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Title 1: Department of Buildings
Chapter 1: Material and Equipment Application Procedures [Repealed]
Chapter 2: Boiler Inspections [Repealed]
Chapter 3: Vacant and Unguarded Buildings
Chapter 4: Certificates of Occupancy, Live Loads and Occupancy Loads
Chapter 5: Concrete
Chapter 6: Cranes [Repealed]
Chapter 7: Installation and Maintenance of Vent Damper Devices in Existing Boilers and Furnaces [Repealed]
Chapter 8: Demolition [Repealed]
Chapter 9: Rigging Operations [Repealed]
Chapter 10: Drums for Derrick Load and Boom Hoists
Chapter 11: Elevators, Escalators, Personnel Hoists and Moving Walks
Chapter 12: Emergency Power Systems [Repealed]
Chapter 13: Adjudications [Repealed]
Chapter 14: Fees [Repealed]
Chapter 15: Fire Protection
Chapter 16: Inspection of Existing Structures During Construction Operations
Chapter 17: Testing Laboratories and Testing Services
Chapter 18: Resistance to Progressive Collapse Under Extreme Local Loads
Chapter 19: Master Plumbers and Licensed Fire Suppression Piping Contractors
Chapter 20: Piping Systems
Chapter 21: Plans
Chapter 22: Pressure Tanks
Chapter 23: Noncommercial Greenhouses
Chapter 24: Refuse Chutes and Refuse Rooms
Chapter 25: Climber and Tower Crane Riggers [Repealed]
Chapter 26: Safety of Public and Property During Construction Operations. [Repealed]
Chapter 27: Signs
Chapter 28: Smoke Detecting Devices and Systems and Carbon Monoxide Detecting Devices and Systems [Repealed]
Chapter 29: Sprinkler Systems
Chapter 30: Storage of Certain Waste Materials
Chapter 31: Suspension, Revocation Or Limitation of Registration [Repealed]
Chapter 32: Walls [Repealed]
Chapter 33: Exemptions from Civil Penalties [Repealed]
Chapter 34: Electrical Code Rules
Chapter 35: Electrical Inspection
Chapter 36: Electrical Contractors
Chapter 37: Reference Standards [Repealed]
Chapter 38: Ventilation
Chapter 39: Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers
Chapter 40: Installation and Maintenance of Gas-Fueled Water and Space Heaters in All Portions of Dwellings Used or Occupied for Living Purposes
Chapter 41: Venting of Gas Water Heaters and Other Gas Appliances In Multiple Dwellings
Chapter 42: Entrance Doors, Locks and Intercommunication Systems
Chapter 43: Installation of Security Items in Multiple Dwellings
Chapter 44: Exemptions from Filing Requirements [Repealed]
Chapter 45: Building Permit Application Procedures
Chapter 46: Authorized Representatives
Chapter 47: Licensed Oil-Burning Equipment Installers
Chapter 48: Construction Superintendents [Repealed]
Chapter 49: Outdoor Signs
Chapter 50: Distributed Energy Resource Standards
Chapter 51: Dormitories
Chapter 52: Notification to the Department of Commencement of Work Pursuant to an Earthwork Permit
Chapter 100: [Administration; Enforcement; Maintenance of Buildings; Licensing; Miscellaneous Provisions]
Chapter 300: Use and Occupancy Classification
Chapter 400: Special Detailed Requirements Based on Use and Occupancy [Repealed]
Chapter 900: Fire Protection Systems
Chapter 1000: Means of Egress
Chapter 1100: Accessibility
Chapter 3000: Elevators and Conveying Systems
Chapter 3300: Safeguards During Construction and Demolition
Chapter 3500: Referenced Standards
Chapter 3600: Appendices
Chapter 4000: Electrical Code
Chapter 5000: New York City Energy Conservation Code
Chapter 6000: Fuel Gas Code
Chapter 7000: Mechanical Code
Chapter 8000: New York City Plumbing Code
Chapter 9000: Zoning
Title 2: Board of Standards and Appeals
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Title 24: Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Title 25: Department of Mental Health and Retardation [Repealed]
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Title 70: In Rem Foreclosure Release Board
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Title 72: Office of Emergency Management
Title 73: Civic Engagement Commission
Title 74: Community Hiring
Chapter 300: Use and Occupancy Classification
§ 310-01 Student Apartments.
   (a)   Scope. This rule establishes criteria for determining when dwelling units are classified as student apartments and when the fire safety provisions of Chapter 9 of the Building Code are applicable to such apartments. Student apartments shall not include buildings or portions thereof classified or recorded on a certificate of occupancy or in other records of the Department or other agencies as a dormitory pursuant to Chapter 3 of the 2008 Building Code or Subchapter 3 of Chapter 1 of Title 27 of the 1968 Building Code or as an equivalent classification pursuant to the building code in effect prior to December 6, 1968.
   (b)   References. See section BC 310.2 (definitions of: apartment; apartment, student; family); section BC 907.2.9.1; Housing Maintenance Code § 27-2004(a)(4) (definition of family).
   (c)   Classification as student apartments. Student apartment shall mean any apartment occupied or arranged to be occupied by students enrolled at a single accredited college or university and maintaining a common household pursuant to a lease, sublease, or occupancy agreement directly with such college or university, provided however, that the occupancy by fewer than four such students maintaining a common household and who are enrolled in a graduate program, a professional post-graduate program, or a continuing education program intended for adult learners beyond traditional undergraduate university or college age shall not be deemed a student apartment.
