ACCESS/LICENSE AGREEMENTS
Densely populated cities such as New York pose certain unique challenges to developers and owners who seek to develop property or perform repairs or renovations, including Local Law 11 repairs that are mandated by the City of New York, adjacent to other structures. Such work often cannot be performed without gaining access to adjacent properties to perform Support of Excavation (SOE) activities such as sheeting, shoring, bracing, underpinning, or installing piles, or providing protection of roof areas, terraces, windows, sidewalks, etc. In addition, developers may need to obtain permission from adjacent property owners to enter onto their property to install flashing or waterproofing where the new building abuts its neighbor, to relocate chimneys or exhausts, or even to install needle beams or hang scaffolding off of the developer’s own building to work within the air rights of an adjacent owner. In a city as increasingly litigious as New York City, license agreements and access agreements have become more and more common in an effort to resolve these issues. In fact, the NYC Department of Buildings often requires developers to provide evidence of license agreements with their adjacent neighbors in cases where the work will require access to neighboring properties.
In its role as Owner’s Representative and Consulting Engineer, Winston Consultants represents developers as well as property owners, including condominium and co-op boards, real estate investors and private residents in negotiating access agreements and license agreements with adjacent property owners, as well as overseeing the performance of those agreements.
As Owner’s Representative or Consulting Engineer to property owners adjacent to construction or development, WCI performs property inspections and reviews the developer’s architectural, structural, and SOE plans to ascertain how the construction will impact the adjacent property, as well as the owners and commercial or residential tenants of the property. Winston Consultants reviews proposed SOE plans to ensure that the proposed methods of support will not endanger the existing structure, and establishes monitoring standards to be maintained during construction to ensure that activities such as excavation, rock removal, and pile driving do not cause excessive vibration to adjacent properties which could result in structural or cosmetic damage . WCI reviews proposed protection plans to ensure that the developer is adequately safeguarding the neighboring property, and will recommend alternate methods, if necessary, in order to ensure the safety, privacy, or comfort of property owners and/or its tenants. WCI works with its clients’ attorneys to review and negotiate license agreements, including anticipating the various means of access that a developer or contractor will need based on the scope of their work, and also helps to establish insurance requirements for the developer and construction team, and monitors insurance certificates to ensure compliance with those standards. Above all, Winston Consultants works to protect the interests of its clients, and to ensure that adjacent construction or development is performed safely, lawfully, and with a minimum amount of disruption.