2020 New York State Fire Code

The 2020 Fire Code of New York State® (FCNYS®) establishes minimum requirements for fire prevention and fire protection systems using prescriptive and performance-related provisions. It is founded on broad-based principles that make possible the use of new materials and new system designs. This 2020 edition is a derivative work of the 2018 edition of the International Fire Code® (IFC®) published by the International Code Council® (ICC®).

This code is founded on principles intended to establish provisions consistent with the scope of a fire code that adequately protects public health, safety and welfare; provisions that do not unnecessarily increase construction costs; provisions that do not restrict the use of new materials, products or methods of construction; and provisions that do not give preferential treatment to particular types or classes of materials, products or methods of construction.

FCNYS is a code that regulates minimum fire safety requirements for new and existing buildings, facilities, storage and processes. The FCNYS addresses fire prevention, fire protection, life safety, and safe storage and use of hazardous materials in new and existing buildings, facilities, and processes. The FCNYS provides a total approach of controlling hazards in all buildings and sites, regardless if the hazard is indoors or outdoors. 

The FCNYS is a design document. For example, before one constructs a building, the site must be provided with an adequate water supply for fire-fighting operations, and a means of building access for emergency responders in the event of a medical emergency, fire, or natural or technological disaster. 

Depending on the building’s occupancy and uses, the FCNYS regulates the various hazards that may be housed within the building, including refrigeration systems, application of flammable finishes, fueling of motor vehicles, high-piled combustible storage, and the storage and use of hazardous materials. 

This comprehensive volume sets forth minimum requirements for these and other hazards, and contains requirements for maintaining the life safety of building occupants, the protection of emergency responders, and to limit the damage to a building and its contents as the result of a fire, explosion or unauthorized hazardous material discharge. 

As described, the FCNYS has many types of requirements for buildings and facilities. The applicability of these requirements varies. Generally, the construction and design provisions only apply to new buildings or existing buildings and occupancies as addressed by Chapter 11. The administrative, maintenance and operational requirements are applicable to all buildings and facilities, whether new or existing.