Uncombining apartments and CofO?

I know that combining apartments in a multifamily building does not require a change to the CofO.
What about if in 10 years you decide to separate them again back into 2 apartments, would that require a new CofO?

Guest User | 5 years and 10 months ago

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tanah.spencer | 5 years and 10 months ago

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I have two and which I divided into three-part and make three separate apartments and give them in rent.

Guest User | 5 years and 10 months ago

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So no need for CofO changes or sprinklers or any of that?

scuds | 5 years and 10 months ago

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I also just did an un-combination, we had the job number of the combination from 2004 and had no issues, got approved in one plan exam meeting.

Granted, the combination didn’t move anything around (just turned the kitchen into a laundry room and the old living room into a bedroom) so it was just a matter of adding back the appliances and closing up the wall. If you make any changes to the layout or bathroom(s) the combination and un-combination would have to comply with accessibility standards, meaning wider doors, clear space, an adaptable bath, etc, so may not be as simple as putting everything back where it was.

crosbyshawn4 | 5 years and 10 months ago

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We finished a project just like this last year, where the clients had 2 apartments they combined 12 years ago, and now wanted to divide them back into 2 separate apartments. The key is being able to find the original DOB application, as your architect will need to reference that in order to file the project as an Alt. 2 and satisfy the plan examiner.

joearchitect | 5 years and 10 months ago

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In an apartment building I don’t think that separating them back into the current allowed condition should be a problem and could be filed as an alt.2. If you were trying to take one large apartment and make two when that didn’t previously exist, that would be a different matter. That said, I haven’t had it come up myself, although I have reconfigured two adjacent apartments to move portions from one apartment to the other and have not have any problems with that.

jimhillra | 5 years and 10 months ago

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Good question. The memos that were written to allow the combination of units say nothing of their separation. The most recent version of this memo (Technical Policy and Procedure Notice 3 of 1997) states that the combination is allowed to reduce the number of dwelling units, and is allowed if the resulting apartment contains an equal or lower number of zoning rooms.

In the zoning code, there are density regulations which limit the number of dwelling units on a zoning lot. A reduction in the number of dwelling units would never exceed the limit of dwelling units, so it’s easy to allow that without a new C of O. However, an increase in the number of dwelling units could potentially exceed the maximum density, so any application to do so would need to go through an Alt 1 in which those numbers would be checked. At least this is what I think would be the current reasoning.

One could say “why don’t they just make you check the density, and if you’re over then file the Alt 1, and otherwise file the Alt 2?” Except, you can’t pro-cert an Alt 1, whereas you can an Alt 2 , so one could conceivably file the separation as a pro-cert, and avoid the question entirely.

But I’m rambling on about code again, late on a summer Friday afternoon, so I’ll say I think it’s safe to expect to have to file an Alt 1 to revert the combined apartments to separate units.