The wet-over-dry rule prevents apartment owners from moving wet spaces such as bathrooms and kitchens over dry spaces such as living rooms on floors below. The rule helps prevent water damage as well as mitigate water damage when leaks do occur.
The wet over dry rule is not a law nor a department of buildings code; however, it is a rule that is almost universally seen in condo and co-op alteration agreements.
We’ll discuss the nuances of the wet over dry rule as well as ways to get an exception to the rule in the following article.
No, the wet over dry rule is neither a law nor a NYC Department of Buildings code. The wet over dry rule is a very common rule seen in most condo and co-op buildings’ alteration agreements which prohibits the placement of wet spaces (i.e. kitchens, bathrooms) over dry spaces on floors below (i.e. living rooms, dining rooms).
In plain English, this means that home owners renovating their apartments are not allowed by their buildings to change their layout in such as way that areas which require plumbing will be directly overhead dry areas which don’t use plumbing on the floors below.
As you can imagine, your downstairs neighbor may not want your bathroom to be directly overhead their living room in case of water leaks.
With that said, it’s still perfectly legal to build a wet space over a dry space if your building allows it. Even though the majority of buildings in our experience do have a wet over dry rule in place, you should always carefully peruse your building’s alteration agreement to confirm whether there are any exceptions.
For example, some buildings might have an exception that will allow a wet space over a dry space if the dry space is uninhabitable (i.e. closets, hallway space).
How did the wet over dry rule arise?
Architects generally agree that the well known building review architect Elliot Glass originally came up with the wet over dry rule, in addition to many other now common renovation rules such as the “noisy over quiet” rule.
Elliot was at the height of his career in the 1990’s, just as property values were taking off on a multi-decade boom in New York City. He became known for being tougher to pass than NYC’s Department of Buildings, and the rules he once instituted on the Upper East Side are now almost universally seen in alteration agreements.
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Co-op and condo boards require shareholders and owners to follow the wet over dry rule in order to minimize the chances of water damage, and to reduce the cost of water damage to floors below if there is a leak.
This rule is so prevalent that you can almost bet that in any building, all the apartment lines of the same type will have the same footprint (i.e. 3A will have the same layout as 4A and so on).
Boards enforce the wet over dry rule through the building’s alteration agreement which prospective renovators must sign before proceeding with any work on their apartment.
It can be hard to prove which party is liable for water damage, and insurance might not fully cover damages for either the building or individual unit owners.
Less water damage in wet over wet layouts
The reason that apartments of the same line are almost always stacked on top of each other in identical, or near identical, layouts is because it helps the building keep plumbing lines straight and orderly.
More importantly, less water damage is likely to occur if a water leak occurs over a wet area. For example, most bathrooms will be tiled with drainage and will be more water resistant vs a living room with parquet floors.
Furthermore, having a stacked layout across the building makes it easier to identify where leaks are coming from. For example, your neighbor will more easily discern which unit a leak is coming from if all the layouts are stacked vs varied.
where can the specific language be found for wet over dry rules – in the condo offering plan or elsewhere?
Hi Alan – as a first step, we recommend reviewing the building’s Alteration Agreement to see if there is any mention of wet over dry rules.