Bayonne NJ New Law Requires Fire, Smoke Certifications For Resale Of All Homes, Properties
Bayonne Fire Prevention Bureau to Take Over Resale and Smoke Certifications from the Building Department
Editor’s note: We recently covered the opening of the firehouse museum at the historic location in Bayonne. The museum is open to the public by appointment and shares the rich history of the fire department in Bayonne. These new certifications require that all smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors be inspected and less than ten years old, before a property can be sold. If a home contains hard wired alarms, they cannot be replaced with wireless battery powered alarms, and they must also not be more than ten years old. This update also contains a licensing fee that is charged by the local town or municipality in New Jersey. Each county maintains their own rules in compliance with this state law, and each towns fire department does the independent inspections and processes the applications.
This application and inspection are tied to a single identified buyer. So if a sale falls through without a completed closing and a new buyer is found, the inspection and application must be redone, with a new fee to be paid. The new requirements are also replacing the need for fire extinguishers with the updated rules for smoke alarms, and all on site fire extinguishers need to be either properly mounted and inspected independently or disposed of. So a fire can be detected, but the homeowner must wait for the municipal fire department to arrive instead of fighting it themselves. However, if a homeowner wants to keep an extinguisher, that’s the best idea. Having them won’t detract from the inspection, but provides an extra layer of safety.
Battalion Chief Edward Ratyniak of the Bayonne Fire Prevention Bureau announced that the Fire Department is now processing resale certifications and smoke certifications from the Building Department. This new process takes effect immediately. All new applicants for the sale of properties will now have to obtain an application from the Fire Department in the Fire Prevention office at City Hall. Once the application and inspection are completed, then the Fire Department will issue a certificate for the sale. Any time that a building is sold, it needs to get a resale certification.
Responsibility for the resale and smoke certifications is moving from the Building Department to the Fire Department, due to a new state law that was passed in 2025.
On the City of Bayonne website, www.bayonnenj.org, under “Forms,” the new heading for the Fire Department will contain the three forms that will cover the resale of one- and two-family homes, residential condos, and multi-family properties.
Members of the public can find the Fire Prevention Bureau by going to City Hall, 630 Avenue C, which is located between 27th and 28th Streets. The Fire Prevention Bureau can be accessed by starting at the main entrance of City Hall. After walking through the main entrance and the lobby, take the elevators at the front of the building to the second floor.
For more information, please call 201-858-6023.
Banner Image: Putting out a fire. Image Credit – Chandler Cruttenden
City of Bayonne
Bayonne is a community that retains many of the elements of a small town. One and two family homes, small apartment buildings, and small business predominate. There is a population of 62,000 people who take pride in their hometown and its history. Bayonne residents and their ancestors moved to the city from many parts of the world. During colonial times and the first century of the American Republic, the Dutch, British, and Africans were the first groups to arrive after the Native Americans. Subsequent waves of immigrants came from all over Europe, especially between the 1880s and the 1920s. In recent decades, sources of immigration have largely been represented from countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeastern Asia. Each group has left its mark on the cultural, religious and political life of the community.
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