R-2 Bedroom Closets

[peter_e]

First post, this site is an excellent resource and thank you all for your input.

What has been your experience with adding missing closets to bedrooms in an existing R-2 occupancy (Triplex, 1 unit per floor)? Does adding a closet to a bedroom that is otherwise remaining unchanged cause that bedroom to become part of the Level 2 Alteration work area?

On one hand, it is "reconfiguring" the spaces slightly by converting some of the floor area to a closet, but I could also see a closet being interpreted as being a common (but in this case missing) part of a bedroom and not considered a reconfiguration of the space.

The majority of the project is receiving a Level 1 alteration but if adding the missing closets to the bedrooms causes all bedroom square footage to become Level 2 alteration, that would likely push the project above 50% of the overall area and into Level 3 territory. I believe adding the closets is the right thing to do, but the cost and disruption to the rest of the spaces that would come from triggering a sprinkler upgrade will be a non-starter.

I suppose an alternative could be using a wardrobe/furniture solution to provide clothing storage in these rooms.

Thank you!

 

[khsmith55]

A few questions come to mind. What is a "missing closet", was it removed at some time? When was the building built and under what Codes. The first thing that jumped to mind is that the room never had a closet possibly because it didn't have an egress window and therefore avoided calling it a bedroom initially. If the room has a code compliant egress window I would think there would be no problem adding a closet. Just a few thought.
Ken

 

[peter_e]

Thanks Ken, very good questions. My sense is the building was very likely originally a single family home built 100+ years ago. There is documentation in the zoning archives that it has been a 3 family since the the late 1930s but nothing that confirms my suspicion that its use was changed from single family. That said, all the bedrooms have windows large enough to serve as egress windows that meet modern code so we should be good there. I suppose there is no harm in submitting it with the closets, and if it triggers that room to be considered a Level 2 alteration, remove them and resubmit.

 

[steveray]

It is level 2....What is the concern....?

504.1 Scope. Level 2 alterations include the reconfiguration
of space,

 

[Paul Sweet]

In Virginia only the area of the closet would be considered "reconfigured", not the entire bedroom. Other jurisdictions might have different opinions.

 

[peter_e]

Thanks Steve, understood. My logic was that the levels of alteration in IEBC are a sliding scale to make the level of upgrades required to be generally commensurate with the amount of work being done and it felt inconsistent with that intent that adding a small closet to the bedrooms in an otherwise untouched building could cause enough of the floor area to be considered "reconfigured" to exceed 50% of the area, become a Level 3 Alteration, and trigger addition of a sprinkler system, etc.

 

[steveray]

I would take a reasonable approach as Paul suggested...Maybe the closet plus a few feet...The closet has little effect on the room.

 

[ADAguy]

Don't closet, consider an amoire and or a Murphy bed as furniture items, this is how they built around this in Europe and 100 years ago in log cabins..