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Existing windows located on the property line.

BayPointArchitect

BayPointArchitect

Sawhorse
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Messages
515
Location
Lincoln
Given:

Existing 100 year old building with exterior wall located only 2 feet from an interior property line.
Existing windows are located within that exterior wall that is now facing a new hotel under construction on the adjacent lot.

Adopted code:
2012 IBC
Soon-to-be-adopted code 2018 IEBC

Local unwritten policy for the treatment of exterior windows located too close to the property line is to either maintain the existing windows or fill in the windows. Under no circumstances can the existing window be enlarged but the existing window can be replaced with another window of the same or smaller size.

Building permit drawings show an interior remodel of this existing building.
Non-code-conforming windows are shown as remaining exactly as they are.

Question:
Is there anything in any code that would require to remove these windows and replace the hole with a fire-rated assembly?
 
No....the property line (FSD) is the code "threat" not the building that is or is not there.....In the IEBC, you do get to protect existing openings/ walls in a change of use to a higher hazard....I would really have to do some digging on straight up replacement and whether they would need to upgrade....

FIRE SEPARATION DISTANCE. The distance measured
from the building face to one of the following:
1. The closest interior lot line.
2. To the centerline of a street, an alley or public way.
3. To an imaginary line between two buildings on the lot.
The distance shall be measured at right angles from the
face of the wall.

Nothing about buildings on an adjacent lot....
 
Your local unwritten policy you mentioned is similar to a project San Francisco approved for me in a residential area. Openings can be maintained, repaired, replaced (not going larger) or kept in place. Similar to the energy code....replacement o.k. as long as the size does not get bigger. And any replacement window would have to abide by current U and SHGC values unless it's art glass.
 
Depends on which IEBC route the designer chooses, for work area I don't think there is anything without COU, but for prescriptive, there is the God clause...

401.3 Dangerous conditions. The building official shall have the authority to require the elimination of conditions deemed dangerous.
 
steveray said:
No....the property line (FSD) is the code "threat" not the building that is or is not there.....In the IEBC, you do get to protect existing openings/ walls in a change of use to a higher hazard....I would really have to do some digging on straight up replacement and whether they would need to upgrade....

FIRE SEPARATION DISTANCE. The distance measured
from the building face to one of the following:
1. The closest interior lot line.
2. To the centerline of a street, an alley or public way.
3. To an imaginary line between two buildings on the lot.
The distance shall be measured at right angles from the
face of the wall.

Nothing about buildings on an adjacent lot....
Click to expand...
Tacit approval? So if it doesn't say anything either for or against buildings on an adjacent lot B, does that mean it doesn't matter how close those neighbor buildings are to the lot line, or whether they are fire rated, and they have no bearing on the FSD for new structures to be built on applicant's lot A?
 
Left Coasting said:
Tacit approval? So if it doesn't say anything either for or against buildings on an adjacent lot B, does that mean it doesn't matter how close those neighbor buildings are to the lot line, or whether they are fire rated, and they have no bearing on the FSD for new structures to be built on applicant's lot A?
Click to expand...
Correct....that is why it is to the lot line not to the other building that you have no control over....(unless it is 2 buildings on the same lot of course..But even that gets a line drawn.)
 
Can't speak for your particular jurisdiction but at least in Chicago this is typically referred to as an existing non-conforming condition. These conditions are allowed to remain as-is as long as the non-conformance isn't expanded, like adding more windows or increasing the size of the windows. Replacing the existing windows in-kind does not worsen the condition of non-conformance and is therefore allowed.

As a work around to the fire separation distance issue, I have seen easements created between the neighboring owners. The building department here has accepted the easement width as an alternative measurement of fire separation distance. So rather than measuring fire separation distance to the shared lot line, both owners can measure a certain amount of feet into their neighbors property. The easement provides the building department an assurance that nothing will be built within that separation in the future. It may be worth exploring if this is an option that your local AHJ and neighbor are open to.
 
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