§ 12-08 Specifications, Testing and Installation of Window Guards.
RCNY § 12-08
All window guards installed in a window or window frame must meet the following specifications: (a) Construction. Construction must be of rigid metal or of other equally durable rigid materials, without sharp projections, edges or rough surfaces.
(b)Coatings. Coatings must not contain lead in excess of the limits prescribed in 24 RCNY Health Code Article 173.
(c)Weather resistance. Metals and coated metals must be weather and corrosion resistant.
(d)Restrict window openings. Window guards must allow no opening greater than four and one-half (4 1/2) inches between the window jamb, frame, sill, and any moveable sash. Although the size of the opening above the upper sash of a double hung window is not restricted, a stop must be installed in the window frame so that there is no more than a four and one-half (4 1/2) inch opening between the top of the highest horizontal bar of the installed window guard and the bottom rail of the upper sash.
(e)Tested to withstand at least 150 pounds impact. Each window guard must be tested by an independent testing laboratory and must demonstrate the ability to withstand the impact of at least a 150-pound load when a guard is extended to its maximum width or a window with an installed limiting device is opened, without increasing any opening in the guard grid or in a window that is more than four and one-half (4 1/2) inches in any direction. A window guard that in testing shows any degree of deflection creating an opening exceeding four and one-half (4 1/2) inches must be further tested to demonstrate that such opening does not permit passage of a five-inch solid sphere. When a window guard will be used in window openings of different sizes, tests must validate use with each size.
(f)Installation. Window guards must be installed only in window frames that are structurally sound and intact or that have been reinforced to permit correct permanent installation of window guards. Window frames that are not intact must be repaired or replaced.
(g)Screws. All screws used to secure window guards must be counter-sunk so as to be flush with the jamb or other window frame component.
(1)One-way or other metal screws supplied by the manufacturer must be used to mount window guards. Screws used must be types not readily removable by standard flat-blade slotted or Phillips-head screwdrivers.
(2)Screws must be either (i) minimum size #10 and long enough to penetrate one inch into a wooden window frame, or (ii) of an adequate type, size and length to be securely fastened to window frames made of other materials.
(h)Permanent identification. All window guards must bear a Department registration number die stamped on the window with a built-in limiting device, separately installed limiting device or on one of the end bars of the window guard so as to be readily visible when viewed from within the room where the window or guard has been installed.
(i)Installation kits. Each window guard or window with a built-in window guard sold by a manufacturer must be packaged and sold with all hardware necessary for installation and instructions, including: (1) Stops. “L” shaped or other stops.
(3)Installation and maintenance instructions and warnings. The manufacturer’s written instructions for safe installation and maintenance must be supplied in the manufacturer’s packaging with each window guard or window with a built-in window guard, in English, specifying the types and dimensions of the windows in which the device may be used and must contain the following warnings regarding limitations for use, prominently displayed on instruction sheets: WARNINGUSE OF THIS GUARD OR DEVICE TO ALLOW A WINDOW TO BE OPENED MORE THAN FOUR AND ONE-HALF (4 1/2) INCHES IS DANGEROUS AND ILLEGAL.THIS GUARD OR DEVICE MUST BE INSTALLED IN A STRUCTURALLY SOUND WINDOW FRAME.NO WINDOW GUARD MAY BE INSTALLED IN WINDOWS PROVIDING ACCESS TO FIRE ESCAPES OR OTHER MEANS OF EMERGENCY ESCAPE AND RESCUE. (Added City Record 7/23/2025, eff. 1/1/2026)
