1900 ex-duplex ....today’s building codes?

[Alvaro Leis]

Hello!

Just bought a property in Gainesville Georgia, 1900 duplex which has two entrances, two stairs and everything double except for the kitchen which is only on one side, it was rented as a single family but I bought it with the intention of building the kitchen on the side that doesn’t have one and rent both apartments.

The common wall has doors that communicate which each side of the duplex but I was talking to a friend that told me that I need to build a firewall on that wall because of the code. I don’t think this building has that because of the year it was built, I think is going to be expensive because the common wall has stairs on each side and we will have to tear everything to make the wall wider, my question is since this was originally a duplex and then they converted to single family eliminating one kitchen, should I just seal the doors on that wall and build the second kitchen? Should I ask in the county? If they ask me to build a firewall to bring it to today’s code is going to be a pain....any suggestions? Advice? Thanks