Sprinkler requirement in one family home.

Neighbors – any architects or engineers out there familiar with NYC requirements around installing sprinklers in Attics of single family homes and understanding what construction costs are utilized to calculate the construction cost to tax assessed value in relation to the sprinkler requirement. I know this is crazy specific question, but can’t find answers anywhere.

ptag

in Dept. of Buildings (DOB) 3 years and 4 months ago

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jimhillra | 3 years and 3 months ago

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One of the biggest problems with all of this is that it’s governed by two different codes. Both the NYC Building Code and NYC Fire Code have different regulations. In case of a conflict or inconsistency, the more stringent applies.

The building code requirements are in Chapter 9. Section 901.9 “Special provisions for prior code buildings” lists requirements for existing buildings, and covers things like a change in occupancy or use, enlargement, value of alterations relative to the property value, etc. It’s also worth noting that the value is NOT the Dept of Finance value, but an overcomplicated adjustment of that value. This section also states that all new residential buildings must have sprinklers, exempting only “detached one-and two-family dwellings and multiple single-family dwellings (townhouses), provided that such structures are not more than three stories above grade plane in height and have separate means of egress.”

The Fire Code addresses existing buildings in section FC 501. Many of the same requirements are listed here, but t here are additional items, too. For instance, increasing a building’s height from less than 35′ to above 35′, or increasing the floor area by 125%, and converting a one-family to a two-family by converting the basement to a separate dwelling unit.

Guest User | 3 years and 3 months ago

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I find the subject confusing, and I think our expeditor did too. In one email she wrote: “when one changes the CO, the DOB requires sprinklers. Unless the adjacent buildings are single family homes or the street is a wide street.” But later she told me she had discovered that having the adjacent homes be single family would not have helped. In another email: “This examiner will not allow the application to be approved without sprinklers, apart from this calculation. X [our architect] and I got her to say that if the cost of construction (that she established) was less than 30% of the cost of replacement of the entire building, then she would approve the application without sprinklers. It appears to be the only way. I told her I had the LNO form ready to go, and she still insisted that it didn’t matter if we filed the job as a change to the CO or as a minor alteration. ”

Meeting that “less than 30%” rule worked for us. Whether it would work for all examin ers I don’t know. Has your examiner assigned a construction cost for your renovation? If so you might be able to figure out whether you can meet the 30% rule.

l_studio | 3 years and 3 months ago

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jimhillra – you seem to also have knowledge on this -if you can help me understand more or can you point me in direction of where to look Id really appreciate it?

l_studio | 3 years and 3 months ago

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Ithaca- I am curious to hear more about your project. We are just finding our self in a situation that sounds very similar. We have a 3 family house that we want to change to a 2 family – no C of O on file. Expediter said we would need to install sprinkler system to do this triggered by changing the C of O. Installing sprinkler system would put this renovation out of our budget so trying to learn more before giving up. Is this 1/3rd rule an actual rule? 1/3 price of rebuilding an entirely new house? Any more info on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

jimhillra | 3 years and 3 months ago

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Yes, the newer codes require sprinklers in attached single family homes when newly built and in renovations under certain circumstances.

ptag | 3 years and 3 months ago

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Thanks Ithaca.

ptag | 3 years and 3 months ago

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Thanks Ithaca.

Guest User | 3 years and 3 months ago

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We were not actually asked about costs; the DOB seems to have come up with a figure based on the plans. But asbestos abatement was definitely not included in the DOB figure for renovation costs, because we took care of asbestos long before we applied for permits.

ptag | 3 years and 3 months ago

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Thank you all. Ithaca – Do you know if cost of abatements was included in city calculation? Asbestos, mold, lead, etc. Also – were fixtures, floorings, windows included as well?

ptag | 3 years and 3 months ago

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Thank you all. Ithaca – Do you know if cost of abatements was included in city calculation? Asbestos, mold, lead, etc. Also – were fixtures, floorings, windows included as well?

Guest User | 3 years and 4 months ago

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We ran into this. In the end we had to pay $1800 for a GC (not ours) to come up with a figure for replacing the entire house; the figure was just under $1.6 million. The DOB then compared that to the renovation costs and agreed that we didn’t need to do the sprinklers. I believe that no sprinkler is required if the cost of renovation is less than 1/3 of the cost of total reconstruction. I don’t actually understand this, because the renovation is going to cost us more than 1/3 of $1.6 million ($533,333), but perhaps they don’t include costs like the GC fee, architect, etc.. In our case, we are doing renovations plus changing from 2-family to 1-family. No existing CO.

andriywww1990 | 3 years and 4 months ago

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bob and op, i am trying to find the answer. i read something that when NYS went to the national code in 2015, the state removed or proposed removing the single family sprinkler mandate. but, the state and city are two different beasts and a quick look turned up nothing on the city. before i begin reading into this, i hope someone in the know will comment.

RobertGMarvin

in Dept. of Buildings (DOB) 3 years and 4 months ago

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That’s what I thought Steve, but it appears that DOB may require sprinklers with some extensive renovations, although I can’t imagine why

stevecym | 3 years and 4 months ago

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I dont believe single family homes require sprinklers. That is why you are not finding anything written about it.