New York · SafetyNew York smoke alarm affidavit at closing: what the seller signs and the buyer's ten days

New York's Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code law sets the alarm rules a seller has to meet. Every one- or two-family dwelling, and every dwelling accommodation in a building owned as a condominium or cooperative, used as a residence must have an operable single-station smoke detecting alarm device or devices installed so that an alarm is clearly audible in each bedroom or other sleeping room with the doors closed; battery-operated devices are permitted. On conveyance of real property containing a one- or two-family dwelling or a condominium unit used as a residence, and on a transfer of cooperative shares for an apartment used as a residence, the grantor must deliver to the grantee at the time of conveyance an affidavit stating that the grantor is in compliance. The grantee then has ten days from the conveyance to notify the grantor if the alarm or alarms aren't operable, and the transferor bears any cost of compliance. A failure to comply isn't a breach of any warranty in the conveyance and isn't a defense to a fire or casualty insurance claim (Executive Law §378(5-b)). Separately, one- and two-family dwellings, condominium and cooperative units and multiple dwellings must have an operable carbon monoxide detector where the unit has appliances, devices or systems that may emit carbon monoxide or has an attached garage (§378(5-a)).