NYC/Queens Multifamily Homes - Attic Bedrooms

[Sonia Chopra]

Hi All, I am trying to figure out what the general rules are when it comes to bedrooms in the attic for a multifam in NYC. I've seen a few 2 fam houses (one I'm currently looking at) that were advertised as 3 bedrooms in the second floor unit. The setup was 1 bedroom on the actual second floor, then walk up to the attic and that's where the other 2 bedrooms were. If the house was built this way, would those two bedrooms in the attic be considered illegal? In other words, is there always a permit needed to use the attic rooms as legal bedrooms? 

[Bin Chen]

You should be able to see in the certificate of occupancy. It would also have to follow the rules for what is considered a bedroom. I believe its 80 sf minimum where the shortest wall needs to be 8 ft or longer and the average ceiling height is 8 ft. Also everyroom needs to have a window that is 12sq ft or10% of the square footage of the room which ever is larger. so for instance if its an 8x10 room the window needs to be 12sq ft. 200sq ft room requires a 20 sq ft window