White Plains, NY Fire Regulations: Smoke Detectors (2026)

White Plains adopts the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code via 19 NYCRR Part 1225 (Property Maintenance Code of New York State, PMCNYS) and Part 1219 (Fire Code), and supplements them with the locally adopted White Plains Building Code, Fire Code, and Smoke Control Code published in the city's Supplemental Building and Fire Codes. Under PMCNYS Section 704, smoke alarms must be installed and maintained in every dwelling unit on the ceiling or wall outside each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of bedrooms, in each room used for sleeping, and on every story including habitable basements (crawl spaces and uninhabitable attics excluded). Alarms must be tested per the manufacturer's instructions and replaced when they fail or reach end of life. New York Executive Law Section 378(5) and 19 NYCRR Part 1225 require owners of non-owner-occupied one- and two-family dwellings and all multiple dwellings to provide and maintain at least one operational smoke alarm and one carbon monoxide alarm in each dwelling unit. White Plains Rental Housing License Sec. 4-28-9 inspections include a Rental Housing License Inspection Report covering smoke and CO alarms; for buildings with three or more units the Fire Department must also confirm a current fire/PM inspection record before the Department of Building renews the license. Hardwired interconnected alarms are required when major alterations or new construction trigger Residential Code provisions, while battery-only alarms are acceptable in existing units that have not been substantially renovated.