Connecting Doors between units

[Knusperix]

We own two adjacent condos on the first floor of a two-story complex in Fort Lauderdale. The complex was built in 1969. The connecting wall between the two condos is a 5.5 inch drywall and is neither load bearing nor fire rated. The otherside exterior walls of both condos are concrete and are fire walls. We installed a door in the connecting wall 15 years ago. Today we received a visit from a city inspector who told us that a neighbor has now reported us because of this door and that the legality of this door must now be checked. Is there anyone who knows about this and can help us? Where can I find the relevant regulations? Many thanks for any help!

 

[steveray]

Any chance that condo line is a property line?

 

[Joe.B]

We installed a door in the connecting wall 15 years ago.

Was this a permitted project?

 

[walker.t]

the legality of this door must now be checked

This comment is not in regards to building codes, but I knew a guy who owned a condo on the top floor of his building, he installed a skylight and ended up getting in trouble because the condo plat showed the roof structure as common space and the HOA had not granted him an easement to pass through the common space. So, in addition to any building code related issues, you may end up having some issues with the HOA if the shared wall between the units is owned by the HOA.

 

[BN4537]

The only thing I can think of is 420.2 in the International Building Code. My guess is that the inspector is wondering if the wall between two separate dwellings is supposed to have a fire rating. Codes are free to view here: https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2021P2

Unless it is condo/HOA related, not building code.

 

[e hilton]

Have them replatted as a single condo with one address.

 

[ICE]

I have no advice for you however, anyone else that might see this, don't allow access without a warrant. The building inspector has no business getting involved. For starters the code from 55 years ago is what applies. Neighbors turning in neighbors are the worst and had it been me, that's what I would have told the lousy neighbor.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

There was no IBC or IRC in 1969, so it was probably built under the Southern Standard Building Code (SSBC). I don't have any copies of that -- I was only involved in two projects that used it, early in my career, and I was an employee so none of the firm's library followed me when I left that firm.

Here's a link to the 1960 edition. It's a starting point: https://archive.org/details/southern-bldg-code-1960-61/page/n1/mode/2up

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

And there's your answer:

Section 702.2 -- PARTITION REQUIREMENTS

All non-bearing partitions shall conform to these fire-resistive requirements, except as otherwise specified. See interior finish requirements of Section 704.

...

GROUP A--RESIDENTIAL--All partitions, except one and two family dwellings, along public hallways or partitions that separate apartments, or that separate apartments from other occupancies, shall be of not less than one-our fire resistive construction.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

Any chance that condo line is a property line?

There's no question. Each condominium unit is a separate property. The reality is that, depending on the way the condo declaration documents are worded, there may be TWO property lines -- one at each face of the common wall, with the wall itself belonging to the condominium association.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

Have them replatted as a single condo with one address.

This may not be possible if the condominium association owns the wall.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

The Internet Archive also has a copy of the 1973 SSBC. The requirement is the same as it was in the 1960-61 edition. The wall between the two condo units (which the code would consider to be apartments, since "condominium" is a form of ownership, not related to design or construction) is to be rated not less than one-hour. The door needs to be a 1-hour fire door.

And, if anyone is interested, both the 1960-61 and 1973 editions of the SSBC are available for download as PDFs.

 

[walker.t]

there may be TWO property lines -- one at each face of the common wall, with the wall itself belonging to the condominium association.

Very true, here’s a snapshot of a condo plat showing the surveyed bounds of the interior of two adjacent condos, the hatch designating the common space if shown over the exterior walls, the wall between the units, and the corridor. There’s a note elsewhere on the drawings indicating that the surveyed lines are property lines.

Neighbors turning in neighbors are the worst

A client told me about a bad neighbor he had in a condo building. He was the owner of the building before it was split into condos, at the time he still owned maybe 25% of the building. One condo owner had it out for my client for some reason, called the building department about some supposed code violation with the handrails in the original stair tower. Building is an historic building at least 100 years old, I think the complain was about a short run of handrail with reduced clearance because of some sort of pilaster on the wall. Long story short, the condo owner shot themselves in the foot because as common area, the cost to fix any problems in the stair would be shared by all the condo owners, not just the “building owner” (the original owner who sold off the condos.)