Oneida, NY Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Section 77-117, added in 1984 and amended in 1985, sets out a full smoke and heat detector regime for rental and multiple dwellings. Every sleeping area needs at least one smoke detector located on or near the ceiling, and the alarm has to be clearly audible in adjacent sleeping spaces even with intervening doors closed. Common passageways need at least one smoke detector per floor or per smoke zone as approved by the Code Enforcement Office and the Fire Marshal's Office, and those passageway detectors must be interconnected so activating one sounds all of them.

Detectors must be hard-wired directly to the dwelling's lighting circuit with no intervening wall switch and no cord connections, except that battery-operated smoke or heat detectors are allowed in buildings of four dwelling units or fewer with no commercial occupancy, provided the battery unit has a separate low-battery trouble signal. Heat detectors can substitute for smoke detectors in areas prone to false alarms, and battery-operated units can substitute where wiring is impractical, but both substitutions and any other deviation need approval from the Code Enforcement Office and Fire Marshal's Office.

Existing buildings had six months from the section's enactment to comply; new construction must comply from the time of construction. The Fire Chief, Fire Marshal's office, a Fire Inspector, Code Enforcement Officer or Housing Inspector can inspect any covered building to confirm compliance, and the owner bears ongoing responsibility for keeping every detector in good working order.