am I entitled to my condo's blueprints?
We bought a new construction (warehouse conversion) condo in the spring. There are tiny blueprints (more like floorplans) in the offer plan but they are grossly inaccurate. I have asked the sponsor for the actual blueprints but we will not give them to me. Do I have any legal right to my condo’s blueprints? Thanks,…
We bought a new construction (warehouse conversion) condo in the spring. There are tiny blueprints (more like floorplans) in the offer plan but they are grossly inaccurate. I have asked the sponsor for the actual blueprints but we will not give them to me. Do I have any legal right to my condo’s blueprints?
Thanks,
Sheri
The architect technically owns the plans and you can get the info at the DOB. If you need for some reason to have accurate drawings of your space, you should have someone draw them. It’s quite posssible, even likely that the plans available at DOB will not be the latest. What you are looking for are called as-built drawings and an architect can typically provide these. However they are rarely produced unless there is a good reason.
Just a note here, “blueprints” are a term for drawings created by a chemical process that turns the special paper used a bluish color(there are techniques that result in other colors as well). It is NOT a term for architectural/structural/MEP drawings. Also, the term “plans” applies specifically to drawings that are horizontal sections through space that show the spatial information as though one were looking at it from above. “Drawings” is the generic term to refer to “plans” elevations and other types of drawings. Sorry for the rant but it’s a big pet peeve of mine.
Go to your borough’s building department. Ask someone how to pull a folder (you’ll need the building’s block and lot number). You can photocopy the plans (if they exist — a lot of times the folder is “missing”, and also the plans as filed aren’t always the same as the plans as built). But in general it’s a useful resource.
If an architect drew the plans, the plans are owned by the architect, unless specific arrangements were done later.
I believe that sponsor is the legal owner since he/she commissioned them.