I’m a carpenter looking into buying a two-family home as an owner-occupied investment property in NY state. I know an owner can do plumbing, heating, electrical, and carpentry on there own single family property, but does this also apply to two-family dwellings, or would I need to hire licensed contractors to pull the permits and do the work?
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I know nothing about NY, but in general the wording is is that you can do the work in the home that YOU occupy or are expecting to occupy within the year (that is fixing it up before you move in).
Now if this was a duplex with separate titles, even if you won both 1/2's then it would be simple. Work on one side while renting out the other.
Then move to the 2nd side and rent out the first.
But this is all generic and not specific to NY.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
In my experience it's more local than statewide.
Some of the local inspectors and townships want to see a licenced worker do some things - especially plumbing and electric. Others will let you do it as long as it passes inspection. A bunch of years ago I had a house in Queens and wanted to do a service change. When I contacted the City of NY, I got so much crap that I decided it wasn't going to happen and hired an electrician. On Long Island, the localities are getting more and more finicky about it too. Might be that in parts of upstate, you could do what you would like.
I would suggest that you check with the local officials before you make a purchase. (I've "heard" that sometimes you can have somebody local cover for you, but that's usually after you've demonstrated your ability over a period of time. Beware, I don't know if that's legal either.)
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
I don't think NYS has any restrictions on building your own duplex. You will need to submit a certificate for workers comp ins. to pull a permit.
Other restrictions would depend on the locality in the area you wish to build in.
I concur with DonK. You need to consult the local authority. There is no statewide liscencing requirement in NY but many local jurisdictions have their own requirements.
Thanks for the info. I'll go check with the local building inspector.
Since I was a BI , you have an interresting situation.
Here you can do all the work on your own home except you cant buy freon even if you have hookers. So basically yea every thing but charging a system.
If its a commercial property , where you will be offering a service to the public , you are busted with a duplex. That is a commercial building any way you want to look at it and not a personal home.
All people must be lisensed with their respective state in mechanicals.
It takes a commerical contractors license to build a duplex here . It makes no difference where you are going to live.
Since 911 the safety of the public is very important in most all cases.
Now my question has always been that a private home should be regulated to because of kids living there and being able to sell your home to someone else .
However , its not a right or wrong thing. Its a public thing . The public/home owners want to be able to do all the work on their own house if they want to . Whether they intend on doing any they still think they shoukld be able to do any thing to their own home and whizz off the porch.
However , if their child burned up at school from an electrical fire that the janitor did they would want a law suit . So the public/homeowners have required that every comercial building be ran by double standard and be inspected with qualified people doing the work that are licensed and insured.
Tim