In June 2004, the 1968 NYC Building Code was amended with the signing of Local Law 26 of 2004. This new law retroactively required high-rise office buildings 100 feet or more in height that were not equipped with sprinklers in compliance with Local Law 5 of 1973 to be fully equipped with an automatic sprinkler system before July 1, 2019. The new law also required the filing of periodic compliance reports indicating to what extent the building has been equipped with sprinklers. 1-year and 7-year reports were mandated by 2005 and 2011, respectively, while the 14-year report is required to be filed by July 1, 2018.

Prior to the enactment of Local Law 26 of 2004, As mentioned above, the 1968 NYC Building Code had been amended twice before with respect to sprinkler requirements—once in 1973 with Local Law 5 and later in 1984 with Local Law 16. 

Local Law 5 of 1973 required existing high-rise office buildings 100 feet or more in height to either be equipped with a sprinkler system or provide compartmentation with stair pressurization.

Compartmentation involved the segregation of floor areas without sprinklers into spaces with rated fire separations based on the floor area. Larger areas were required to provide areas of refuge—a fire-rated, clear floor area adjacent to at least one egress stair—and/or a fire alarm system.

Buildings that elected to be fully equipped with sprinklers in accordance with Local Law 5 of 1973 were not required to comply with the compartmentation requirements.

Local Law 16 of 1984 required all new office buildings 75 feet or more in height to be protected by an automatic sprinkler system. It also retroactively mandated sprinklers for existing buildings.

How to File 14-Year Compliance Report & Extension Request

On December 29, 2017, the Department of Buildings (DOB) issued a Buildings Bulletin to clarify the process for filing the 14-year compliance report. The bulletin also outlines the process for extension requests where there is an undue hardship with meeting the July 1, 2019 deadline for fully equipping a building with an automatic sprinkler system, as well as hardship requests for interior NYC landmark-designated spaces where existing structural conditions make equipping the buildings with an automatic sprinkler system infeasible.

The Buildings Bulleting 2017-007 includes a flowchart of the applicability of sprinkler requirements (Figure 1) based on the building’s type and age, indicating which codes it was designed or required to comply with. 

The 14-year report and extension request are filed under the same application form (Attachment A:  Local Law 26/04 14 Year / Final Sprinkler Report & Application for Extension). To be eligible for the extension, all three periodic compliance reports must have been or be filed before their respective deadlines. 

The 14-year extension application must demonstrate an undue hardship for meeting the July 1, 2019 deadline and must have all required plans approved and permits issued for the required sprinkler work in order to bring the building into full compliance with the retroactive requirements.

What You Need to Know: Attachment A

The 14 Year / Final Sprinkler Report & Application for Extension (Attachment A) must be signed and sealed by a registered design professional and emailed directly to LL26@buildings.nyc.gov.  The form must be submitted with a cover letter with the applicant’s information, a description of the hardship, and a list of supporting documents—e.g. drawings, photographs, copies of previously-filed Local Law 26 of 2004 compliance reports, DOB variances, LPC approvals, etc.—as related to the extension request.

To complete the application submission, the Attachment A form must first specify the building’s type and age. More specifically, it must indicate whether the high-rise (100 feet or more) office building is:

• A Pre-1984 office building that complies with the ‘fully equipped with sprinklers’ option of Local Law 5 of 1973.
• A Pre-1984 office building that was not fully equipped with sprinklers in accordance with Local Law 5 of 1973.

For the latter, the application must also indicate the percentage of the building that is equipped with sprinklers, as well as whether any determinations were approved by the DOB for exemptions from the retroactive sprinkler installation and compliance reporting requirements. If so, documentation of DOB approval must be included.

Secondly, the report submission history for the building must also be indicated, including the date of each respective 1-year, 7-year, and 14-year report (Attachment A) filing.

Additionally, the status of the building’s sprinkler system must be indicated—specifically, whether the building:

• Was already fully equipped with sprinklers in accordance with Local Law 5 of 1973, and therefore no 1-year or 7-year interim reports indicating the percentage of which the building was equipped with sprinklers were previously required to be filed.
• Is or is not currently fully equipped with sprinklers, and in either case, whether or not the interim reports were filed.
• Whether an extension from the July 1, 2019 deadline for fully equipping the building with an automatic sprinkler system is being requested.

Furthermore, for the extension request, the following must be provided to support the request:

• A narrative describing the undue hardship preventing compliance along with any supporting technical documentation.
• Copies of the 1-year and 7-year interim reports previously approved by DOB.
• Documentation of the approved plans and permits for the future work that will bring the building into full compliance. Thus, prior to filing the 14 Year / Final Sprinkler Report & Application for Extension (which is due on July 1, 2018), plans must be filed, approved, and permitted by the building department—the DOB application number(s) and stamped plans should be included with the Attachment A filing form.

Per Local Law 26 of 2004, the extension request will be reviewed by a committee consisting of DOB and FDNY officials, as well as a “representative of the real estate industry”.  If the committee agrees with the hardship narrative and finds that a “good faith” effort has been made by the building owner—which includes (but is not limited to) the requirement that all interim compliance reports were filed by their respective deadlines and all plan approvals and permits have been issued for the remaining sprinkler work—the DOB will grant an extension of time to complete the work.

If an extension is granted, the building owner will need to submit a final report once all sprinkler work is completed as a condition of the extension.  

For questions or concerns regarding the filing of the 14-year compliance report, click the button below to contact an expert at Milrose Consultants.