Stove Knob Covers

Stove knob covers and permanent stove safety knobs are important fire prevention tools that make stove knobs on gas-powered stoves inaccessible to children.

Property owners of multiple dwellings are required to provide stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs with integrated locking mechanisms for gas-powered stoves where the owner knows or reasonably should know that a child under six years of age resides. Property owners must also provide either device in a unit without a child under age six if the tenant requests them. Property owners are required to provide either device unless there is no available device that is compatible with the knobs on the stove.

Recent amendments to section 27-2056.4 by Local Law 44 of 2022 and HPD’s stove knob rules resulted in changes further outlined below.

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Tenant Responsibilities

Tenants should receive an annual notice about the installation of stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs with integrated locking mechanisms for gas stoves. Tenants must affirmatively request either device in writing to the property owner by returning the annual notice.

If you property owner does not provide the covers, file a complaint online or call 311.

Tenants can forego stove knob covers through written refusal to the property owner by returning the annual notice.

Owner Requirements

Property owners of multiple dwellings are required to provide stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs with integrated locking mechanisms for gas-powered stoves where the owner knows or reasonably should know that a child under six years of age resides. Property owners must also provide either device in a unit without a child under age six if the tenant requests them. Property owners are required to provide either device unless there is no available device that is compatible with the knobs on the stove.

In owner-occupied coops and condos, stove knob covers are not required. However, if it is a tenant-occupied coop or condo, stove knob covers are required if there is a child under age six or the tenant requests them.

Property owners are also required to provide tenants with an Annual Notice on or before January 16, which must inform tenants that:

Stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs will be made available within thirty days of distributing the annual notice;
The owner must provide stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs to any household that requests them, regardless of whether a child resides in the unit; and
Tenants can forego stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs through written refusal to the property owner.

Additional languages

It is the owner’s obligation to keep records of providing the annual notice, written tenant responses, a list of requests for stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs, and a list of units to which devices were provided. Owners must also document where requests were made but not provided because there was no available device that was compatible with the stove knobs. Owners are not required to submit notices to HPD.

The owner is not required to provide either device if they have already fulfilled two requests for replacement devices within the previous year, or if the owner has not received a request for installation.

Violations

Failure to provide documented proof on the availability of stove knob covers upon request from HPD will result in a Class B hazardous violation. Exceptions will be granted to owners that provide documented proof that they have already fulfilled two requests for replacement stove knob covers within the previous year or that there are no available stove knob covers that are compatible with the knobs on their dwelling units’ stoves.