Basement egress window requirements
We live in a detached house with a finished basement that has a main room and separate laundry room. Each room has one egress window. We are installing central air conditioning, and the hvac company wants to install the outside condensing units over the grate to the the laundry room egress window. Is it okay to obstruct access to the basement laundry room’s egress window? My non-expert reading of city/state code is yes because (1) the basement laundry room is separate from the basement living room, and (2) the basement living room still has its own window. Could someone confirm?
Guest User | 4 years and 5 months ago
11
Please log in, in order to post replies!
11 replies
jimhillra | 4 years and 5 months ago
Good call Urbandad, but there are definitely restrictions to consider here. For people not familiar with MDL, it’s the Multiple Dwelling Law, which governs buildings with three or more families, and then this particular section is only for converted dwelling, as you pointed out.
One problem with this is that the floor area of the cellar would then be counted against the FAR, so you’d have to make sure the addition of a full floor of area does not put you over the FAR. This would also necessitate a new C of O to reclassify the basement to a cellar.
In addition to that, once the cellar is a basement and therefore a habitable space, it will need to meet egress requirements, which can be stringent for a multiple dwelling.
We’ve never gone this route, but I suppose under the right set of circumstances it could be possible.
hkapstein | 4 years and 5 months ago
Here’s the citation I was thinking of:
MDL 177
3. Where more than sixty per centum of the height of a cellar is below
the level of the curb on which a dwelling faces, but the floor of such
cellar is approximately at the level of the yard thereof and such yard
is not less than thirty feet in depth at every point, the department may
permit the use of such cellar for living purposes if it shall deem such
cellar adequately lighted and ventilated and habitable. When permission
is granted such a cellar shall be deemed a basement.
This applies to converted dwellings, but I suppose there could be other zoning rules that are more restrictive.
jimhillra | 4 years and 5 months ago
@Urbandad, unfortunately not on a typical, interior lot. If it’s a corner lot or a through-lot, then the baseplane (overcomplicated zoning definition for grade) can vary if the elevation changes by a certain amount. On a standard lot, the baseplane is defined by a point between the curb and the front of the house.
As for the walk-out cellar or English basement, the problem is that the definition applies to the whole story. Part of the story cannot be cellar (front) while the other (rear) is basement .
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 5 months ago
Urbandad, great question. Front of my cellar is below grade and back opens into a yard.
hkapstein | 4 years and 5 months ago
It doesn’t sounds like at the curb is an important point here, but from what I remember last time I looked, I think there is a possibly loophole/workaround for cellar/basements that are more exposed in the back than the front, isn’t there?
jimhillra | 4 years and 5 months ago
No problem. Enjoy that AC!
Guest User | 4 years and 5 months ago
Huge help, thank you so much for the clarification!
jimhillra | 4 years and 5 months ago
most lots are defined by the ground or curb level at the front of the house. In most cases, ground and curb are within a few inches, but most people have an easier time thinking about it relative to the ground because that’s at the building, while the curb is 10 to 15 feet away.
Anyway, at 50% below grade, you have a cellar, and in a cellar egress is less of an issue, if at all, because a cellar is not habitable, meaning no living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, dining, etc. As such, egress windows are not typically needed at all, so blocking them is not a code issue.
If you have a legal “rec room” or a three-piece bathroom, egress is required, but it’s via a stair, not a window.
Guest User | 4 years and 5 months ago
Thank you so much for the response. It is almost entirely (more than 50%) below ground.
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 5 months ago
“……..at curb”. (what ever it is at the back of the house does not matter to jim’s questions).
jimhillra | 4 years and 5 months ago
First question: is it a basement or a cellar? 50% above ground or below, respectively.