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October 9, 2009
Live Work Rezoning
My landlady wants to change the CofO in my building (M1-5B Zoned). My floor will be joint live work quarters (i have an artist certificate). Now the architect tells me that the following changes need to be made which i find very hard to believe: EVERY bathroom must be wheelchair accessible? (there's 2 bathrooms and apparently its not enough if one of them is). Additionally there must be a sprinklerhead in front of EVERY window, one foot distance to it. its an old loft building with existing sprinkler system. Can someone recommend an architect that knows what must be changed?
Thank you
Comments
the architect is correct...all filed bathrooms must be brought up to ada code, and your windows muxt be "lot line" windows, i.e. on the sides of the building where another building could be built, and need to be sprinklered
Posted by: eman1234 at October 9, 2009 7:54 AM
eman, even if the bathroom preexisted? When we legalized our loft building about 12 years ago the bathrooms needed stuff like tile on the floor and internal ones needed a vent running to the outside. Dumb stuff like that.
Posted by: modsquad at October 9, 2009 8:55 AM
if you renovate it has to be made
code compliant
Posted by: jp2 at October 9, 2009 9:16 AM
If you renovate or change the C of O you will need to make it code compliant.
Posted by: HDL at October 9, 2009 11:27 AM
I am an architect, and your architect is correct, though there are some hairs that need to be split.
Bathrooms don't need to be ADA (ADA does not apply to residential occupancy (except hotels, which aren't res) accessible, they need to be FHA adaptable. Slight difference, including grab bars don't need to be installed, but walls need to be reinforced in order to carry the weight of future grab bars.
If one of your bathrooms is large enough and laid out as a Type 'B' FHA bathroom, federal regs permit the second bathroom on same floor to be normal (not adaptable). However, DOB doesn't necessarily accept this federal exemption so I wouldn't count on it and if i were your landlady's architect i wouldn't bang my head against the wall for it...
Sprinklers would be required in front of windows without adequate adjacent space (ie: not on a street or a 30' yard) or any window fronting a fire escape...
Posted by: young archi at October 9, 2009 1:15 PM
modsquad - were you an article 7C IMD unit? if so, DOB looks the other way as far as handicapped (although, legally, they shouldn't...)
Otherwise, you hade a bad examiner and you're lucky...
Posted by: young archi at October 9, 2009 1:16 PM
I think this is déjà vu all over again young archi. More than likely what you said above.
I'm wondering if in the legalization of an illegal living loft where everything was built to residential code (over 25 years ago) except for the fact there was no CofO for living, that the only thing done was to supply the City with plans that show the existing conditions that certain things are given a pass. Like I said the only thing needed was to put tile on the bathroom floor and vent one bathroom to the outside.
Posted by: modsquad at October 10, 2009 9:29 AM
thanks everyone for these insights. can anybody recommend an architect for a consultation? young archi seems to know his field, please email me at domie199@yahoo.com.
Posted by: dolores at October 22, 2009 6:48 PM
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