Fire Escape Removal
I need to have my 2 story Fireescape removed.. It’s the front Fireescape .anybody has any experience on this sort of work.. Any recommendation?how much it cost?? Thanks.
I need to have my 2 story Fireescape removed.. It’s the front Fireescape .anybody has any experience on this sort of work.. Any recommendation?how much it cost?? Thanks.
Good point, tinarina. Two means of egress is not required in a 2-family.
JHRALEEDAP
UPA
We removed our fire escape after we converted our house from a 4-fam to a 2, which simplified the process.
1 – I did this. The building was converted dwellling that had sprinklered halls and a fire escape that served only some units on some floors. It was not a required egress.
2 – Filed with DOB and LPC.
3- Not cheap with the filings,sidewalk bridge, interior and exterior restoration. Patching the iron spot roman bricks was only possible as the building had a very limited supply of matching brick. Also ended up cleaning the facade to get rid of the ghosting as the fire escape had been up for 85 years.
4- Soup to nuts, it was 20k in 2000 dollars. Figure that lead regs would add another few $$ today.
Call this guy.
http://bstoner.wpengine.com/forum/archives/2009/03/fire_escape_or_1.php
His deal is, if he can reuse it straight away he will do it for free, otherwise he’ll charge for storage or dumping.
I’m going through this right now.
Absolutely permits are required. Most buildings with fire escapes will be required to keep them unless there is a sprinkler system in the halls. And even then, it may depend upon when the building was built (if pre-1968, then usually yes, if after 1968 then no). The issue is if each floor has two separate means of egress.
The process will involve filing floor plans of each floor, demonstrating that there are two means of egress, or sprinklers if it meets the above conditions.
Jim Hill, RA, LEED AP
Urban Pioneering Architecture
Just curious, are permits required for such a task? I have a fire escape out back and would love to remove it; but figure it would be a huge violation to do so (fire codes).