Means of egress
Cited as: PMCNYS 702.1 in New York. Equivalent sections exist in every jurisdiction that has adopted the International Fire Code.
Means of egress is the whole path a person uses to get out: the exit door, the corridor leading to it, the stairs, the sign above it, and the light that lets you see it during a power failure. A general egress citation usually means some part of that path is blocked, unlit, unmarked, or not working.
This is the most common commercial fire violation we see. In Buffalo, between July 16 and August 14, 2026, it accounted for 36 of 51 commercial fire violations, or 71% of everything the city wrote in that window.
Who fixes it: depends on the finding. A blocked corridor is a housekeeping fix. A dead exit sign or failed emergency light is electrical or life-safety work. Door hardware is often a locksmith or general contractor.
Sprinkler and fire alarm maintenance
Cited as: PMCNYS 102.1 and FCNYS 110.1 in New York. In San Francisco records the same idea appears as "fire alarm system not maintained", the most cited category in that city's dataset with 5,983 all-time citations.
These citations mean the building cannot demonstrate that required inspection, testing and maintenance has been done and documented. Fire protection systems are not fit-and-forget equipment; they carry recurring testing obligations, and the paperwork proving it is part of compliance.
Who fixes it: a licensed fire protection contractor. This is the category that most reliably converts a citation into a service contract, because the correction is a professional service, not a repair a building engineer can perform.
Fire suppression standards
Cited as: PMCNYS 704.2 in New York.
Suppression citations cover the systems that put fire out rather than warn about it: sprinkler systems, standpipes, fire pumps and kitchen hood suppression. In commercial kitchens specifically, hood suppression carries its own recurring service requirement.
Who fixes it: a licensed suppression contractor, and for kitchens often a specialist in hood systems.
Exit signs and emergency illumination
Cited as: FCNYS 1013.1 for where exit signs are required, FCNYS 1008.2 and 1008.3 for illumination and emergency electrical illumination, BCNYS 1013.3 for exit sign illumination.
These are separate citations that tend to arrive together, because an inspector walking an egress path checks signage and lighting in the same pass. Emergency illumination failures usually mean battery backup that no longer holds a charge.
Who fixes it: electrical or life-safety contractor. These are frequently the fastest-closing items on a citation list, which is why they are often bundled with larger egress work.
Extinguisher service and documentation
Seen as: "extinguisher service required" and "test and maintenance documentation missing", the second and third most cited categories in the San Francisco records, with 2,438 and 2,149 all-time citations.
Portable extinguishers carry recurring inspection and service requirements, and buildings are expected to hold records proving it. A documentation citation is worth noting because it means the underlying equipment may be fine while the compliance record is not.
Questions we get asked
How long do I have to fix it?
The correction window is set by your authority having jurisdiction and is stated on the citation itself. It varies by severity and by city. Items that create an immediate life-safety hazard carry the shortest deadlines. Work from the date printed on your own notice, not from a general rule you read online.
Is the owner or the tenant responsible?
Citations are generally issued to the property owner or responsible party of record, but a lease can assign correction duties to a tenant. As a rough division: building systems such as sprinklers, standpipes and alarm panels usually stay with the owner, while items inside a tenant space such as blocked exits or extinguisher service often fall to the occupant. Your lease governs.
Are these violations public?
In most United States cities, yes. Fire inspection outcomes and code violations are public records, and a growing number of cities publish them as open data. That is the basis of everything we do: we read seven official record streams per metro every day and cite the source record for every signal we report.