Housing Inspector requiring retrofitting of windows

[Henry Grayson]

Hi all,

First post here and I couldn’t find it answered anywhere else - I have a 2-unit in Portland Maine built in 1920 and for the first time this year the fire safety inspector measured my upstairs bedroom windows and found neither of them conformed to existing egress window standards. My basic question is: is it legal for a housing safety authority such as this to require a landlord to update/upgrade their house (specifically windows) to meet current safety code standards? The only precedent I could finding was in St. Paul where there was a big legal battle on this exact issue ultimately resulting in the state supreme court deeming it illegal for an authority to require retrofitting to current code. In a city with this much old housing stock it would seem to cause an incredible burden on landlords all having to upgrade their windows. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Henry

[Daniel Kurkowski]

My understanding (not an attorney or expert) of the code in St. Paul is that it requires retrofitting only after a certain amount of improvement is done to the building or if there is a change of use etc.  Otherwise you are grandfathered in.