Dive Brief:

• Property owners in New York will have to inform their local governments whenever they build or rehabilitate a structure with roof trusses made from timber or engineered wood, starting in January.

• Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law on Wednesday requiring the governments, in turn, to notify local fire departments, fire coordinators and 911 dispatchers about the buildings. Cuomo said wood roof trusses burn and collapse quickly during a fire, and have injured firefighters when they fell.

• The law requires property owners statewide to reveal on their building permit applications if the truss construction will be used and to affix a sign or symbol indicating that on exterior electrical boxes.

Dive Insight:

Cuomo said the law will “help ensure that our firefighters and emergency personal are made aware of potentially dangerous situations before it’s too late,” as truss and wood type usually are not obvious. But Rockland, N.Y., Deputy Fire Coordinator John Kyrger pointed out that the law applies only to new construction, so it doesn’t do anything to alert first responders when wood roof trusses are present in older buildings.