Finger Lakes Building Officials, Inc.

An Affiliated Member of the New York State Building Officials Conference

DATE: June 9, 2003

FROM: Cheryl A. Fischer, P.E.
Asst. Dir. for Code Interpretation

NOTE: Building services for townhouses

This is in response to your question regarding the applicability of 9 NYCRR 850.9, SERVICE FACILITIES, which provides that each building shall be provided with equipment to serve its own requirements, except that buildings designed to remain permanently under a single ownership may have common service facilities.

You state that the property has been subdivided to provide a lot for each of the 28 townhouses, with gypsum shaft walls and masonry foundations with crawl spaces. You further state that as a result of funding from DHCR, the individual lots will not be sold, the townhouses will be leased to the tenants and the property, by agreement, will be retained in its whole, with single ownership.

Section 850.9 permits the penetration of the foundation walls or the gypsum shaft walls (fire walls) to provide common services to all the townhouses as a single building provided that the property remain permanently under a single ownership.

Al03-132

Finger Lakes Building Officials Association, Inc.
3100 Atlantic Ave.
Penfield, NY 14526
info@flboa.com