N.Y. Multiple Dwelling Law § 277: Occupancy permitted

§ 277. Occupancy permitted. Any building in any city of more than one

million persons which at any time prior to January first, nineteen

hundred seventy-seven was occupied for loft, commercial, institutional,

public, community facility or manufacturing purposes, may,

notwithstanding any other article of this chapter, or any provision of

law covering the same subject matter (except as otherwise required by

the local zoning law or resolution), be occupied in whole or in part for

joint living-work quarters for artists or general residential purposes

if such occupancy is in compliance with this article. Such occupancy

shall be permitted only if the following conditions are met and complied

with.

1. (a) The exterior walls of the building shall be non-combustible and

have a fire-resistive rating of at least three hours unless the exterior

wall or walls, measured on a horizontal plane perpendicular to said

exterior wall or walls, is a minimum of thirty feet distant in a direct

unobstructed line from another structure, except that a wet pipe

sprinkler system, with maximum sprinkler spacing of four feet, must be

provided along such wall or walls to protect exposed, unrated columns or

beams at the interior of the wall in non-fireproof buildings.

(b) Window openings in exterior walls shall conform with the

limitations of table 3-4 chapter twenty-six of the administrative code

of the city of New York, unless such windows are fire protected and

provided with either a minimum of one sprinkler head per window or

window automatic closing devices, acceptable to the department of

buildings.

2. The building (a) is of fireproof construction, as provided in

section one hundred one of this chapter, or is of class two

construction, as provided by the requirements of the building code and

regulations of the city of New York in effect prior to December sixth,

nineteen hundred sixty-eight; or

(b) if non-fireproof, does not exceed a height of six stories, and

eighty-five feet measured to the ceiling of the highest floor in a depth

of one hundred feet; or does not exceed a height of seven stories, and

eighty-five feet and a depth of one hundred feet and is wet sprinklered

throughout; and has a maximum floor area between the two hour rated

partitions constructed in accordance with section C26-504.2 of the

administrative code of the city of New York of:

(i) three thousand square feet; or

(ii) five thousand square feet if the building is six stories or less

in height and is fully wet sprinklered; or

(iii) five thousand square feet if the building is seven stories in

height and is fully wet sprinklered and has a stand pipe system; or

(iv) ten thousand square feet if the building is fully wet sprinklered

and has one hour rated ceilings.

(c) complies with the requirements of table 3-4 chapter twenty-six of

the administrative code of the city of New York for J-2 occupancy.

3. Any part of the building may be occupied for manufacturing and

commercial purposes (as permitted by local zoning law or resolution),

provided, however, that only the second story and below may be occupied

for uses listed as medium fire hazard in rules of the board of standards

and appeals implementing the labor law unless the entire building is wet

sprinklered; in addition, high fire hazard occupancies shall not be

permitted in any portion of the building.

4. All areas occupied for manufacturing or commercial purposes shall

be protected by an approved wet-pipe automatic sprinkler system. Such

wet-pipe automatic sprinkler system shall extend to and include public

hallways and stairways coincidentally serving residential occupancies.

5. All occupancies or tenancies shall be separated by a vertical fire

separation, extending to the underside of the floor above and having a

minimum fire-resistance rating of at least one hour and conform in all

respects with applicable zoning regulations. No separation shall be

required between the working and living portions of a joint living-work

quarters for artists.

6. The building (a) complies with all requirements imposed on old-law

tenements by sections two hundred twelve and two hundred sixteen of this

chapter and on converted dwellings by sections one hundred eighty-five,

one hundred eighty-six, one hundred eighty-eight, one hundred

eighty-nine, one hundred ninety, one hundred ninety-one and one hundred

ninety-four of this chapter, in addition to those provided in section

two hundred seventy-eight of this article and (b) complies with the

standards of lighting, ventilation, size of rooms, alcoves and balconies

contained in section C26-1205.0 through and including sections

C26-1205.5 and C26-1205.7 of the administrative code of the city of New

York, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d) of subdivision seven

of this section.

7. Minimum light and air standards for joint living-work quarters for

artists or general residential portions of lofts or manufacturing and

commercial buildings altered to residential use shall comply with the

following:

(a) Portions of such buildings which are occupied exclusively as joint

living-work quarters for artists as permitted by local law shall comply

with the following:

(i) The minimum size of a joint living-work quarters for artists shall

be twelve hundred square feet of interior space, except as otherwise

authorized by the zoning resolution of the city of New York, for units

occupied for residential purposes on or before January first, nineteen

hundred eighty-five.

(ii) Joint living-work quarters for artists shall conform to the

standards for light and ventilation of sections C26-1205.0 through and

including section C26-1205.7 of the administrative code of the city of

New York.

