Boiler Installation Basic Requirements by NYC DOB
1. Boiler room doors must be fire rated and self closing. They must swing out from boiler- room. Not required for sealed combustion boilers.
2. A labeled emergency switch must be installed at each boiler room door. For open basements, switch at stairs is permitted.
3. Boiler room ceiling and walls must be enclosed. The inspector may approve a boiler replacement with small openings and write an ECB violation to the owner. Larger openings will result in first test failure.
4. Open basements must have fire rated material over boiler a minimum of 8' around.
5. Must have perforated DOB plans and boiler manuals on site at t time of inspection.
6. Plans must show boiler make, model & heat input; boiler room door swing & emergency switch; Fresh air location and size; chimney location material & size
7. Clean outs required at base of chimney.
8. Chimney or gas vent must terminate 2' above parapet wall and 10' away from higher walls.
9. Direct vent boilers may horizontally vent 7' above private sidewalks & driveways, 4' below operable windows, 4' to the side of operable windows, 3' above forced air intakes within 10', 3' above grade, 1' above doors, and 3' from inside corners of buildings. They may not horizontally vent over a public sidewalk (4' buffer required). Maximum of 350,000 btuh heat input for devices venting within a 10' radius. Venting into alleyways, small courts, under overhangs & terraces, or heat input over 350,000 btuh will be handled on a case by case basis. Any heat input is permitted at roof line or top of highest floor.
10. Fresh air intake must be directly from outdoors. Ducted combustion air supply must have a fire damper or have fire proof covering to outdoors. Direct vented devices are exempt.
11. Motorized fresh air dampers must have an external interlock switch with all boilers.
12: Mechanical fresh air supply must have a flow switch and be interlocked with all combustion devices.
13. Gas only boilers with heat input under 2 million btuh must have a chimney cap.
14. Must insulate all new heating and domestic hot water piping in the boiler room.
15. Floor drain or indirect waste pipe required for relief valve discharge, boiler drains, backflow discharge, etc.
16. Boilers must rest on concrete base, filled concrete blocks or brick base.
17. Must have isolation valves on heating piping lines for all boilers.
18. Must have two low water cutoffs for every steam boiler with heat input 350,000 btuh and greater. One must be a manual reset type. One must be a mechanical type.
19. Must have cleanout plugs on steam pressure control piping
20. No band iron for straps, must have hangers or rods for heating lines or flues.
21. Blow down piping on domestic water relief lines must be copper or brass.
22. Steam systems must have a Hartford loop.
23. Cold water feeds must be piped into the return piping minimum 2' from boiler..
24. All natural draft gas fired boilers with heat input over 350,000 btuh input going into a common chimney must have spill switches interlocked in series,
25. All gas fired boilers with barometric dampers must swing both ways and spill switched mounted on the bottom of the damper.
26. Dual fuel gas/oil fired devices must have the spill switch on top of the barometric damper.
27. All natural draft boilers in individual dwelling units must have CO/smoke detector wired in series to shut down boilers if activated.
28. All boilers with C.D.R. controls and low draft switches must be wired and working.
29. No chimney cap on oil fired devices.
30. Oil tanks must be removed or legally abandoned.
31. Oil fired flue must have cleanouts every 15'
32. Inside oil tanks 550 and above must have shut off valve at tank and anti-syphon valve after shut off valve.
33. Must have fire rated ceiling over inside oil tank a minimum of 3' over oil tank.
34. No compression fittings on oil piping
35. Oil pump sets for #2 & # 4 must be intermittent operation.
36. Oil fired burners firing 3 gph must have a DAR kit
Boiler installation basics 6/8/09