Brownstone Door Widths, and the DOB

“This plan examiner wants to see every door in the house drawn at 32″ or 36”.   if the interior doors you’re relocating (re-using) are 32″,  I don’t understand the issue. Then the drawings that were submitted to DOB aren’t clear. Have your architect label the existing doors to remain (in the same location) with a big fat “E” and on the legend and door schedule call them out as E = EXISTING TO REMAIN.

expert_textpert

in Architecture 12 years and 1 month ago

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rustydevon | 12 years and 1 month ago

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We’re going into meeting #4 with our plan examiner, trying to clear all of the objections on our Alt 1 application. Our home is a pretty standard 20′ x 45′ brownstone in Clinton Hill. We’ve come across an objection that seems even more insane than the rest, and we have a difference of opinion about how to deal with it between our architect and our expediter.

The objection is that all doors to habitable areas need to be 36″ wide (or 32, can’t remember). Our door are an inch or two narrower than the current code requirements. Now, I’ve been in a lot of brownstones, and I’ve never seen one with widened doors. Ours look totally consistent with every other hosue I’ve been in of comparable size in Brooklyn. We’re changing the use (thus Alt 1), but we’re really just preserving the house as much as possible, reusing most of the existing features including the doors. So to have to throw out our doors and replace them with wider ones would be an insane undertaking.

Our expediters solution is to draw them at the necessary width, and then hope that the inspector doesn’t notice when they do the walk through. He says that this is typical. Our architects are very reluctant to do so, saying that the expediter should escalate and go over the head of the examiner because they think that the examiner is wrong about our being responsible to re-size the doors.

Does anyone have any experience or advise for us? Is there any risk in filing with the doors at the required width to get past the plan examiner now, get our permits, and then fight this with an 
amendment?

elbow | 12 years and 1 month ago

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32″ clear is for handicapped accessibility.  Should only apply to doors on floors accessible without stair or elevator access.

rustydevon | 12 years and 1 month ago

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Has anyone ever heard of a brownstone owner being required to widen doorways?

BenGazi | 12 years and 1 month ago

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take a good hard look at the folks who populate the DOB that is where you will find your answer.

daveinbedstuy | 12 years and 1 month ago

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Doesn’t your architect know what the code says?????  HE SHOULD.

expert_textpert | 12 years and 1 month ago

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your original post isn’t clear. Are the doors in the existing locations or are you relocating them? Even when relocating doors they need to conform to code. Interior doors to be 32″ Exit doors 36″

expert_textpert | 12 years and 1 month ago

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Existing doors to remain (in the same location) are not affected. Your architect and expediter should know this.