Window guards are metal grilles that are installed in windows in order to keep young children from climbing out and
being killed or injured. Young children may not understand the danger of an open window and may fall to their
death at a moment when no older person is watching them.
When does a landlord have to install window guards?
A landlord must install window guards when asked to do so, in writing, by a tenant who has a child 10 years of age
or younger either living in the apartment or regularly spending a lot of time there. Window guards only have to be
installed in a first floor window when the bottom of the window is more than six feet above the grade outside the
window or there is some other dangerous condition. Window guards are not required on windows that serve as fire
exits or that are not designed to be opened. In a condominium, cooperative or mutual housing building, the
association must install window guards in hallway windows when asked to do so in writing by a tenant who has a
child 10 years of age or younger either living in the tenant's apartment or regularly spending a lot of time there and
who has access to the hallway from the apartment without going outside.
What if the window already has window stops?
Window stops cannot be used as window guards. Window guards must be installed that protect the entire openable
area of the lower window. Window stops can prevent windows from being opened enough to allow circulation of
fresh air. Window stops must be removed if they obstruct full opening of the lower window. There have been tragic
cases where tenants have removed window stops in order to have enough fresh air, windows have been left
unprotected and children have fallen from them.