NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF RULE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to the authority vested in the Commissioner of the Department of Buildings by Sections 643 and 1043 of the New York City Charter and Section 28-103.19 of the New York City Administrative Code, and in accordance with Section BC 3008 of the New York City Building Code, that the Department of Buildings hereby adopts the following rule repealing Sections 3616-01, 3616-02, 3616-03 and 3616-05 of Title 1 of the Official Compilation of the Rules of the City of New York and amending Section 3616-04 of such title.
This rule was first published on July 17, 2015 and a public hearing thereon was held on August 19, 2015.
Dated: 8/28/15 /s/_ _____
New York, New York Rick D. Chandler, P.E.
Commissioner
Statement of Basis and Purpose of Rule
The rule:
- repeals rules setting forth National Fire Protection Association (“NFPA”) amendments relating to elevator hoistways and machine rooms, closets and pantries, hydrostatic tests, and exemption from Fire Department connection requirements in one- and two-family residential buildings, and
- amends the rule setting forth the NFPA amendment relating to the national fire alarm and signaling code to add language relating to occupant evacuation elevators. This updates the safety requirements to the latest national standard, which will enhance public safety.
Sections one through four of the rule repeal sections 3616-01, 3616-02, 3616-03, and 3616-05 of Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York (RCNY), because sections 3616-02 and 3616-05 have been superseded by Appendix Q of the Building Code, and the amendments to the NFPA standards that had been set forth in 3616-01 and 3616-03 have been superseded by the most recent associated NFPA standards, as amended by Appendix Q.
Section five of the proposed rule amends section 3616-04 of Title 1 of the RCNY to update provisions of section 21.6 of NFPA 72 regarding occupant evacuation elevators to conform to the requirements of NFPA 72-2013.
The Department of Buildings’ authority for this rule is found in sections 643 and 1043 of the New York City Charter, section 28-103.19 of the New York City Administrative Code, and section BC 3008 of the New York City Building Code (found in Chapter 7 of Title 28 of the New York City Administrative Code).
Note that an asterisk (*) found within this rule, following the number or letter designating a paragraph, indicates that explanatory material on the paragraph can be found in Annex A of NFPA 72.
“Shall” and “must” denote mandatory requirements and may be used interchangeably in the rules of this department, unless otherwise specified or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
New material is underlined.
[Deleted material is in brackets.]
Section 1. Section 3616-01 of Subchapter Q of Chapter 3600 of Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York, relating to fire protection standards for elevator hoistways and machine rooms, is REPEALED.
§ 2. Section 3616-02 of Subchapter Q of Chapter 3600 of Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York, relating to fire protection standards for closets and pantries, is REPEALED.
§ 3. Section 3616-03 of Subchapter Q of Chapter 3600 of Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York, relating to hydrostatic tests, is REPEALED.
§ 4. Section 3616-05 of Subchapter Q of Chapter 3600 of Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York, relating to exemption from Fire Department connection requirements in one- and two-family residential buildings, is REPEALED.
§ 5. Section 3616-04 of Subchapter Q of Chapter 3600 of Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York is amended to read as follows:
§ 3616-04 National Fire Protection Association ("NFPA") 72 Amendment Relating to the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.
Pursuant to Section 28-103.19 of the New York City Administrative Code, NFPA 72 (2010 edition) is hereby amended as follows:
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21.4.3 Delete and replace with the following: Pressure or water flow switches shall not be used to shut down elevator power.
21.6 Delete and replace with the following:
21.6 Occupant Evacuation Elevators.
21.6.1 Elevator Status. Any elevator specifically designated and marked for use by occupants for evacuation during fires shall comply with all of the provisions of Sections 21.5 and 21.6.
21.6.2 Elevator Occupant Evacuation Operation (OEO). Outputs from the fire alarm system to the elevator controller(s) shall be provided to implement elevator occupant evacuation operation in accordance with Section 2.27 of ASME A17.1/CSA B44 as modified by Chapter K1 of Appendix K of the New York City Building Code, as required in 21.6.2.1 and 21.6.2.2.
21.6.2.1 Partial Evacuation. Where an elevator or group of elevators is designated for use by occupants for evacuation, the provisions of 21.6.2.1.1 through 21.6.2.1.4 shall apply for partial evacuation.
21.6.2.1.1 Initiation. Output signal(s) shall be provided to initiate elevator occupant evacuation operation upon automatic or manual detection of a fire on a specific floor or floors as a result of either or both of the following:
(1) Activation of any automatic fire alarm initiating device in the building, other than an initiating device used for elevator Phase I Emergency Recall Operation in accordance with Chapter K1 of Appendix K of the New York City Building Code.
(2)* Activation of manual means at the fire command center by authorized or emergency
personnel.
21.6.2.1.2* Floor Identification.
(A) The output signal(s) shall identify each floor to be evacuated.
(B) The identified floors shall be a contiguous block of floors including the following:
(1) The floor with the first activated automatic initiating device.
(2) Floors with any subsequently activated automatic initiating device(s).
(3) Floors identified by manual means from the fire command center.
(4) One floor above the highest floor identified by 21.6.2.1.2(B)(1) through 21.6.2.1.2(B)(3).
(5) One floor below the lowest floor identified by 21.6.2.1.2(B)(1) through 21.6.2.1.2(B)(3).
(C) The identified floors shall be displayed on a standard emergency services interface along with the other elevator status information required by 21.6.1.
21.6.2.1.3 Manual Floor Selection.
(A) A means shall be provided at the fire command center to allow the manual selection of floors.
(B) The floors shall be selected on the basis of information from authorized or emergency personnel.
21.6.2.1.4* Occupant Notification. The in-building fire emergency voice/alarm communications system shall transmit coordinated messages throughout the building.
(A) Live voice evacuation messages shall be transmitted to the floors identified in 21.6.2.1.2 to indicate the need to evacuate and that elevator service is available.
(B) Live voice messages shall be transmitted to the floors not being evacuated to inform occupants of evacuation status and shall include an indication that elevator service is not available.
(C)* Live voice messages shall be transmitted to the floors identified in 21.6.2.1.2 to indicate that elevator service is not available when all elevators have been recalled on Phase I Emergency Recall Operation.
(D) All live voice messages shall be coordinated with the text displays provided separately by the elevator management system.
21.6.2.2 Total Evacuation. Where an elevator or group of elevators is designated for use by occupants for evacuation, the provisions of 21.6.2.2.1 through 21.6.2.2.3 shall apply for total evacuation.
21.6.2.2.1 Output(s) to signal elevator occupant evacuation operation for total evacuation shall be manually activated from the fire command center by a means labeled “ELEVATOR TOTAL BUILDING EVACUATION.”
21.6.2.2.2 The output(s) shall identify that all floors are to be evacuated.
21.6.2.2.3 A live voice evacuation message shall be transmitted from the in-building fire emergency voice/alarm communication system throughout the entire building to indicate the need to evacuate.
21.7.3* Delete and replace with the following: Fan Shutdown and Restart.
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