(b) Portions of such buildings which are occupied exclusively as

residential units as permitted by local law shall comply with the

following:

(i) Every dwelling unit shall have one or more windows:

A. which open onto a street, a court with a dimension of fifteen feet

perpendicular to the windows and one hundred square feet minimum area

above a setback or a thirty foot rear yard; or

B. for corner lots or lots within one hundred feet of a corner, where

the minimum horizontal distance between such windows opening onto a rear

yard and the rear lot line is at least twenty feet; or

C. for interior lots, where the minimum horizontal distance between

such windows opening onto a rear yard and any wall opposite such windows

on the same or another zoning lot is at least twenty feet and not less

than a distance equal to one-third of the total height of such wall

above the sill height of such windows; but need not exceed forty feet;

or

D. for interior lots where the minimum horizontal distance between

such windows opening onto a rear yard and any wall opposite such windows

on the same or another zoning lot is at least fifteen feet and the

minimum size of such dwelling unit is twelve hundred square feet; or

E. in no event shall the distance between such windows and the rear

lot line be less than five feet; and

F. yards and courts may be existing or may be new in buildings seven

stories or less in height.

(ii) The minimum required ratio of window area opening onto a street,

rear yard, or court to the floor area of every living room shall:

A. be ten percent where the floor area of such living room is less

than five hundred square feet; or

B. decrease, by one percent for every one hundred square feet greater

than five hundred square feet of floor area of such living room, to a

minimum of five percent; and

C. in no event shall the distance between such window area and the

rear lot line be less than five feet; and

D. at least fifty percent of the required window area shall be

openable.

(c) Ventilation of spaces other than living rooms, including enclosed

work spaces for joint living-work quarters for artists shall be either

in accordance with this section or in accordance with the administrative

code of the city of New York.

(d) No building converted pursuant to this article shall be enlarged,

except where the underlying zoning district permits residential use.

Such an enlargement shall be in conformance with the bulk regulations

for conforming residential use for new construction and shall be in

conformance with the provisions of section twenty-six of this chapter.

No interior floor area enlargement shall be permitted except that a

mezzanine with a minimum headroom of seven feet shall be allowed within

individual dwelling units, provided that the gross floor area of such

mezzanine does not exceed one-third of the floor area contained within

such dwelling unit. No mezzanine shall be included as floor area for the

purpose of calculating the minimum required size of a living room or a

dwelling unit or for calculating floor area devoted to dwellings. For

the purpose of this article a mezzanine may be constructed above the

level of the roof of a building as long as the aggregate area of roof

structures does not exceed one-third of the total roof area and the roof

structures conform with applicable building code requirements.

(e) The kitchen located within dwelling units and having a floor area

of eighty square feet or more shall have natural ventilation as

prescribed in sections 27-749 and 27-750 of chapter twenty-seven of the

administrative code of the city of New York. Open kitchens shall be

considered as part of the adjacent space where forty percent of the area

of the separation between the spaces is open and without doors. If the

floor area of the combined space exceeds seven hundred fifty square

feet, a separate bedroom shall not be required. When the floor area is

less than eighty square feet the kitchenette shall be ventilated by

either of the following:

(i) Natural means complying with sections 27-749 and 27-750 of chapter

twenty-seven of the administrative code of the city of New York and

further that the windows shall have a minimum width of twelve inches, a

minimum area of three square feet, or ten percent of the floor area of

the space, whichever is greater and be so constructed that at least

one-half of their required area may be opened. When the space is located

at the top story, the window or windows may be replaced with a skylight

whose minimum width shall be twelve inches, whose minimum area shall be

four square feet or one-eighth of the floor area of the space, whichever

is greater and which shall have ventilation openings of at least

one-half of the required area of the skylight.

(ii) Mechanical means exhausting at least two cubic feet per minute of

air per square foot of floor area. Where doors are to be used to

separate the space, the lower portion of each door shall have a metal

grill containing at least forty-eight square inches of clean openings or

in lieu of such grill, two clear opening spaces may be provided, each of

at least twenty-four square inches, one between the bottom of each door

and the floor and the other between the top of each door and the head

jamb.

(f) When bathrooms and toilet rooms are ventilated by natural means,

the natural ventilation sources shall comply with sub-article 1205.0 of

chapter twenty-six of the administrative code of the city of New York

and shall have an unobstructed free area of at least five percent of the

floor area. In no case shall the net free area of the ventilation

sources be less than one and one-half square feet. When bathrooms and

toilet rooms are vented by mechanical means, individual vent shafts or

ducts constructed of non-combustible materials with a minimum cross

section area of one square foot shall be utilized, the exhaust system

shall be capable of exhausting at least fifty cubic feet per minute of

air. Means shall be provided for egress of air by louvers in doors, by

undercutting the door, or by transfer ducts, grills or other openings.

Toilet exhaust systems shall be arranged to expel air directly to the

outdoors.

(g) A single station smoke detector shall be installed immediately

outside each sleeping or bedroom area of each dwelling unit. Such device

shall be designed and installed so as to detect smoke and activate an

alarm, be reasonably free from false alarms and provide visible

indication that the alarm is energized. Such device shall be directly

connected to the lighting circuit of the dwelling or rooming unit with

no intervening wall switch and shall provide a warning signal clearly

audible in all sleeping quarters with intervening doors closed. Cord

connected installations or smoke detectors which rely exclusively on

batteries are not permissible. Such devices shall either be approved or

listed by an acceptable testing service or laboratory.

