Roof Deck Not Up To Code
My wife and I are looking at a co-op with roof rights. The roof currently has a deck, which the sellers have disclosed is not up to code. Question: what are the chances that our lender will require us to remedy the situation before allowing us to close? What consideration should we take if we’re…
My wife and I are looking at a co-op with roof rights. The roof currently has a deck, which the sellers have disclosed is not up to code. Question: what are the chances that our lender will require us to remedy the situation before allowing us to close? What consideration should we take if we’re thinking about making an offer? And finally, how much does it cost to build a modest roof deck (maybe 200-300 square feet) to code?
After all this, not clear if it’s your private deck, or shared? If the coop owns it and you have rights to is, worse that could happen is you’ll be responsible for 1/6th. As far as the rest, appraisers are not usually experts on code issues.
I believe mscrochety means ‘fireproof material…’ That basically boils-down to steel – though I’ve heard Trex is fireproof too. Anyone know about whether it’s up to NYC code?
As for the 20% rule when building with ‘non-fireproof’ material, I’ve often heard the same but have never actually seen it verified.
What bivouac needs to do, first-off, is have a lawyer confirm that the co-op offering plan allocates the roof rights to their unit [which ought to be reflected in a bigger # of shares than other units – and a higher maintenance charge]. If the roof rights are part of the deal, then it’s really up to the buyer & seller to come to an agreement: if the buyer is paranoid about the legality of the deck [which sounds both illegal & bad for the integrity of the roof – heavy, wooden decks sitting on the roof membrane are a recipe for disaster], then they should make removal of the deck a condition in the sale & have the roof itself inspected. The other option is to be cool & enjoy the fresh air!
Brokestone makes a good & scary point too, though a ‘no trespassing’ sign ought to give the deck-owner some level of protection from injury claims caused by illegal use of the deck.
nasty, vengeful neighbors suck. a friend of mine had one call and rat out rooftop BBQ (illegal in NYC).
No one pays any attention to the 20% rule.
What the inspector wants is his own 20% rule.
If you get a cranky inspector at the DOB he will demand you make the deck handicap accessible. I try to tell you people time and again, the building code and the dob do not have cut and fast rules, they are a bureaucratic nightmare of the most dysfunctional kind. The only thing that works are the “Christmas bonuses” that every expiditer worth his salt delivers to the family of certain civil servants.
Oy, such naivette on this site!
We had such a deck on our building’s roof. The unit went through two closings plus at least one re-fi without any attention from lenders. But a nasty neighbor did report it to DOB later, and that is a headache.
The building inspector I used told me that wood decks can take up no more than 20% of the roof. So maybe that’s the issue. If you want more coverage, you can have it, you just have to use a fire retardant material like fiberglass. Fiberglass is more expensive than wood.
If it is regular, untreated wood it can’t take up more than 20% of the roof. If larger it has to be made out of some non-fireproof material.
The apartment is in the South Slope. It’s an 8 unit co-op.
Whatever happens, it doesn’t seem like a show stopper. Worst case scenario, it is removed by the seller before we close, right? But we would just like to take that into consideration when negotiating the contract.
What part of town is this place in? Some neighborhoods are easier than others frankly.