necessary to change from 4-family to 3-family?
I have a brownstone with four separate units and a 4-family C of O. If two units are combined into one dwelling, is it necessary to change the C of O to 3-family?
I have a brownstone with four separate units and a 4-family C of O.
If two units are combined into one dwelling, is it necessary to change the C of O to 3-family?
To 10:19,
I think it is possible to request that the Department of Finance reclassify your house without a formal CofO change, which a DOB issue. I remember looking at house a few years ago that has a lower dupex and two upper floor through units. The CofO was a 4 family, but treated by Finance as a 3 family. The owner told me that an insepctor came out to inspect to maker sure that the missing kitchen lines has been capped and walled off to ensure that it was in fact really being used only as a a three family.
A CofO for 4 entitles you to have 4 occupants in the house, but it does not obligate you to have 4. It’s ok to have fewer (i.e., it is ok to have one family living in a 2-family, or 2 families in a 3-family). What you cannot do is have MORE occupants than a CofO allows. You cannot, for example, have four tenants if your CofO is only 3. For greater comfort on this point, you might read DoB regs or ask an expeditor.
If you’re thinking about going down from a CofO of 4 to one of 3, you should definitely look at how you are currently being taxed. If you are being taxed at the rate of a 4-family, then switching your CofO down to 3 could yield a big tax benefit. Check out how the Dept. of Finance currently classifies your building.
We are in the process of switching from a 4-fam down to a 2-fam, primarily because we wanted to remove a sprinkler that was in the house. I was hoping for the tax break, too, but it turns out that Finance had been charging us the 1-2-3 family rate all along, even when the building had a CofO of 4. I’m not sure why were weren’t getting the higher 4-fam rate in the past.
It’s not a problem to downsize and keep the 4 family C of O… there are tax ramifications though… 3 families are taxed at a lower rate than 4 families. It’s not always easy to change the C of O. There are many more issues to go from a 3 to 4 family.
In multi-family buildings plans are definitely submitted to the FDNY for this purpose. Whether the precinct pulls them out to look at them before responding to an alarm is another thing entirely.
But yes they are required to have them on file. The plans indicate where all the rooms are, the fire alarms, pull stations, strobes, shut offs, etc.
-An Architect.
I’ve seen this argument before, and quite frankly it doesn’t make any sense.
Basically what you’re saying is that when a fire is reported, within the minutes the FDNY responds they query the blueprints of millions of buildings in NYC. And they would need each blueprint for the entire block affected. Then they analyze the blueprints to determine the best escape routes before they even attempt to enter and save lives?
There are fire evacuation plans and drills for large buildings, but I don’t think the FDNY is pulling out the floor plans for 1-3 family houses in Brooklyn each time a fire is reported. It’s hard enough for the home owner to get access to this information.
I read the comments on the earlier thread and realized that no one had commented on one very important reason to have your house’s status on record: safety. If ever, heaven forbid, you should have a fire, the information on record is going to lead the responders to be looking for a particular set-up once they get inside your building. Changing the paths of egress, blocking off stairways, and removing walls can be very disorienting in dark and smoky conditions. This is dangerous for you, your tenants, and the emergency personnel.
-firefighter’s girlfriend