Recommendation for someone to help file for very small alteration

We need to move an 8′ wide wall between bedrooms about 5 feet over to make the two rooms more equal in size. It has been confirmed to be a non-structural wall and while I could probably knock it down and put it back up in a couple days, I do want to file it so no one in the building complains
I got the sense from talking to a couple people that even the smallest filing ends up costing at least $10k or so.
Anyone want to share their thoughts or recommend someone who could help us out with the most basic possible filing? It is really just one 8′ wide wall shifting over 5 feet. That’s it.
There’s got to be a reasonable way to do this. At $10k to file, the filing costs are like 10 times the cost of the actual work. But maybe I’m misinformed on that $10k number.
Anyone dealt with this kind of filing for small jobs?

Guest User | 6 years and 1 month ago

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encarnacionroger | 6 years ago

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We’re taking down a wall in order to center a walk in closet between two rooms and are dealing with the same issue. This may not help you since it would be visible in your case, but we have been talking about taking down the majority of the wall but maybe leaving a “beam” at the top (which, for us, would end up being inside the closet) so that it is really more like making a large doorway than it is taking down a wall…

cate | 6 years and 1 month ago

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If you are doing this in a co-op, you need to do everything by the book with the proper permits and licensed contractors for insurance and other reasons. Also what about electrical and plumbing lines in the wall? Also, you should know that if the unit is located in an old townhouse, there are really no non-contributing walls at all — at the very least they are all “strengthening” — those who say otherwise may not be familiar with historic construction methods.

a2chitect | 6 years and 1 month ago

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For sure we could handle this for much less.

www.architect-a2.com

GreenThinker | 6 years and 1 month ago

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While an architect or engineer can file for approval from the department of buildings, they require a contractor that will do the actual work to pull the permit. Not to mention you’ll need to do an asbestos test. It’s just not worth it, put the new wall up first and than remove the old one, don’t be excessively loud and don’t leave any building materials/trash in plain sight.