4.2 New York Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and the AHJ
Key Takeaways
- The State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council adopted the 2025 Uniform Code on July 25, 2025; it took effect December 31, 2025, and repealed the 2020 edition.
- The 2025 Existing Building Code of New York State references NFPA 70—23 (NEC 2023) and NFPA 72—22; teach those years as currently adopted Uniform Code references for work after 2025-12-31.
- The DOS written exam bulletin bases code questions on the Uniform Code and NFPA standards and does not print edition years — do not claim the bulletin lists 2022 or 2023.
- AHJ roles split: DOS Division of Building Standards and Codes for statewide Uniform Code administration, local building and fire officials for permits and inspections, and NYC DOB/FDNY for New York City occupancies.
- GBL §69-z provides that local law governs inspection of fire alarms by a fire marshal or other locally designated person; a DOS installer license does not cancel that local inspection.
The DOS written exam bulletin's code sentence is short: questions relating to standards and codes are based on the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and NFPA standards. The bulletin does not print edition years. Candidates should not claim that the bulletin lists NFPA 72 (2022) or NFPA 70 (2023). Those edition years matter on the job because New York adopted them by reference in the 2025 Uniform Code. They are not a DOS exam-bulletin citation.
OpenExamPrep independent study material that helps candidates prepare for the NY DOS Security or Fire Alarm Installer exam therefore teaches two clocks at once: what the bulletin names, and what the currently adopted Uniform Code references for work permitted after December 31, 2025. Mixing those clocks is how a candidate "correctly" recites 2022/2023 and still misses a bulletin-worded item.
The 2025 Uniform Code: adoption and effective date
The State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council (the Code Council) adopted an updated Uniform Code on July 25, 2025. That rule repealed the 2020 edition and adopted the 2025 New York State code books (publication date July 2025), including:
- 2025 Building Code of New York State (BCNYS)
- 2025 Residential Code of New York State (RCNYS)
- 2025 Fire Code of New York State (FCNYS)
- 2025 Existing Building Code of New York State (EBCNYS)
- 2025 Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, and Property Maintenance Codes of New York State
- 2025 Uniform Code Provisions for Rail Stations
The effective date is December 31, 2025. During the transition between publication of the notice of adoption and that effective date, an applicant could use either the 2020 or the 2025 Uniform Code. Beginning December 31, 2025, parties submitting building permit applications must use the 2025 Uniform Code. A December 5, 2025 amended notice kept the same effective date while correcting certain referenced-standard years and publishing details.
If you sit a 2026 written exam and pull permits after 2025-12-31, treat the 2025 Uniform Code as the in-force statewide minimum outside New York City.
NFPA 70—23 and NFPA 72—22 as Uniform Code references
The 2025 Existing Building Code of New York State, Chapter 16, Referenced Standards, lists NFPA 70—23 (the 2023 NEC) and NFPA 72—22 (the 2022 National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code). Those references become part of the Uniform Code to the extent the code cites them. Other 2025 Uniform Code books likewise incorporate the NFPA standards they name.
Teach these edition years as the currently adopted Uniform Code references for work after 2025-12-31. Repeat the bulletin warning in the same breath: the DOS exam bulletin does not print those years. If an item tracks the bulletin's wording — "Uniform Code and NFPA standards" — answer from that wording. If a job or a course item asks which NEC or NFPA 72 edition the 2025 Uniform Code currently points to, NFPA 70 (2023) and NFPA 72 (2022) are the EBCNYS Chapter 16 citations.
Do not copy NFPA or NEC copyrighted text into notes you will try to smuggle into a closed-book sitting, and do not treat this study guide as a reprint of those books. This section is hierarchy and identity. Circuit classes, detector spacing, and candela tables belong in later fire and NEC chapters.
Two Department of State hats
DOS Division of Licensing Services issues the Security or Fire Alarm Installer license, approves the 81-hour courses, and publishes the exam bulletin.
DOS Division of Building Standards and Codes administers the Uniform Code at the state level: support for the Code Council, technical assistance to local officials, and the variance machinery in 19 NYCRR Part 1205.
A license from Licensing Services is not a building permit. A licensed firm can still fail a code inspection. An inspector's sign-off is not a substitute for holding the Article 6-D license when the work is licensed activity.
Who is the AHJ on a New York fire-alarm job?
Authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) is the organization, office, or individual responsible for enforcing a code or standard, or for approving equipment, materials, an installation, or a procedure. In New York fire-alarm work the AHJ is not one phone number:
| Situation | Who commonly acts as AHJ |
|---|---|
| Statewide Uniform Code text, interpretations, and many variances | DOS Division of Building Standards and Codes (the Code Council adopts the code; Regional Boards of Review / DOS handle many Part 1205 variances) |
| Building permit, required electrical permit, and construction inspection | Local building official (city, town, village, or county program under 19 NYCRR Part 1203) |
| Fire-code enforcement and fire-alarm operational inspection | Local fire official or fire marshal, as local law assigns |
| Occupancies in New York City | NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) for construction-code compliance and FDNY for Fire Code, system acceptance, and fire-department rules |
| License to engage in the alarm business | DOS Division of Licensing Services — a license AHJ, not a substitute for a building permit |
GBL §69-z is explicit: local law shall govern with respect to inspection of fire alarms by a fire marshal or any other person designated under such local law. Statewide licensing does not cancel local fire-alarm inspection. The same section generally bars a second local installer license fee (with the New York City home-improvement-contractor reservation taught in Chapter 2). Inspection stays local; a duplicate local installer license is the thing Article 6-D usually knocks down.
Local governments that administer the Uniform Code do so under 19 NYCRR Part 1203 minimum standards: permits, inspections, and annual reporting to the Secretary of State. If you skip the permit because "we are already DOS licensed," you have answered the wrong statute.
New York City is not the Uniform Code
The Uniform Code applies in municipalities of the State except the City of New York, which retains its own construction and fire codes. NYC work is typically more detailed and often more restrictive: DOB plan review, FDNY Fire Code, city-amended referenced standards, and city inspection procedures. For the written exam, still study the bulletin's Uniform Code + NFPA sentence. For a Manhattan riser job, follow DOB/FDNY, not a copy of the 2025 FCNYS pulled from a statewide code library as if it were the city code.
Outside NYC, a municipality that wants a more restrictive local standard generally needs Code Council approval under Executive Law §379. A local inspector cannot invent a stricter rule by memo and call it the Uniform Code. NYC does not use that Uniform Code amendment path because NYC is not in the Uniform Code in the first place.
19 NYCRR 195.4 next to the Uniform Code
195.4 is a licensing duty about fire-alarm installation, maintenance, and servicing. The Uniform Code is a construction and fire-prevention code enforced by local code programs (or by NYC agencies in the city). You can violate 195.4 without a building inspector in the room, and you can fail a fire-marshal inspection with a current DOS license on the wall. The exam expects both: the one-sentence license rule, and the named codes the bulletin uses.
When those sources conflict in real life, compare scope and effective date. The newest applicable Uniform Code (or NYC code) that actually governs the permit is the job rule. The bulletin remains the exam's stated code basis, still without printed edition years.
Realistic scenarios
Scenario 1 — Bulletin versus job editions. A Syracuse permit filed in 2026 is reviewed under the 2025 Uniform Code. The designer cites NFPA 72 (2022) and NEC 2023 because that is what the 2025 EBCNYS references. A classmate insists "DOS listed 2022 and 2023 on the exam bulletin." The classmate is wrong about the bulletin. The designer may still be right about the job.
Scenario 2 — License versus fire-marshal inspection. An Albany fire marshal fails a new system for missing acceptance documents. The firm argues that a DOS installer license bars local inspection. GBL §69-z preserves local fire-marshal inspection. Fix the documents and recall the marshal.
Scenario 3 — Wrong code book in Brooklyn. A Brooklyn alteration is filed with DOB. The firm attaches only 2025 FCNYS excerpts. The construction and fire AHJs are DOB and FDNY. Statewide Uniform Code books do not become the NYC Construction Codes because they share a publisher family.
Scenario 4 — 2020 habit after the repeal. A crew keeps installing to 2020 Uniform Code notes on a permit application submitted in 2026. The 2020 edition is repealed. New permit applications on and after December 31, 2025 use the 2025 books.
The 2025 Uniform Code of New York State was adopted by the Code Council on July 25, 2025. When did it take effect, with the 2020 edition repealed?
What does the DOS written exam bulletin say standards-and-codes questions are based on?
Which statement about GBL §69-z and inspection is correct?