Section 27-292. Building access

Provisions shall be made for access by the
  fire department to every building as follows:
    (a) Above Grade. Access shall be provided directly from  the  outdoors
  to  each  story  below  a height of one hundred feet except to the first
  story or ground floor, by at least one window  or  readily  identifiable
  access  panel  within  each fifty feet or fraction thereof of horizontal
  length of every wall that fronts on a street or frontage space.  Windows
  shall be openable or breakable from both the inside and the outside, and
  shall have a size when open of at least twenty-four inches by thirty-six
  inches.  Panels  shall  be openable from both the inside and outside and
  shall have a height when open of forty-eight inches and a  width  of  at
  least  thirty-two  inches.  The sill of the window or panel shall not be
  higher than thirty-six inches above the inside floor.
    (b) Below grade. Access shall be provided directly from  the  outdoors
  to the first basement or cellar story below grade, except as provided in
  paragraphs  two,  three  and  four  of this subdivision, within each one
  hundred feet or fraction thereof of horizontal length of every wall that
  fronts on a street or frontage space. Such access shall  be  by  stairs,
  doors, windows or other means that provide an opening forty-eight inches
  high  and  thirty-two inches wide, the sill of which shall not be higher
  than thirty-six inches above the inside floor. If an areaway is used  to
  provide below grade access, the minimum horizontal dimension shall be at
  least one-third the depth of the areaway or six feet whichever is less.
    (1)  Access  to  additional stories below grade is not mandatory since
  they are required to be sprinklered as  provided  in  subdivision  k  of
  section 27-954 of article four of subchapter seventeen of this chapter.
    (2) One and two-family dwellings need not provide direct access.
    (3) Any building classified in occupancy group J-2 not more than three
  stories in height and with not more than two dwelling units on any story
  need  not provide direct access when such first basement or cellar story
  is used for dwelling units or for uses accessory to the residential  use
  in the building.
    (4)  Except  as  provided  in paragraph three of this subdivision, for
  buildings classified in occupancy group  J-1  or  J-2  only  one  direct
  access  from  the  outdoors  to  the  first  basement  or  cellar  story
  consisting of a stair or door shall be required when such story is  used
  for  dwelling  units or for uses accessory to the residential use in the
  building.
    (c) Signs. Where wall signs are erected to cover doors or  windows  of
  existing  buildings,  access  panels  shall  be provided as necessary to
  comply with the  requirements  of  subdivisions  (a)  and  (b)  of  this
  section.
    (d)  Location.  Wherever practicable, one access opening in each story
  shall provide access to a stairway, or where there is no stairway at the
  exterior wall, one access opening in each  story  shall  be  located  as
  close as practicable to a stairway.
    (e) Exemptions. The provisions of subdivisions (a) through (d) of this
  section  shall not apply to any story that is completely protected by an
  automatic sprinkler system conforming to the  construction  requirements
  of subchapter seventeen.