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Certificate of Occupancy for each unit in a 2 family home?

twistr2002

twistr2002

Bronze Member
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
35
Location
Backwoods,PA
I have a company looking to expand the available housing in our area what they are looking to construct is 2- 2 family modular homes and then an 11 unit rowhouse. In the past the only row home that we have inspected required a Certificate for each unit because they could be sold as individual domiciles. these are first 2 family new homes are going into our area. Any help or advice on this would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in Advance

Matt
 
I have always finalled off each unit as individual C of O's. All the inspection reports are separated per unit for proper reporting. The common wall has to be complete before issuing the first CO. Multi-family typically will have a room by room inspection report, however the entire building needs a CO before occupancy due to typical corridors, fire alarm system and sometimes sprinkler. Duplexes not so much. Are these units going to be under single ownership or are these townhouses with a property line between them?
 
I guess that would be the entire problem as of now they are all going to be owned by the LLC on 1 large parcel with the option of a future subdivision. The future subdivision is what has me worried, by subdividing they could sell each unit.
 
twistr2002 said:
I have a company looking to expand the available housing in our area what they are looking to construct is 2- 2 family modular homes and then an 11 unit rowhouse. In the past the only row home that we have inspected required a Certificate for each unit because they could be sold as individual domiciles. these are first 2 family new homes are going into our area. Any help or advice on this would be greatly appreciated Thanks in Advance Matt
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A two family dwelling is one structure. Therefore, IMO it should be one CO. If you want to get flexible - partial CO for entire building plus one CO for each DU.
 
Not a problem until they subdivide. Ask that the title company put a disclaimer in the recorded deed that they will need to do separate OC if they do a subdivision of the lot.
 
can do separate CO's as long as the first unit is complete and the fire protect systems are up & running for the entire building.
 
1&2 family dwellings and townhomes all have individual addresses so we issue individual CO's. Apartments, Condo's and similar buildings get 1 CO when everything is complete

As Brudgers stated Ownership is not a factor.

However if the drop a property (lot) line between the units then a one-hour common wall would not be code compliant with the code and SECTION R302 should have been used in the original design/construction to assure code compliance for the units
 
-righter101

The codes regulate the the construction, use, and occupancy. the code does not change depending on who owns what.

-mtlogcabin I think you are on the right track using r302, but as I read through R302 I cannot seem to find anything on a property line changing the compliance of the 1 hour wall
 
twistr2002 said:
-righter101The codes regulate the the construction, use, and occupancy. the code does not change depending on who owns what.
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Soverign immunity. If a parcel or building is owned by the Federal Government, the state and local codes may not be applied. The code can change, depending on ownership, in certain circumstances.
 
Twister if there will be a property(lot) line at the time of construction or in the future I would use R302 specifically TABLE R302.1

EXTERIOR WALLS which requires walls less than 5 ft be

1 hour-tested in accordance with ASTM E 119 or UL 263 with exposure form both sides

Basically the contractor is building a SFR with zero set backs no matter if it is 2 units or 32 units.

Previous legacy codes required the property line between townhomes, the IRC does not but it does require a fire seperation distance between lot lines so when there are lot lines in place then I don't believe a one-hour common wall for a 2 family dwelling or two-hour common wall for a townhouse are code compliant then.
 
Two addresses? Then two Certificate of Occupancies. One occupancy should not be dependent upon the completion of the other, as long as the life/safety (ie., fire separation) requirements are met.

Just throwing in my 2 cents...

:^ )
 
mtlogcabin said:
Twister if there will be a property(lot) line at the time of construction or in the future I would use R302 specifically TABLE R302.1EXTERIOR WALLS which requires walls less than 5 ft be

1 hour-tested in accordance with ASTM E 119 or UL 263 with exposure form both sides

Basically the contractor is building a SFR with zero set backs no matter if it is 2 units or 32 units.

Previous legacy codes required the property line between townhomes, the IRC does not but it does require a fire seperation distance between lot lines so when there are lot lines in place then I don't believe a one-hour common wall for a 2 family dwelling or two-hour common wall for a townhouse are code compliant then.
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I'm not at all sure how you would enforce that "in the future" statement. Don't think you can.
 
When dealing with developers and asking the right question will usually reveal the "future" plans. It is at that point we discuss the different fire seperation requirements and they will choose a correct design.

We had a lot of 2 family dwellings that where condo'd right after they where finnished in order to sell each unit. We knew this upfront and they where constructed with 2 one-hour walls. Financing of condo's is almost impossible right now so they are looking at subdividing the existing lots. Planning asked us to comment, if our records indicate a common one-hour wall we comment a subdivision (lot line) will make the existing units non compliant. Sometimes we get additional protection if it is not possible it is up to the planning board if they approve the subdivision or not. Happened a couple of times when the units had back to back kitchens or bathrooms.
 
mtlogcabin said:
When dealing with developers and asking the right question will usually reveal the "future" plans. It is at that point we discuss the different fire seperation requirements and they will choose a correct design. We had a lot of 2 family dwellings that where condo'd right after they where finnished in order to sell each unit. We knew this upfront and they where constructed with 2 one-hour walls. Financing of condo's is almost impossible right now so they are looking at subdividing the existing lots. Planning asked us to comment, if our records indicate a common one-hour wall we comment a subdivision (lot line) will make the existing units non compliant. Sometimes we get additional protection if it is not possible it is up to the planning board if they approve the subdivision or not. Happened a couple of times when the units had back to back kitchens or bathrooms.
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There is nothing in the IRC which requires a two family dwelling to be on a single lot. R302 is titled "Exterior Walls" and is not applicable to the common wall of a two family dwelling.

Indeed, the IRC recognizes that a single structure may contain multiple dwelling units on separate lots at R322 which addresses structures containing four or more townhouses.

In other words, you're not applying the code correctly and worse, you are applying it incorrectly in a way which causes financial harm to taxpaying citizens.
 
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