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June 12, 2008
Permit for Roof Deck
We are looking to install this type of roof deck:
http://www.bisondecksupports.com/index.asp?pid=4
it is basically a kit you assemble and it just rests on the roof. is it still necessary to file for a permit?
Comments
You do. There are building, fire and safety codes related to roof top construction, especially if people will have customary access to it. Your insurance company will want to know about it too.
Among other things, fire code requires that a licensed engineer certify the roof as being capable of carrying the extra load. In the case of old row houses, even A/C compressors are often required to be mounted on steel beams spanning the party walls.
Posted by: Steve at June 12, 2008 10:15 AM
Chickenoid why would you use those deck supports rather than normal pitch pockets? You can't simply leave those things resting on the roof, they would have to be drilled through the roof membrane positively to the roof joists. By the time you've done that, this system is far more work than conventional decking
Posted by: Smokychimp at June 12, 2008 10:36 AM
smokychimp, think you are confused. look at this
http://www.bisondecksupports.com/index.asp?pid=36&vid=5
nothing gets drilled into the roof or joists.
Posted by: chickenoid23 at June 12, 2008 11:08 AM
We looked into Bison deck supports but they weren't feasible in our case and we ended going with pitchpockets.
If you go this route you should get rubber padding for the pedestals to rest on to prevent any penetration of the roof. You definitely should consult an engineer.
We found Bison to be very helpful in terms of doing calculations, renderings, etc. It is too bad that it turned out pedestals were not an option for. It would have saved quite a bit of money.
Posted by: guest at June 12, 2008 11:21 AM
what's a pitchpocket?
Posted by: guest at June 12, 2008 11:32 AM
Nope, not confused. Your roofdeck is in a hurricane zone, so you can't simply rest these things on the roof and be done with it. Even in a normal thunderstorm like Tuesday night, the uplift forces can be enormous on a rooftop. You need an installation that can resist strong uplift and this system can't do that without direct connection to the building structure.
Posted by: Smokychimp at June 12, 2008 11:52 AM
all of brooklyn is in a hurricane zone?
Posted by: chickenoid23 at June 12, 2008 11:58 AM
NYC is a hurricane zone, as is about half a mile of the entire southern coast of LI (FEMA has maps that determine the exact extent of the zone).
Posted by: Smokychimp at June 12, 2008 12:17 PM
It is. In fact, Allstate Insurance canceled the home owners policies of all its NYC customers in 2006 because of it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/30/AR2006063000612.html
Ten months ago an F2 tornado touched down two blocks from me and ripped up a bunch of roofs. Imagine a floating deck.
http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/brooklyn_tornado
Posted by: Steve at June 12, 2008 12:24 PM
so you are saying the NYC building code says a roof deck has to be attacehd to the roof becuase of potentail hurricaines?
Posted by: chickenoid23 at June 12, 2008 12:34 PM
If that was for me, I dunno what the code is for roof decks but an architect or GC will. What I know is that if you want it to be a legal job you're gonna need one or both.
Posted by: Steve at June 12, 2008 1:31 PM
Set aside the issue of codes and permits etc. for a moment. During a storm or hurricane there may be more uplift pressure on the roof of a building than the weight of the deck itself can resist. A gust of wind creates far greater pressure on a roof of a building than you would ever feel at the street level -- engineers call this the venturi effect. It's a very different circumstance from having this deck system in a backyard in Pennsylvania, for example. A positive tie down to the roof structure would definitely be needed as a matter of safety.
Posted by: Smokychimp at June 12, 2008 4:06 PM
Heck, set aside the facts that there are windy conditions in NYC, and that you will need a permit. The "structural wall" with roof flashing that needs to be built around the entire perimeter for drainage seems a long way towards getting a regular deck made anyway.
Posted by: corolla at June 13, 2008 7:47 AM
What can you do on your roof without a permit?
In other words, I have an engineer's report stating exactly how much weight the roof can hold, and I don't intend to go over it. I know that a green roof installation does not require a permit. It seems like it should, but maybe the code hasn't caught up with the technology yet. Do you need a permit, for instance, to put down pavers? Or those big rubber tiles? Or wood tiles?
Thanks
Posted by: steffix at July 7, 2008 10:23 AM
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