HPD I-Cards Available Online

Check out the HPD I-Card for the building, now available for free download on the HPD Website.

This is a great way to get useful historical information for Multiple Dwellings in the City. This comes in especially handy for old buildings with little or no DOB Actions/Filings, which I commonly find to be the case for brownstones in Brooklyn.

You might need this information if you need to prove the existing legal use/occupancy of a building. Or, if you need to know the Multiple Dwelling Classification of an old building.

Sometimes there are even schematic plans of the building on the I-Card, which can be useful in proving the 'Existing Legal Layout' of an unaltered building to a Plan Examiner when no DOB-approved plans are on file.

Follow these steps:
Go to the HPD Website Home Page

Enter the address of the property in the light blue search box:

If the property is found in HPD's Database, there will be a series of links listed on the left side of the page. Towards the bottom, there is a link 'I-Card Images'. Click on it:

If an I-Card is found, it will be listed towards the bottom of the page with a link that says 'View'. Click on it. You may need to install a plug-in when prompted:

That's it, you should see the I-Card, which you can print on your printer, or print to Adobe PDF & save to your computer.

Have a question? E-mail Permitadvisor

Fire Escapes as a Means of Egress?

Picture of a Fire Escape on an existing Multiple Dwelling

Q: Are FIRE ESCAPES permitted as a second Means of Egress on New or ALTERED Buildings?

A: As per Building Code Section 27-368, the use of Fire Escapes as a second Means of Egress is very limited:

-Fire Escapes are not permitted on New Buildings, with the exception of GROUP HOMES.

-Fire Escapes may be used as exits on buildings that existed on 12/6/1968, when such buildings are Altered, but only with the approval of the DOB Commissioner (sounds like the topic of a RECONSIDERATION)

When an existing building relies on a FIRE ESCAPE as a second Means of Egress, the Fire Escape needs to be retained, unless the building's egress is upgraded in such a way that the Fire Escape is no longer required (for instance, if an additional, compliant INTERIOR STAIR were installed to serve as a second Means of Egress).

Have a question about Fire Escapes? E-mail Permitadvisor

Tags: fire escape, egress, exit, multiple dwelling

Class A Multiple Dwelling or Class B?

Q: What is the difference between a Class A Multiple Dwelling and a Class B Multiple Dwelling?

A: A Class 'A' Multiple Dwelling is for permanent residential occupancy. A Class 'B' Multiple Dwelling is for transient residential occupancy. See MDL Sec 4 (Definitions), Items 8 & 9:

"8. A "Class A" multiple dwelling is a multiple dwelling which is occupied, as a rule, for permanent residence purposes. This class shall include tenements, flat houses, maisonette apartments, apartment houses, apartment hotels, bachelor apartments, studio apartments, duplex apartments, kitchenette apartments, garden-type maisonette dwelling projects, and all other multiple dwellings except class B multiple dwellings.

9. A "Class B" multiple dwelling is a multiple dwelling which is occupied, as a rule transiently, as the more or less temporary abode of individuals or families who are lodged with or without meals. This class shall include hotels, lodging houses, rooming houses, boarding houses, boarding schools, furnished room houses, lodgings, club houses, college and school dormitories and dwellings designed as private dwellings but occupied by one or two families with five or more transient boarders, roomers or lodgers in one household."

What is an IMD or Interim Multiple Dwelling?

Q: What is an IMD or Interim Multiple Dwelling? What does this mean?

A: An IMD or Interim Multiple Dwelling is a non-residential building that has been occupied as a Residential Building, without a CO for Residential apartments. IMD's must be converted to legal Multiple Dwellings in accordance with the Loft Board.

From the Loft Board Website:
Loft buildings in New York City that meet the criteria set forth in the Loft Law (Multiple Dwelling Law Article 7-C) are covered by the law as "Interim Multiple Dwellings" (IMDs) and are under the Loft Board's jurisdiction.

Generally speaking, a building that meets the following criteria will be subject to the Loft Law:
1. The building possesses no residential certificate of occupancy pursuant to §301 of the Multiple Dwelling Law;
2. The building was used in the past for manufacturing, commercial or warehousing purposes;
3. There were three or more residential tenants living in separate apartments in the building in the 20-month period between April 1, 1980, and December 1, 1981 (the "statutory window period").

As of February 15, 2007 there are 395 IMD buildings in New York City. There is a list of the IMD Buildings on the Loft Board's Website. Also, the DOB Building Information System (BIS) will list the Property as "Loft Law: YES".

What is the largest Entry Foyer permitted in an Apartment?

Q: What types of spaces may be declared as a Foyer, with no Windows? What is the maximum size of an Entry Foyer?

A: Entrance Foyers to Dwelling Units do not require Legal Windows provided that they comply with MDL , Title 3, Light & Air, Section 31.5, excerpted below:

5. A portion of any apartment used as an entrance hall to such apartment may be designated as a foyer. Such a foyer shall not be considered a room if the department shall so permit and if either:

a. Its floor area does not exceed ten per centum of the total floor area of such apartment, or
b. Every room in such apartment exceeds in area the minimum required area of such room by more than twenty per centum and the floor area of such foyer does not exceed twenty per centum of the floor area of such apartment.

An entrance foyer is not a Code Habitable Room. Definition of Code Habitable Room is below from NYC BC Definitions:

HABITABLE ROOM:
A residential room or space, having the minimum dimensions required by §27-751 of article six of subchapter twelve of this chapter in which the ordinary functions of domestic life are carried on, and which includes bedrooms, living rooms, studies, recreation rooms, kitchens, dining rooms and other similar spaces, but does not include closets, halls, stairs, laundry rooms, or bathrooms.