§ 104-04 Certification of Corrected Defects in Fire Alarm System Installations.
RCNY § 104-04
(a)Scope. This section sets forth the standards, requirements and procedures for certification of correction of defects in the design and installation of newly-installed and altered fire alarm systems, when such defective conditions are cited by the Department upon inspection or acceptance testing of such a system.
(b)Definitions. The following terms, for purposes of this section and as used elsewhere in the rules, have the meanings shown herein: Certification of corrected defects. Certification by licensed or certified professionals, in accordance with 3 RCNY § 104-04, that a defect cited by the Department in the design and/or installation of a fire alarm system has been corrected, as follows: (1) certification by the fire alarm system installer who personally corrected the defect. Such person shall either be: (A) a principal of a company to which the Department has issued a company certificate for fire alarm system installation, inspection, testing and servicing who holds a certificate of fitness for fire alarm system installation, inspection, testing and servicing and for certification of corrected defects; or (B) a technician employed by such a company who holds a certificate of fitness for fire alarm system installation, inspection, testing and servicing, and for certification of corrected defects; and (2) if correction of the defect necessitated the installation of electrical wiring or other work requiring the services of a licensed electrician, certification by the licensed master electrician or licensed special electrician who holds a certificate of fitness for certification of corrected defects who personally corrected the defect or supervised the work of a qualified electrical technician under such licensed electrician's direction and control; and (3) the licensed or certified professional who personally verified the functionality of the fire alarm system following correction of the defect. Such person shall hold a certificate of fitness for verification of corrected fire alarm system defects. Such person shall not be one of the licensed or certified professionals who certified correction of the fire alarm system defects.
(4)A licensed special electrician may certify correction of work or verify system functionality only for fire alarm system installations for which the special electrician made the required filings.
(c)Applicability. In lieu of Department re-inspection, owners may elect to certify correction of defects in newly-installed or altered fire alarm system installations that have not yet been approved by the Department, when all of the following conditions have been met: (1) Approved design documents. The owner submitted design and installation documents with the Department and obtained Department approval of the design of the system; (2) Acceptance test. The owner's representatives conducted the required acceptance test of the system before Department representatives; (3) System defects. The Department identified defects in the design and installation of the system, including whether it operates as designed, as set forth in a notice of defect or other Department documentation issued after the effective date of this section, and such defects cited prior to the effective date of this section as the Department may determine to allow to be certified pursuant to this section, consistent with the standards, requirements and procedures of this section; (4) Ineligible defects. The notice of defect does not identify more than 10 fire alarm system defects in a low-rise building or more than 20 fire alarm system defects in a high-rise building, and/or does not identify any defects in the design and installation of any of the following system components (when required), including whether they operate as designed: (A) Emergency alarm systems; (B) Emergency power switchover; (C) Firefighter service (Phase 1 and Phase 2), including elevator recall operation; (D) Fan shut down affecting the operation of more than 20% of fan systems; (E) Fire shutter operation; (F) [Reserved;] (G) Power riser (including fire rating requirements); (H) Primary power supply connection (including connection after building disconnect); (I) Smoke control operation; (J) Sprinkler water flow switches and other non-sprinkler fire extinguishing system activation devices; (K) Stair pressurization; and (L) Central station connection.
(5)Timely submission. Certification of corrected defects is submitted to the Department within 90 days of the date the notice of defect was issued.
(d)Eligibility for Certificate of Fitness for Certification of Corrected Defects. The following licensed or certified professionals may obtain a certificate of fitness for verification of corrected fire alarm system defects: (1) a registered design professional; (2) a principal of a company for which a company certificate for fire alarm system installation, inspection, testing and servicing has been issued, who is a fire alarm system installer registered with or licensed by the State of New York; and (3) a master electrician or special electrician licensed by the Department of Buildings.
(e)Scope of Certification of Professional Correcting Defects. Certification of corrected defects constitutes a representation by the licensed or certified professional correcting the defects, made under the authority granted to the licensed or certified professional by his or her professional license or certification and the applicable Department certificate, that the defect in the design or installation of the fire alarm system, identified in the applicable notice of defect, has been corrected, in accordance with the applicable requirements of the Building Code, Fire Code, Electrical Code, NFPA 72 and/or other law, rule, regulation, standard or component listing, as follows: (1) Types of defects. Certification of corrected defects constitutes a representation that each defect has been corrected as follows: (A) Missing component. If the defect was a system component that was not installed, the component has been installed and connected to the requisite power source, and operates as designed. (B) Non-approved component. If the defect was a system component that was not listed or otherwise not approved for use in New York City, the component has been replaced with a listed or approved component, and operates as designed. (C) Non-working component. If the defect was a system component that was not working or not working properly, the condition has been corrected, and the component is in good working order and operates as designed.
(2)Operates as designed. For purposes of certification of corrected defects, "operates as designed" means that the system component performs the function for which it has been designed and installed, in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications and the approved design and installation documents for the system, as amended by any as-built design and installation documents and (with respect to electrical work) any A-433 form, including activating or shutting down all devices the system component is designed to activate or shut down.
(3)Minimum duration of testing. Certification of corrected defects of a system component shall be based on operation of the device for the period of time necessary to assure its proper operation.
(f)Scope of Certification of Professional Verifying System Functionality. Certification of corrected defects constitutes a representation by the licensed or certified professional verifying the functionality of fire alarm system components after correction of defects, made under the authority granted to the licensed or certified professional by his or her professional license or certification and the applicable Department certificate, that a defect involving a missing or non-working component has been corrected and the fire alarm system components that were installed and/or repaired in order to correct the defective condition are operating as designed in accordance with the approved plans for the fire alarm system, as amended by any as-built design and installation documents, including the Input/Output programming matrix that defines the sequence of operation (as set forth in Section A.14.6.2.4 of Annex A to NFPA Standard 72).
(g)Submission and Acceptance of Certification of Corrected Defects. Certification of corrected defects shall be submitted to the Department, and, if satisfactory, accepted by the Department, in the following manner: (1) Submission. Certification of corrected defects shall be submitted on the form approved by the Department for this purpose. If there are no defects in the design or installation of the fire alarm system and the notice of defect requires submission of the applicable A-433 form, as-built design and installation documents or other documentation required solely to complete the application (administrative defects), submission of certification of corrected defects is not required. Such submissions must bear such certifications as may be required by law, rule or Department procedure.
(h)False Certification. All certifications of corrected defects are subject to audit. Any licensed or certified professional and certificate holder found to have submitted false or fraudulent certification shall be subject to the penalties provided therefor in the Fire Code and rules, and any other applicable law, rule or regulation, including the penalties for misconduct set forth in 3 RCNY § 113-01(g) and 3 RCNY § 115-01(i), as applicable. False certification of corrected defects may also be considered in connection with the false certifier's fitness to hold other certificates of fitness or company certificates. (Added City Record 10/16/2020, eff. 12/1/2020; amended City Record 3/27/2023, eff. 4/26/2023)
