Troy, NY Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

Section 176-25 of the Troy City Code sits in Article IV of Chapter 176, Housing and Property Maintenance, adopted by the Troy City Council. Subsection A requires at least one single-station smoke-detecting alarm device, located on or near the ceiling, adjacent to sleeping spaces within rented dwelling units, and in sleeping rooms for transient occupancies, which the section lists as hotels, motels, lodging houses and dormitory buildings. Transient buildings are excused in three cases only: a total-coverage fire and smoke detecting system required by the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code is installed; a total-coverage sprinkler system is installed under that code; or smoke-detecting alarm devices are installed in all corridors, hallways, stairways and other exitways while heat detectors cover furnace rooms, refuse rooms, storage rooms, janitor's closets, lounges, garages, laundry rooms, mechanical rooms, kitchens and cellars adjacent to interior stairways, with activation of any one detector sounding an alarm throughout the entire building.

Subsection B defines the device as an assembly with a photoelectric or ionization type of smoke detector in which the control equipment and audible alarm are in one unit. Subsection D requires approval by Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. Subsection E requires a design and installation that avoids dead air space, detects smoke and activates the alarm, is reasonably free from false alarm, and gives an indication that the alarm is energized. Subsection F requires the alarm to be clearly audible in adjacent sleeping spaces with intervening doors closed. Subsection H lets the device be directly wired into a lighting circuit, cord-connected to an electrical outlet or battery-powered. Subsection C requires maintenance so that under normal conditions of use the device is not a danger to health and welfare and does not create excessive noise or become a nuisance.

The rule is one piece of the Housing Code's fire-safety package. Section 176-24 bars any person from occupying or letting a dwelling that does not comply with the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and the added safety-from-fire requirements, and § 176-5 gives the Director of Code Enforcement the duty to enforce the chapter.