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When a sprinkler system fails at 2 a.m. in a Manhattan high-rise, the FDNY doesn’t wait until morning. Neither should your fire guard provider. Building Security Services deploys FDNY-certified fire guards to any location in the five boroughs, day or night.
BSS has been doing security for more than 40 years. Our fire guards carry the exact Certificate of Fitness your situation requires, whether that’s a single F01 guard for an overnight sprinkler impairment or a full team for a months-long construction project. We handle the compliance. You focus on your building.
A fire guard is a professional certified by the FDNY to perform fire watch duties in buildings where fire protection systems are impaired, out of service, or not yet installed. They’re not the same as a general security guard. A fire guard holds a specific FDNY Certificate of Fitness that authorizes them to conduct fire safety patrols and act immediately if a hazard is detected.
Fire guards are responsible for:
The terms get used interchangeably, but they refer to different things. A fire watch is the activity, the continuous patrol and monitoring required when fire protection systems are compromised. A fire guard is the person performing that activity, specifically someone who holds an FDNY Certificate of Fitness authorizing them to do so.
In practice, when property managers say they “need a fire watch,” they’re looking to hire a certified fire guard to carry out fire watch duties. BSS provides both the fire watch service and the certified fire guard personnel to execute it.
The FDNY issues different Certificates of Fitness depending on the type of fire guard duty. BSS keeps personnel certified across all five categories on call, so we can match the right credential to your situation the same day. For buildings that also need a Fire Life Safety Director (F-89), we staff those positions too.
| Certificate | Title | When It’s Required |
|---|---|---|
| F-01 | Citywide Fire Guard for Impairment | Any building where a required fire protection system (sprinkler, standpipe, fire alarm) is out of service for more than 4 hours |
| F-02 | Fire Guard for Shelters | Homeless shelters and similar facilities requiring dedicated fire safety monitoring |
| F-03 | Fire Guard for Indoor Places of Assembly | Indoor venues with occupancy of 75 or more persons, including theaters, conference centers, and event spaces |
| F-04 | Fire Guard for Outdoor Places of Assembly | Outdoor events and venues with large gatherings, including concerts, festivals, and open-air markets |
| F-60 | Fire Guard for Torch Operations | Construction and demolition sites where torch operations (cutting, welding, brazing) are being performed |
“Every building situation is different, and the FDNY expects you to have the right certification on site, not just any warm body in a uniform,” says Craig Battle, NY Branch Manager at BSS. “We keep certified personnel available across all five fire guard categories so property managers never have to scramble to find the right credential at the last minute.”
Under the NYC Fire Code, the FDNY mandates fire guard coverage in several situations. If any of these apply to your property, you need a certified fire guard on site. No exceptions, no grace period.
When a building’s sprinkler system goes offline (maintenance, repairs, or malfunction), the NYC Fire Code requires a fire watch to begin immediately. The fire guard operates within the building’s Emergency Action Plan (EAP) and coordinates with building management throughout the impairment. If the outage lasts more than four hours in a 24-hour period, only personnel holding an F-01 Certificate of Fitness may conduct the fire watch.
A non-functioning fire alarm triggers the same requirement. Planned shutdown for upgrades, unexpected failure, doesn’t matter. A certified fire guard must patrol the affected areas until the system is back online.
Active construction sites frequently require fire guards, particularly during hot work (welding, cutting, soldering). Both the NYC Department of Buildings and the FDNY enforce these requirements, and fire guards on construction sites typically need OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 certification alongside their Certificate of Fitness.
The fire guard must stay on site for at least 30 minutes after hot work ends to monitor for smoldering materials. On larger projects, the general rule is one fire guard per 10,000 square feet of active work area.
Indoor venues with 75 or more occupants need F-03 certified fire guards. Outdoor events with large crowds need F-04. The thresholds go up from there: buildings with occupancy above 500, or 100+ occupants on floors below ground or above the first floor, face additional FDNY requirements. Venues operating under a Temporary Public Assembly (TPA) permit need certified fire guards on site regardless. This covers conference centers, theaters, concert venues, houses of worship, and special events.
NYC fire safety compliance is governed by Local Law 5 and Local Law 26, which set the requirements for fire protection in high-rise and commercial buildings. The consequences for operating without a required fire guard under these laws are serious:
Key point: The FDNY does not issue warnings for fire watch violations. If an inspector finds your building out of compliance, the violation is immediate.
