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Facilities Planning

Facilities Planning

Fire Safety & Certificates of Occupancy

Fire Safety Inspection and Reporting Process

New York State ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù Law Section 807-a dictates that it is the duty of school authorities to cause buildings for student use to be inspected at least annually for fire hazards which may endanger the lives of students, teachers and employees therein. The report shall be filed with the Commissioner of ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù. The annual inspection applies to all buildings that are owned, operated, or leased by a public-school district, a charter school, BOCES, or nonpublic school. No building which is owned, operated, or leased by a public school district or BOCES may be occupied or otherwise used unless the building has a valid Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Commissioner.

For Non-Public Schools – Please contact ORISS@nysed.gov or NPFireSafety@nysed.gov

Reporting Process:

  • School districts, Charter Schools and BOCES must submit annual fire and building safety reports to the NYSED Office of Facilities Planning electronically via the . The Portal is protected from unauthorized use with secure user IDs and passwords. Annual fire safety inspections may not commence earlier than 45 days prior to the school’s annual due date.

  • It is strongly recommended that a representative of the school district or BOCES accompany the inspector during their annual inspection. The results of the annual fire safety inspection should be reviewed by both parties for accuracy and completeness prior to its submission to the Office of Facilities Planning (this includes dates of correction for items found to be in nonconformance.)

  • The process includes the annual requirement to verify the ownership and use of each listed building prior to entering annual inspection data.
  • After all buildings have been verified, the annual inspection data can be entered. Following the successful entry into the Portal, including the superintendent’s electronic certification of the accuracy of the inspection data in the Portal, an annual Certificates of Occupancy will be automatically generated and will be available for printing by the school district or BOCES.
    • The electronic submission of a complete Fire Safety Report with no outstanding violations will immediately generate an annual Certificate of Occupancy.Ìý
    • The submission of a Fire Safety Report with uncorrected violations will generate either a temporary Certificate of Occupancy or NO Certificate of Occupancy - based on the severity of the fire code violations. Work should commence as soon as possible to correct all fire code violations.
    • School districts should retain copies of the Fire Safety Report for review by interested parties.
  • All annual Certificates of Occupancy must be printed and posted by the school district, BOCES, or charter school (as appropriate). District Superintendents and school leaders receive automatic electronic notification reminders prior to the specific due dates for their region.Ìý

  • The annual fire safety inspection includes an entire existing building, exclusive of any addition that is under construction.Ìý Once an addition has been completed, the designing architect or engineer must execute a Certification of Substantial Completion (FP-CSC) for the portion of the new building or addition proposed to be occupied.Ìý Additionally, the entire building including the new space to be occupied must then be inspected by a certified code enforcement official or building safety inspector; after which the school district or BOCES must obtain a new certificate of occupancy for the entire building using the same process noted above.

  • Fire and building inspection regions are consistent with zones in the SEDREF system. For more information on SEDREF, please visit the .

  • Questions related to the Fire Safety Report, Certificates of Occupancy, or fire code violations may be directed to the Office of Facilities Planning at FireSafety@nysed.gov Ìýor 518-474-3906.

​Public School Fire Safety Forms and Manuals

  1. Public Fire Safety Inspection Manual
  2. Public School Inspection Reporting Form
  3. Pre-Inspection ChecklistÌý-Ìý A helpful reminder to give to school authorities prior to the Fire Safety Inspection.

Non-Public Schools

Fire Incident Report

  • Fire Incident Report Form
  • Please use the above report to submit required information to our office regarding any Fire Incident.

´¡ÌýFire IncidentÌýrefers to any event occurring inside or outside buildings or on property owned by a School District, BOCES, or Charter Schools (chartered after July 31, 2010) that involves:

  • An active fire or smoke condition
  • Activation of the fire alarm system (including malfunctions)
  • An explosion or overheating issue
  • A hazardous or toxic chemical release or spill
  • Any other situation requiring the fire department to investigate a potential occupant safety threat

Exclusions -ÌýThis definition doesÌý²Ô´Ç³ÙÌý¾±²Ô³¦±ô³Ü»å±ð:

  • Verified false manual fire alarm activations (e.g., from a pull station)
  • Verified false alarms from phone calls
  • Verified bomb scares
  • Medical-only incidents

Fireworks and Bonfire Permits

Bonfires: In compliance with the 2020 NYS Fire Code Section 307 Open Burning, the Office of Facilities Planning requires a permit application for bonfires on district owned property. For each planned bonfire event, please use the form link below to submit toÌýFireSafety@nysed.gov.

Fireworks: In compliance with 2020 NYS Fire Code Section 5608 Fireworks Display, the Office of Facilities Planning requires a permit application for fireworks on district owned property. For each planned fireworks event, please use the form link below to submit toÌýFireSafety@nysed.gov.

Use of indoor pyrotechnics requires the authority having jurisdiction to issue the appropriate use permit. In New York State, the authority having jurisdiction for public schools is the State ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù Department. The State ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù Department will not issue permits for indoor pyrotechnic displays in public school buildings. Stage and other productions may continue to use fog machines or dry ice, if the use does not interfere with exiting from the building.

For bonfire or fireworks related questions, please contact FireSafety@nysed.gov.

It continues to be true that NYSED is only approving the bonfire or fireworks display as required by the Fire Code. It is not under NYSED’s jurisdiction to authorize the district to have a large gathering on-site. That authorization must be obtained from the appropriate governing authority. Please coordinate with current requirements of State and Local Health Departments.

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