The building super’s guide to trash chutes

The parts of a chute

Part	What it does	What goes wrong
Intake (hopper) door	Where trash goes in on each floor; closes and latches on its own	Grease, sticking open, worn closers and latches
Baffle	The vinyl piece along the bottom of the door that seals the gap	Caked grease, so smoke and odor reach the hallway
Shaft	Carries trash from the top floor to the bottom	Grease and residue film that smells and feeds pests
Sprinkler heads	Fire protection inside the chute and at the bottom	Caked over, damaged or blocked
Compactor / refuse room	Collects and compacts the trash	Spillage, standing water, propped-open doors

Metal, masonry and incinerator chutes

Post-war buildings usually have smooth metal chutes. Many pre-war buildings have masonry chutes, and many of those are flues that once fed the building’s own incinerator. Larger apartment buildings built after May 20, 1968 had to have compactor systems instead (NYC Admin Code §24-119), and most building incinerators were shut down in the early 1970s. NYC’s chute rule expressly allows the old flues to be used as refuse chutes (1 RCNY §24-01).

Masonry is rough and porous, so grease settles into it instead of running off. Old incinerator chutes take more degreaser, more passes and a closer look than metal ones. See incinerator chute cleaning.

What NYC’s chute rule requires

NYC’s Buildings rule 1 RCNY §24-01, “Refuse Chutes and Refuse Rooms” covers most of what supers deal with day to day:

• Chute openings need approved self-closing hoppers, with hopper doors rated for at least one hour of fire resistance.
• Refuse room doors must be self-closing and rated at least 1½ hours, and it is unlawful to keep them open.
• The refuse room needs sprinklers, a hose connection and a concrete floor sloped to a drain.
• Compacting equipment must run before trash builds up to within three feet of the lowest intake door.
• Chutes, refuse rooms and hoppers must be kept clean, sanitary and free of vermin and odors.
• The owner must run a pest-treatment program for them and keep records for the Department of Buildings.

Outside the city, New York State’s fire code calls for sprinklers at the top of trash and linen chutes, in the room at the bottom, and on alternate floors where a chute runs through three or more floors (NY Department of State). New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania have their own codes.

Who is responsible for what

Who	Responsible for
Owner / managing agent	Keeping the chute and refuse room clean, sanitary and pest-free; the treatment program and records; doors and fire protection in working order
Super / building staff	Daily upkeep, the compactor, checking doors latch, posting notices
Chute cleaning contractor	Deep cleaning the shaft, doors, baffles and compactor area on a schedule, and reporting problems
Tenants	Bagging and tying trash, keeping banned items out, closing the door

How often to clean

No NYC rule sets a cleaning frequency; the rule sets the result: clean, sanitary, free of vermin and odors. Our recommendation from 32 years of doing this:

Building	Recommended
Hospitals, hotels, heavy-use buildings	Quarterly
Most apartment buildings, co-ops and condos	Twice a year
Light-use buildings	At least once a year

If tenants are complaining about smell, roaches or flies, the chute is already overdue.

Rules to post for tenants

• Bag and tie all trash. Double-bag anything wet or smelly.
• No liquids, loose cat litter, bedding, hangers, blinds or pizza boxes.
• Nothing bigger than the hopper, and nothing burning.
• No rechargeable batteries: they’re illegal in NYC trash (DSNY).
• Recyclables go in the recycling space, not the chute.
• Close the chute door behind you.