      (1)   Definition of "family" under the New York City Zoning Resolution. Where the Zoning Resolution limits the use of a building to either a one-family or two-family residence, the number of occupants in such residence occupied as a student apartment shall be limited to four unrelated persons in accordance with the definition of "family" in Section 12-10 of the Zoning Resolution.
   (d)   Applicability of fire safety requirements.
      (1)   Apartments converted to student apartment use on or after July 1, 2009. An apartment first occupied as a student apartment on or after July 1, 2009 shall comply with the following requirements:
         (i)   where required by section BC 907.2.9.1, a fire alarm system complying with such section shall be installed;
         (ii)   the entire structure in which the dwelling unit is located shall be fully sprinklered, provided however, that a building previously approved as fully sprinklered in accordance with the laws in effect prior to July 1, 2009 shall suffice as fully sprinklered;
         (iii)   such occupancy shall not exceed the maximum occupancy contained in § 27-2075(a) of the New York City Housing Maintenance Code;
         (iv)   prior to commencement of such occupancy, and on an annual basis thereafter, such college or university shall submit a fire safety and evacuation plan for such dwelling units and other student apartments in the building that contains fire safety and evacuation procedures acceptable to the Fire Commissioner and is in compliance with any rules promulgated by the Fire Commissioner; and
         (v)   the dwelling unit shall comply with additional occupancy and construction requirements as may be established by rule by the Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner; and
         (vi)   an application for construction document approval shall be submitted to the Department indicating the dwelling unit numbers to be converted to student apartments within the job description of such application, regardless of whether or not any construction activity will occur. A permit shall be issued and the project signed off prior to use as student apartments.
      (2)   Apartments converted to student apartment use prior to July 1, 2009. The occupancy of an apartment first occupied as student apartment prior to July 1, 2009 may be continued without triggering the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of this section, provided that:
         (i)   the occupancy of such apartment is limited to no more than three students maintaining a common household; and
         (ii)   such apartment is thereafter occupied as a student apartment, although not necessarily by the same students, provided that such student apartment is not vacant for a period in excess of 12 months.
      (3)   Summary chart. The chart in Figure 1 summarizes the applicability of fire safety requirements, but is not intended to supersede the text of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (d) of this section.
Figure 1
Summary chart of fire safety requirements
 
Pre-2008-code buildings (1968, 1938, etc.)
2008-code buildings 
 
Unit converted to student apartment prior to July 1, 2009
Units converted to student apartments on or after July 1, 2009
Units created or converted to student apartments
Undergraduate
 
 
 
1 to 3 students in the apartment
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are not applicable
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are applicable
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are applicable
4 to 7 students in the apartment
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are applicable
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are applicable
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are applicable
Post-Graduate
 
 
 
1 to 3 students in the apartment
Not deemed a student apartment
Not deemed a student apartment
Not deemed a student apartment
4 to 7 students in the apartment
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are applicable
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are applicable
Requirements of 1 RCNY § 310-01 (d)(1) are applicable
 
   (e)   Certificate of occupancy. An amended certificate of occupancy need not be obtained in order to occupy an otherwise lawful apartment for use as a student apartment.
   (f)   Records. The college or university shall maintain records at the building that contains any student apartment, identifying the unit numbers of student apartments, the maximum number of students housed in each such unit, whether the students are post-graduate or are permitted to be undergraduate, and where applicable, whether the apartment was first occupied as a student apartment prior to July 1, 2009. Such records shall be available for inspection by the Department, the Fire Department, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The college or university may be required to produce further records to substantiate compliance with this section.