Title MRE, Multiple Residence

Section 1. Short title. This chapter shall be known as the "multiple residence law."

§ 10. Dwellings damaged. If an old or other existing multiple dwelling be damaged by fire or other cause to the extent of two-thirds or more of its value at the time of such damage exclusive of the value of the foundation, such dwelling shall not be repaired or rebuilt except in…

§ 100. Application of article five. All the provisions of this article shall apply to every multiple dwelling of permanent or transient occupancy erected on or after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-two, and shall apply in addition to and not in substitution for the provisions…

§ 101. Height and bulk. The height and bulk of any new multiple dwelling shall be in accordance with the provisions of any applicable local law, ordinance, resolution, code provision or regulation.

§ 102. Yards and courts. Yards and courts in connection with any such multiple dwelling shall be in accordance with the provisions of any applicable local law, ordinance, resolution, code provision or regulation.

§ 103. Lighting and ventilation of rooms. 1. Except as in this section and in sections one hundred five, one hundred seventy-one and articles three and four otherwise expressly provided, every living room shall have at least one window opening directly upon a street, yard or cou…

§ 104. Size of rooms. 1. Every living room, except kitchens, shall contain at least eighty square feet of floor space and shall be not less than eight feet in its least horizontal dimension. However, in every permanently occupied dwelling, one living room in each apartment or su…

§ 105. Cooking spaces. 1. Every space which is intended, arranged or designed for cooking or warming of food shall be either a kitchen or kitchenette. 2. A kitchen or kitchenette shall be unlawful unless it is constructed, arranged and maintained in compliance with the following…

§ 106. Rooms in cellars. It shall be unlawful to occupy all or any part of a cellar for sleeping purposes, but all or part of such cellar may be used for storage or other general utility purposes accessory to the occupancy, use or management of the dwelling.

§ 107. Entrance doors. Every door giving access to an entrance hall from outside the dwelling shall contain at least five square feet of glazed surface. Every such door shall open outwardly. The width of every such door shall be at least forty-four inches. However, when double d…

§ 108. Windows and skylights for public halls and stairs. 1. Where a window or windows are required to light a public hall or part thereof, at least one of such windows shall be not less than two feet six inches wide and five feet high. Every required window in such a hall shall…

§ 109. Artificial lighting. The owner shall provide a light or lights in every public hall, stair and fire-stair on every floor so that every such space shall be lighted adequately.

§ 11. Old dwellings. Except as required in section nine and articles three and four, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require any change in the construction, use, or occupancy of any old or other existing multiple dwelling occupied as such on July first, nineteen hu…

§ 12. Uncompleted dwellings. 1. The provisions of this chapter relating to new multiple dwellings shall not apply to any multiple dwelling for which plans were on file with the department or a permit to commence building was issued by the department before July first, nineteen h…

§ 13. Prohibited uses: The storage or keeping of any combustible gaseous material within any multiple dwelling shall be unlawful unless a written permit therefor is issued by the department and any and all local laws or regulations applicable thereto are complied with. The provi…

§ 130. Entrance halls. Every entrance hall shall be at least three feet eight inches in clear width from the entrance to the first stair. If such an entrance hall is the only entrance to more than one required stairs, the width of such hall shall be increased in every part, for …

§ 131. Shafts, elevators and dumbwaiters. Every shaft shall be enclosed on all sides with fireproof walls and shall have fireproof doors and assemblies at all openings, with the doors self-closing. Not more than three elevators or dumbwaiters shall ever be placed in the same sha…

§ 132. Stairs. Every interior and exterior stair and fire-stair shall be provided with proper balustrades and handrails. Every such stair and fire-stair three feet eight inches or more in width shall be provided with a handrail on each side. Each tread, exclusive of nosing, shal…

§ 133. Fire-escapes. 1. Every fire-escape shall be located, arranged, constructed and maintained in accordance with the following provisions: a. Each fire-escape shall be accessible to one or more exterior doors or windows opening from the room, apartment or suite, and such wind…

§ 134. Cellar entrance. There shall be a direct entrance to the cellar, or to the lowest story if there be no cellar, from the outside of every multiple dwelling, except that any stair leading to such cellar or lowest story may be located inside the dwelling provided it is enclo…

§ 135. Frame buildings. It shall be unlawful to erect a frame multiple dwelling exceeding two stories in height.

§ 136. Motor vehicle storage. A space or a structure may be provided and maintained in any multiple dwelling or upon the premises thereof for the storage of passenger motor vehicles but only with a written permit therefor from the department and in accordance with every applicab…

§ 137. Business uses. When business is conducted in a non-fireproof multiple dwelling, the ceiling of the business space shall be covered with fire-resistive materials or be equipped with a sprinkler system.

