Look up roof deck permits?

It seems there are assumptions posted here. Looking up the previous owner’s property history discretely is a worthy move and “seebeenchop” the op’s neighbor may not be out to cause trouble, but rather to raise a “heads up” flag.
It goes without saying that the op is smart enough to talk to that neighbor to find out…

“Seebeenchop” op: If you’re still cruising the responses after 6 days already: These guys can cut some corners for you: JonPaul Design & Consulting (Architectural) Jon Ott & Tom Rodland 718-875-2036 and 2321.

patrickburnsjr

in General Discussion 3 years and 7 months ago

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frerunda | 3 years and 7 months ago

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We bought a rowhouse with a roof deck. It was advertised as such, no issues with financing or insuring. A neighbor suggested the deck might not be legal. How can I look up the permits the previous owner pulled to renovate the home/add the deck? I tried the DOB building site and the permits don’t mention the roof deck. Would they? Or is there somewhere else I need to go? Would it be in the blueprints on file with the city? I want to be sure my home is up to code and safe and that the renovation can support the structure.

Guest User | 3 years and 7 months ago

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Does it have a CO listing the roof deck? My understanding is there are a whole lot of different factors that go into determining whether or not you’re allowed to build a roof deck and what it has to look like. if you really want to know, you might just hire an expediter to do some digging with DOB as their publicly searchable records aren’t exactly detailed.

Guest User | 3 years and 7 months ago

string(1) "3"
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Does it have a CO listing the roof deck? My understanding is there are a whole lot of different factors that go into determining whether or not you’re allowed to build a roof deck and what it has to look like. if you really want to know, you might just hire an expediter to do some digging with DOB as their publicly searchable records aren’t exactly detailed.

patrickburnsjr | 3 years and 7 months ago

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Try this reference attachment, 1st.

Secondly: Any/many an architect will be able to easily look up the data you need to initiate a path forward with them with the hopes of your hiring them to serve you and your neighbors/friends in the future. It’s good business… [IMG_0400](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s2/:brownstoner:wYTQ:img_0400.jpg.jpg)

yudashasom | 3 years and 7 months ago

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carriage house, did you seriously just recommend that the op call themselves into DOB? smh!

helen40

in General Discussion 3 years and 7 months ago

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Have you closed? Did you have a home inspection before closing? If it was a well done inspection, there should be a discussion of the deck. And, if there was a violation for an illegal deck, it would have come up in a title search.

@no-permitz says, dont go to DOB and look for trouble. If you need to, bring in an inspector or architect. to find out if the deck is safe.

Guest User | 3 years and 7 months ago

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@bored_at_work there may be no active violation for the deck but that doesn’t necessarily it was built in accordance with zoning and building code. that said, I also wouldn’t recommend calling DOB because you’d likely open yourself up to all kinds of pain.
given that the neighbor specifically mentioned this to OP I do think they need to do at least a little follow-up to see what the current status is because it sounds like a “if you mess with me, i can sic DOB on you” kinda situation…

Guest User | 3 years and 7 months ago

string(1) "3"
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@bored_at_work there may be no active violation for the deck but that doesn’t necessarily it was built in accordance with zoning and building code. that said, I also wouldn’t recommend calling DOB because you’d likely open yourself up to all kinds of pain.
given that the neighbor specifically mentioned this to OP I do think they need to do at least a little follow-up to see what the current status is because it sounds like a “if you mess with me, i can sic DOB on you” kinda situation…

cobblehillhome | 3 years and 7 months ago

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I would try to probe the neighbor why they think the roof deck is illegal. My assumption is that this deck is stable and fine, but that this could be a noisy neighborhood who thinks some part of code was ignore or done incorrectly. What I’ve found out that over the last year is that the code is constantly changing and one architect vs a contractor vs the DOB inspector all have slightly different interpretations of the building code.

Try to understand why your neighbor thinks the deck is illegal and if the answer is fuzzy, ignore him or her. They may file a violation on your house, if they’re really rude, and if that’s the case, don’t open the door to the DOB inspector — everyone will tell you that 🙂

cobblehillhome | 3 years and 7 months ago

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I would try to probe the neighbor why they think the roof deck is illegal. My assumption is that this deck is stable and fine, but that this could be a noisy neighborhood who thinks some part of code was ignore or done incorrectly. What I’ve found out that over the last year is that the code is constantly changing and one architect vs a contractor vs the DOB inspector all have slightly different interpretations of the building code.

Try to understand why your neighbor thinks the deck is illegal and if the answer is fuzzy, ignore him or her. They may file a violation on your house, if they’re really rude, and if that’s the case, don’t open the door to the DOB inspector — everyone will tell you that 🙂