Hello everyone,
Our client is looking at a typical, existing three-story, wood-framed, non-sprinklered, 24-unit apartment building, surrounded by an expanse of parking lot on all sides, that was originally constructed in the late 80's in central Florida. It has open, common hallways and stairways serving each of the 12 units on either side of the building (two total). It is my understanding that, along with the original construction, attempts were made at providing separation between units (i.e., gyp. board can be seen in the attic along the length of the building, dividing it in half, and also along the width of the building, dividing it in half). It was reportedly converted to condos around 2005, but no official paperwork/permits/etc. were ever completed with the building department, at that time. They are curious as to what all of the building code requirements would have been, at that time, for the condo conversion to occur.
I am relatively new to this, but I thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of investigation first. This was an R-2 occupancy (apartments) and was being converted to an R-2 occupancy (condos), so no change of occupancy. There are no repairs, alterations, or additions occurring either. So, if I understand it correctly, the Existing Building Code would not come into play, in this instance.
My question is, then, assuming the building had no deficiencies at the time of its initial construction, and no existing deficiencies at the time the conversion occurred (I know... big assumptions), what specifically would have been required to have been done to the building for the conversion to occur (i.e., fire sprinklers, one-hour walls between all units, two-hour walls between all units, additional noise insulation, independent utility meters, etc.)? Are the only changes that needed to occur related to the Fire Code, or would other codes come into play as well?
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Our client is looking at a typical, existing three-story, wood-framed, non-sprinklered, 24-unit apartment building, surrounded by an expanse of parking lot on all sides, that was originally constructed in the late 80's in central Florida. It has open, common hallways and stairways serving each of the 12 units on either side of the building (two total). It is my understanding that, along with the original construction, attempts were made at providing separation between units (i.e., gyp. board can be seen in the attic along the length of the building, dividing it in half, and also along the width of the building, dividing it in half). It was reportedly converted to condos around 2005, but no official paperwork/permits/etc. were ever completed with the building department, at that time. They are curious as to what all of the building code requirements would have been, at that time, for the condo conversion to occur.
I am relatively new to this, but I thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of investigation first. This was an R-2 occupancy (apartments) and was being converted to an R-2 occupancy (condos), so no change of occupancy. There are no repairs, alterations, or additions occurring either. So, if I understand it correctly, the Existing Building Code would not come into play, in this instance.
My question is, then, assuming the building had no deficiencies at the time of its initial construction, and no existing deficiencies at the time the conversion occurred (I know... big assumptions), what specifically would have been required to have been done to the building for the conversion to occur (i.e., fire sprinklers, one-hour walls between all units, two-hour walls between all units, additional noise insulation, independent utility meters, etc.)? Are the only changes that needed to occur related to the Fire Code, or would other codes come into play as well?
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
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