8. All openings from apartments leading into a public hall or corridor

shall be provided with fireproof doors and assemblies with the doors

self-closing. Partitions between apartments on each floor shall be one

hour fire rated partitions. All windows opening on fire escapes shall be

provided with wire glass, unless such windows are protected by a wet

pipe sprinkler head with a minimum of one head per window.

9. Such buildings, in regard to egress, shall comply with the

following:

(a) In a non-fireproof building there shall be:

(i) one independently enclosed stairway and a fire escape from each

dwelling unit; or

(ii) where the building is fully wet sprinklered and not in excess of

seventy-five feet in height and not exceeding five thousand square feet

in building area one independently enclosed stairway from each dwelling,

and an independently enclosed hallway, of one hour fire rating where

there are two or more tenants on a floor; or

(iii) a sprinklered enclosed hallway with access to two independently

enclosed stairs.

(b) In a fireproof building, there shall be:

(i) an enclosed hallway and two independently enclosed stairs; or

(ii) an enclosed hallway and one independently enclosed stair and a

screened exterior stair in conformance with section two hundred

sixty-eight of the labor law with all glazed openings thereon equipped

with wire glass; or

(iii) for buildings not exceeding seven stories or seventy-five feet

in height, egress conforming with the provisions of paragraph (a) of

this subdivision; or

(iv) egress conforming with the provisions of section one hundred two

of this chapter.

(c) No more than two dwelling units shall open directly to a stair

without an intervening enclosed hallway.

(d) Enclosed hallways shall have a one hour fire rating.

(e) Enclosed stairways shall be:

(i) one hour fire rated in non-fireproof buildings four stories or

less in height; or

(ii) one hour fire rated and sprinklered in non-fireproof buildings

six stories or less in height; or

(iii) one hour fire rated in non-fireproof, fully sprinklered

buildings seven stories in height; or

(iv) two hour fire rated in all other cases.

(f) The travel distance to the means of egress shall comply with the

administrative code of the city of New York.

(g) Wooden stairs permitted by section one hundred eighty-nine of this

chapter may be retained only if, in addition to meeting all of the

requirements set forth therein, they are within a fully wet-sprinklered

enclosure, and the stair and landing soffit are fire retarded,

notwithstanding any other provisions.

(h) Every required stair shall extend through the roof by a bulkhead,

except that a scuttle may be used if the dwelling does not exceed four

stories and except that no bulkhead or scuttle is required where the

roof is a peak roof with a pitch of more than fifteen degrees.

(i) Mezzanines shall be provided with a stair at least two feet six

inches wide terminating not more than twenty feet from an exit door or

fire escape, and all portions of such mezzanines shall be not more than

fifty feet from such exit door or fire escape.

10. In buildings in excess of two stories in height, stairways shall

be provided with skylights at least twenty square feet in area, glazed

with plain glass with a wire screen over and under and provided with

fixed or movable ventilators having a minimum open area of one hundred

forty-four square inches. In lieu of the skylight and ventilators, a

window of equal area may be provided with fixed louvers having a minimum

open area of one hundred forty-four square inches installed in or

immediately adjacent to the window.

11. Except as otherwise provided in this article, all shafts shall be

enclosed with incombustible material of two hour fire rating and comply

with the administrative code of the city of New York, provided, however,

existing shaft enclosures constructed in part of combustible material

may be retained if upgraded to obtain a two hour fire rating.

12. Every kitchen or kitchenette or cooking space in such building

shall comply with the requirements imposed on multiple dwellings erected

after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine by section

thirty-three of this chapter.

13. Such building shall comply with all requirements imposed on

multiple dwellings erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred

twenty-nine by title three of article three of this chapter.

14. All interior iron columns in unsprinklered buildings shall be

protected by materials or assemblies having a fire-resistive rating of

at least three hours. Where sprinklers are provided for an exterior wall

as provided in subdivision one of this section or in a fully wet

sprinklered building such columns shall be protected by two sprinkler

heads located eighteen inches or more away and each on opposite sides of

such column but no further than four feet. Such sprinklers shall be

provided at any interior column where fire protection is omitted in

non-fireproof buildings.

15. The elevator shafts in such buildings shall be enclosed with

incombustible material of two hour fire rating, except that existing

elevator shaft enclosures constructed in part of combustible material

may be retained if upgraded to obtain a two hour fire rating; and have

fireproof doors and assemblies with (a) the doors self-closing; or (b) a

vestibule the walls of which shall be of non-combustible material and

have a minimum two hour fire resistive rating, with self-closing

fireproof doors and be fire-stopped; or (c) where the elevator is

manually operated in fully sprinklered buildings have fireproof doors,

with approved interlock devices.

16. The requirements and standards prescribed in this section shall be

subject to variation in specific cases by the commissioner of buildings,

or the board of standards and appeals, of such city under and pursuant

to the provisions of paragraph two of subdivision b of section six

hundred forty-five and section six hundred sixty-six of the New York

city charter.