Approval Process for Single Family Home
We are int eh process of designing a single family home to be built on an undeveloped lot. Our home will contain radically sustainable features – water collection for drinking/shower, solar for electricity and heating etc. We have initial plans drawn. Wondering now what is the approval process? We submit plans to Dept of Buildings?…
We are int eh process of designing a single family home to be built on an undeveloped lot. Our home will contain radically sustainable features – water collection for drinking/shower, solar for electricity and heating etc. We have initial plans drawn. Wondering now what is the approval process? We submit plans to Dept of Buildings? Who else?
Should we wait till plans are complete or is there a way to show DOB plans ahead of time to see if they have any objections?
Mr Joist – how many properties do you own in NYC? Have you ever built anything? Just wondering what gives you the position to say who is in over their head?
Are you in the position were you can buy land in prime areas of New York City to build whimsical structures? I am. Are you?
Kristofferson @ 2:24 PM: What is “moronic†is buying a plot of land and designing a house with “radically sustainable features†(rainwater collection for drinking?!) without first hiring an architect, code expert, expediter, structural engineer, GC, etc.
Good luck at the DOB and with inspections! That fact that you are “filling in the gaps†on a blog means you are in over your head.
NYC Plumbing Code: http://bit.ly/a9CFRe
Look at Chapter 13: Water Conservation. I’d copy the text here for you, but the pdf is protected and cannot be easily copied.
Most importantly, it states:
“Water recycling systems shall receive storm water captured from roofs and balconies, condensate reclamation systems, gray water discharge only of lavatories from public restrooms in commercial office buildings, and the treated effluent from an approved black water treatment system as regulated by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Recycled water shall be utilized only for flushing water closets and urinals, cooling tower makeup and irrigation systems that are located in the same lot as the water recycling system. Recycled water shall be considered nonpotable.”
The rest of the section is definitions and the specific methods of recycling the water.
JH
Dave – we have done all you say. What is the harm in continuing your research and filling in the gaps in the answers that your architect doesnt have?
I wouldn’t diss what JimHill posted. If I were going to invest in an undeveloped lot in brooklyn with anything close to this in mind I would have researched it WAY before I bought the lot and have found an architect that IS knowledgeable about all of this.
JimHill – you are an architect can you answer questions on water collection and grey water? Huh?
jcarch thanks you for your helpful advice. JimHill your post was less than useless. The point of my question is that we are doing something other than the norm. Most architects have not done this before, therefore your answer “Ask your architect” was pretty moronic.
Jcarch – what specifically makes you think that water collection cant be used for drinking? The new code? Any case studies or code I can reference specifically in regard to water collection or grey water?
Thanks heaps.
be prepared for longer review times w/ the city (and even standard filings are taking forever these days) because they’re not going to know what to make of some of the green features. I strongly recommend that you hire installers and/or a contractor who have experience getting solar, graywater, etc. successfully approved. If you’re trying to do this yourself, it’ll take years while you learn as you go.
Also, I’m 99% sure that you can’t use collected water for drinking. Before the new code, I don’t think you were even allowed to use a graywater system for toilets.
good luck.
Is this futuristic masterpiece to be located in the borough of Brooklyn? If so, Brownstoner should blog its gestation and birth! Not too many “Dwell”-type dwellings going up from scratch in the county of Kings!