“We’ve put fire guards in just about every type of building New York has,” says Amanda DeAlmeida, Executive Vice President at BSS. “A hospital is a completely different job than a construction site. Our team knows the difference.”
BSS operates out of our New York office at 225 W 35th St, Suite 900, and deploys fire guards to all five boroughs. Our one-hour emergency response guarantee applies citywide.
From the commercial high-rises of Midtown to the residential towers of the Upper West Side, Harlem, and Tribeca, BSS provides fire guard coverage across Manhattan’s most demanding properties. Our proximity to Midtown means faster response times when minutes matter.
Brooklyn’s mix of new construction, converted warehouses, and residential high-rises creates steady demand for fire guard services. BSS covers Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg, DUMBO, Park Slope, and every neighborhood in between.
Queens’ industrial corridors, residential developments, and healthcare facilities all require fire guard coverage at different times. BSS deploys certified fire guards throughout Long Island City, Astoria, Flushing, Jamaica, and surrounding areas.
The one-hour response guarantee applies to the Bronx and Staten Island just like the rest of the city. Residential high-rises, hospitals, schools, and commercial properties in these boroughs get the same certified fire guard personnel we deploy anywhere else.
BSS has been at this since 1982. Four decades of fire guard work in New York City means we’ve seen every scenario: overnight sprinkler shutdowns in office towers, multi-month construction projects in residential neighborhoods, emergency calls on holidays. None of it is new to us.
Susan Ferdinando has led BSS as President since 2016. Family ownership means real accountability: when something goes wrong at 3 a.m., the people who own the company care as much as the people who manage the building.
BSS is a member of the Building Owners and Managers Association. We work alongside the property professionals we serve, not just for them.
Fire protection systems don’t fail on a convenient schedule. BSS guarantees fire guard deployment within one hour, anywhere in the five boroughs, 24/7/365.
“You call us at midnight, you get a manager. Not a call center, not a voicemail tree,” says Amanda DeAlmeida. “That manager can authorize a deployment on the spot and have a fire guard heading to your building before you hang up the phone. The big national companies can’t do that.”
A fire guard is an FDNY-certified professional who performs fire watch duties when a building’s fire protection systems (sprinklers, standpipes, or fire alarms) are out of service. They hold a specific Certificate of Fitness issued by the FDNY that authorizes them to conduct fire safety patrols, identify hazards, and act immediately if a fire is discovered.
A fire guard is required any time a building’s fire protection system is impaired for more than four hours in a 24-hour period. Fire guards are also required during construction hot work (welding, cutting, soldering), at indoor places of assembly with 75+ occupants, and at large outdoor events. The specific Certificate of Fitness required depends on the situation.
F-01 covers citywide fire guard duties for system impairments — this is the most common certificate. F-02 is for fire guards in shelter facilities. F-03 is for indoor places of assembly with 75 or more occupants. F-04 covers outdoor places of assembly and large events. Each certificate requires a separate FDNY exam.
BSS guarantees fire guard deployment within one hour to any location in the five boroughs, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In most cases, we can have certified personnel on site even sooner, particularly in Manhattan and Brooklyn where we have the highest concentration of active assignments.
The FDNY does not issue warnings for fire watch violations. If an inspector finds your building out of compliance, you face immediate violations and fines that can reach thousands of dollars. Beyond fines, building owners risk vacate orders, insurance claim denials, and personal legal liability if a fire occurs while fire watch is not being maintained.
Pricing depends on the certificate type required, how long you need coverage, how many guards, and whether it’s an emergency or scheduled deployment. Contact BSS for a quote. We price transparently with no hidden fees.
Yes. BSS regularly staffs fire guards for multi-week and multi-month construction and renovation projects across all five boroughs. We assign dedicated personnel to long-term projects so your fire guards are familiar with the site layout, hazards, and project team, rather than rotating new faces every shift.
Need a fire guard tonight? Call us. Planning coverage for an upcoming construction project? Also call us. Either way, you’ll talk to a manager who can give you a straight answer and get things moving.
Call BSS New York: (212) 687-1711
Email: info@buildingsecurity.com
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