Certificates of Fitness (COF) are special certifications issued by the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) under the New York City Fire Code.
These Certificates are issued after individuals display that they have completed the requisite training programs and tests to satisfy the FDNY’s standards for each type of Certificate of Fitness. These Certificates can be required for various construction activities and may be required for certain operations within your building. Below we summarize the most common types of Certificates of Fitness that we come across.
8 Most Common Types of Certificates of Fitness
1. Certificate of Fitness F-01-Citywide Fire Guard for Impairment:
Someone with this Cof F must be on-site whenever a fire protection system is out of service for an extended period of time.
2. Certificate of Fitness F-03-Indoor Place of Assembly Safety Personnel:
An individual responsible for assisting in maintaining fire safety at an approved place of assembly (PA) or temporary place of assembly (TPA) at a specific location is required to hold a Certificate of Fitness.
3. Certificate of Fitness F-04-Temporary Indoor/Outdoor Place of Assembly Safety Personnel:
An individual responsible for assisting in maintaining fire safety at temporary place of assembly events at different locations is required to hold a Certificate of Fitness. This is vital if you have frequent temporary place of assemblies (TPAs) within your building or space.
4. Certificate of Fitness F-58-Fire Safety Director:
Any building classified as Group E (1968 Code) or Group B (2008 Code) by the NYC Department of Buildings, which has an occupancy of 100 people or more must have a Fire Safety Director on site during regular business hours. This includes office buildings, public or civil services buildings, and hotels. Any building classified as Group E (1968 Code) or Group B (2008 Code) by the NYC Department of Buildings, which has an occupancy of 100 people or more must have a Fire Safety Director on site during regular business hours. This includes office buildings, public or civil services buildings, and hotels.
5. Certificate of Fitness F-59-Emergency Action Plan Director:
An Emergency Action Plan Director is responsible to implement a fire safety and emergency action plan, training emergency action personnel and other duties related to emergency action plan. An EAP Director is required for any commercial building classified as Group B and mixed occupancies by the NYC Department of Buildings during regular business hours.
6. S-56 Construction Site Fire Safety Manager:
This C of F is required at most major construction sites.
7. Certificate of Fitness S-95-Supervision of Fire Alarm Systems and Other Related Systems:
Any FDNY approved fire alarm must be supervised by a Cof F holder. This can sometimes be the FSD or an S-95 holder.
8. Certificate of Fitness B-29: Supervision of Battery Systems and Other Related Equipment:
This one is becoming more popular and important, as more uninterruptible power supply systems are in demand. These systems provide power to ensure the ongoing operation of critical systems (e.g. those used in hospitals, banks, hotels, etc.).
