I have a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC where we are relocating an electrical panel in the living room to an adjacent wall. During our design we noticed there was no smoke detector in the unit and are providing combination Smoke/CO detectors in the bedroom and within 15ft of the outside door leading to the bedroom.
Now the question of the smoke/CO detector power source has come up. To my understanding in all new construction for dwelling units, the power source needs to come from a dedicated circuit in the apartment panel per 907.2.11.2 of the 2022 NYC Building Code. Now the only issue is that mean they will need to rip up the ceiling to get the hard wired connection to the detector on the other side of the apartment.
I was trying to find an exemption for existing dwelling units, so that we could avoid the hardwired connection and I came to the 2021 international building code R313.1.1, which states:
R313.1.1 Alterations, repairs and additions. When interior alterations, repairs or additions requiring a permit occur, or when one or more sleeping rooms are added or created in existing dwellings, the individual dwelling unit shall be provided with smoke alarms located as required for new dwellings; the smoke alarms shall be interconnected and hard wired.
Exceptions:
1. Smoke alarms in existing areas shall not be re-quired to be interconnected and hard wired where the alterations or repairs do not result in the removal of interior wall or ceiling finishes exposing the structure, unless there is an attic, crawl space, or basement available which could provide access for hard wiring and interconnection without the removal of interior finishes.
2. Repairs to the exterior surfaces of dwellings are exempt from the requirements of this section.
Now my question here is am I able to use this exemption or does the NYC 2022 building code take precedence since it doesn't reference me to the residential code?
Now the question of the smoke/CO detector power source has come up. To my understanding in all new construction for dwelling units, the power source needs to come from a dedicated circuit in the apartment panel per 907.2.11.2 of the 2022 NYC Building Code. Now the only issue is that mean they will need to rip up the ceiling to get the hard wired connection to the detector on the other side of the apartment.
I was trying to find an exemption for existing dwelling units, so that we could avoid the hardwired connection and I came to the 2021 international building code R313.1.1, which states:
R313.1.1 Alterations, repairs and additions. When interior alterations, repairs or additions requiring a permit occur, or when one or more sleeping rooms are added or created in existing dwellings, the individual dwelling unit shall be provided with smoke alarms located as required for new dwellings; the smoke alarms shall be interconnected and hard wired.
Exceptions:
1. Smoke alarms in existing areas shall not be re-quired to be interconnected and hard wired where the alterations or repairs do not result in the removal of interior wall or ceiling finishes exposing the structure, unless there is an attic, crawl space, or basement available which could provide access for hard wiring and interconnection without the removal of interior finishes.
2. Repairs to the exterior surfaces of dwellings are exempt from the requirements of this section.
Now my question here is am I able to use this exemption or does the NYC 2022 building code take precedence since it doesn't reference me to the residential code?