§ 138. Parapets and guard railings. Except as hereinafter provided every open area of a roof, terrace, areaway, outside stair, retaining wall or porch shall be protected by a parapet wall, a guard railing, or both, extending three feet six inches or more in height above the leve…

§ 139. Boiler rooms. In every dwelling the boiler or furnace of a central heating plant shall be enclosed in a fireproof room or space and all openings therefrom to other portions of the dwelling shall be equipped with fireproof doors and assemblies with the doors self-closing, …

§ 15. Smoke detecting devices. 1. This section shall apply to all multiple dwellings, whenever constructed, provided however, that for the purposes of this section the term "multiple dwelling" shall also include any dwelling accommodation used as a temporary or permanent residen…

§ 16. Multiple residence emergency information. 1. In the case of an emergency affecting a multiple residence, the owner or agent of such multiple residence shall provide emergency service personnel, upon the request of such emergency service personnel, including but not limited…

§ 170. Water supply. The owner shall provide proper appliances to receive and distribute in such dwelling an adequate supply of water obtained from the public water supply system or from a source approved by the public health officer having jurisdiction at all times when the bui…

§ 171. Water-closet and bath accommodations. 1. Every dwelling arranged for permanent occupancy shall contain a water-closet in every apartment. 2. The floor of every compartment, bathroom or general toilet room shall be made waterproof and such waterproofing shall extend six in…

§ 172. Plumbing and drainage. All liquid or water-borne waste from plumbing fixtures shall be conveyed by a house drain and house sewer to a street sewer or to a combined street storm water main and sewer, unless no such sewers are available. Where neither kind of sewer is avail…

§ 173. Heating. Every new dwelling shall be provided with heat in all living rooms sufficient to maintain the minimum temperatures required by local law, ordinances, rules or regulation, or by the local public health officer, provided, however, that such minimum temperature shal…

§ 174. Repairs and cleanliness. The owner shall keep all and every part of a dwelling and the lot on which it is situated in good repair, clean and free from vermin, rodents, dirt, filth, garbage or other thing or matter dangerous to life or health; but the tenant shall also be …

§ 2. Legislative finding. It is hereby declared that intensive occupation of multiple dwellings having three or more families, inadequate provision for light and air, insufficient protection against and defective provisions for escape from fire, as well as the amount of improper…

§ 200. Application of article six. The provisions of this article shall apply only to fireproof new multiple dwellings of permanent or transient occupancy, and shall apply in addition to and not in substitution for the provisions of articles two and five, and in the case of tran…

§ 201. Requirements for fireproof construction. 1. Every new multiple dwelling exceeding six stories or seventy-five feet in height shall be fireproof. 2. The foregoing requirements shall not be construed as prohibiting: a. Elsewhere than within, or in the openings to, the publi…

§ 202. Egress from dwellings. 1. Nursing and convalescent homes, homes for the aged and boarding and nursery schools, two stories in height erected after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, child caring institutions, two stories in height erected after July first, nineteen…

§ 203. Egress from apartments. 1. There shall be at least one means of egress from each apartment or suite on each and every story of such apartment or suite, and a second means of egress if the first means is not within forty feet of every living room in such apartment or suite…

§ 204. Bulkheads. Every stair and fire-stair required by this chapter to extend to the level of the roof shall extend to and through a fireproof bulkhead or other fireproof enclosure in such roof. Such bulkhead or enclosure shall give unobstructed access at all times to such roo…

§ 205. Separation and ventilation of stairs. 1. All stairs and fire-stairs shall be completely separated from one another and from every elevator or other shaft by fireproof walls. They shall be constructed of fireproof material throughout and shall contain no wood or other infl…

§ 206. Cellar and basement stairs. All inside cellar or basement stairs shall be entirely enclosed with fireproof walls and be provided with fireproof doors and assemblies, with the doors self-closing, at all openings.

§ 207. Public halls. 1. Every public vestibule or other public hall shall comply either with the applicable provisions of section two hundred fifty-eight for non-fireproof dwellings, or with all of the following provisions: a. Every such public vestibule or hall shall be everywh…

§ 215. Interior water-closets and bathrooms. 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, water-closets, bath and shower rooms may be ventilated by windows or mechanically ventilated as prescribed in section one hundred seventy-one. 2. In transiently occupied dwellings there…

§ 25. Application of article three. The provisions of this article shall apply to all multiple dwellings existing on July first, nineteen hundred fifty-two, and shall also apply to dwellings converted to multiple dwelling occupancy on or after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-…

§ 250. Application of article seven. The provisions of this article shall apply only to non-fireproof new dwellings of permanent or transient occupancy, and shall apply in addition to and not in substitution for the provisions of articles two and five, and in the case of transie…

§ 251. Height limitation. A dwelling not exceeding seventy-five feet or six stories in height may be non-fireproof construction.

§ 252. Sub-curb uses. In all portions of such dwellings below the level of the highest curb all structural members, partitions, furrings and ceilings shall be constructed of incombustible materials.

§ 253. Construction of first floor. The first floor above the lowest cellar, or, if there be no cellar, above the lowest story, shall be fireproof or, if the dwelling be three stories or less in height, fire-retarded.

§ 254. Egress from dwellings. 1. Nursing and convalescent homes, homes for the aged and boarding and nursery schools, two stories in height erected after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, child caring institutions, two stories in height, erected after July first, ninetee…

§ 255. Egress from apartments. 1. A dwelling three or more stories in height shall have at least two means of egress from every apartment or suite. Such means shall be remote from each other. Except where it opens into a stair as permitted in subdivision three, one means shall b…

§ 256. Bulkheads and scuttles. 1. Every required stair and fire-stair in a dwelling three stories or more in height shall have a bulkhead constructed as provided for fireproof dwellings in section two hundred four. 2. A dwelling which is two stories or less in height shall be pr…