their building. It must contain basis fire safety tips, and information about the building’s type of construction, types of fire safety systems and different ways to exit the building in case of fire or evacuation.
  • The owner is required by law to post the plan on the inside of every apartment front door, post the plan in a conspicuous space in the common area, distribute a copy to new tenants at the time of the lease, and redistribute it annually during fire prevention week.
  • Use these guidelines to help determine if you should stay or go.
  • Use this checklist as a guide to identify possible fire safety hazards.

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