Neighbor's Access to My Roof
House next door just changed hands. New owners are “building up”–adding a 5th floor. Wrote asking for permission to use my roof for scaffolding. I didn’t give it. Today found that the contractor has covered my whole roof with metal beams as a frame and on top of that a dense row of wood planks…
House next door just changed hands. New owners are “building up”–adding a 5th floor. Wrote asking for permission to use my roof for scaffolding. I didn’t give it. Today found that the contractor has covered my whole roof with metal beams as a frame and on top of that a dense row of wood planks “to protect my roof.” My roof was installed 2008, i.e., new and undamaged until this happened. Has anyone had this problem with construction next door? Any strategies you found helpful? Any roofer you would recommend to inspect this set-up? Thanks!
First my advice comes from someone who has experienced the worst case scenario.
Worry about a contractor/developer who who hides behind an LLC. You can go to the DOB BIS site and check the permits and scope of work. Also phone numbers and contact information will be listed. I would give the architect/owner a call asap. It doesn’t need to be adversarial but you need to protect your home. Small claims court/hiring a lawyer to recoup damages afterwards is expensive and time consuming. They will deny ever being on your roof if you try and make them fix any damage. Also, you may not want their guys doing the repair work so make sure you have the ability to hire someone of your choice.
Insurance documentation should be suspect as carraig has posted above. They can take out a policy and then cancel it at any time. You need to check and recheck.
NYC DOB is very strict about scaffolding installation and permitting. If their work is visible from the street they will get a visit from the DOB.
Hopefully you have a competent builder next store who will do the right thing by you.
Thank you, all. Very helpful.
Hopefully all will turn out well without a huge hussle tussle but I will let you know what is the law and you take it from there.
1. The contractor MUST provide a methid of protection.
2. There are various levels and methods of protection and usually it entails a little infringement or more than a little on your property.
3. If they do not provide protection the DOB may (will) stop the job because of that and that is why the contractor did it.
4. By law the contractor must have your permission and you are not required to give ot but you should for the following reason:
5. If you do not give permission then the neighbor can file in court to mandate you to give permission which the judges will always grant them. Therefore, you can only lose by paying your attorney and you will only gain a couple of months that it will take your neighbor to drag you thru the system.
6. The only thing that you can get incourt are standard items. Example: If you want the contractor to insure your property and be liable for damages these items will be granted to you but otherwise you will get screwed anyway. Your best bet will be to tell them to take it off and discuss the liability issues before it gets nasty.
7. Since the dept. of buildings is a civil agency they will not mix in and if there will be protection they will give thego ahead otherwise they won’t
any other questions feel free to e-mail me @ brooklynexpediter@gmail.com
Am I the only one who thinks that it is outrageous that the contractor has started work on your roof against your wishes. What do you think will happen if there is an accident? Do you think that somebody that steamrolls their neighbor is a good person to deal with. Recently I had an adjoining property owner ask for permission to work off my roof.I asked them for their workers comp and liability insurance and they gave me insurance certificates that were worthless.If you want to let them work on your roof go to an insurance broker and find out what you need insurance wise.Then when you get the insurance certificates have the insurance broker check them out.Otherwise call the Police and tell them to get off your roof.
Fair enough. Richard Nagel at Nagel Roofing in the City. 212 242-6320. Not sure if he does Brooklyn but he knows roofing. Tell him Jim from Crosby St. He’s doing a job on skylights for me now.
modsquad–I see your point. We didn’t give permission because our house is on the market and we were advised by our brokers that stuff on our roof belonging to our neighbors would affect the salability of our house. Also, the “neighbors” are an LLC who have never identified themselves to us and never offered any assurance of any kind.
steve–do you remember what kind of protection was put down at the job you know about?Thanks!
Curious to know why you denied permission in the first place. He could of ultimately prevailed legally. Now you are in a adversarial relationship with your neighbor with no easy communication possible.
GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING.
I worked in a building where the neighboring building was doing some work over one of our roofs. We made them put down protection and required them to provide us with a certificate of insurance listing us as additionally insured. Also, document the current condition of your roof with photos.
When we went through this the contractor for the neighboring building had approached us and we granted permission without even thinking about it; in the end everything was managed professionally and there were no issues.
Steve