Egress and Fire Escapes and Stairs, oh my!

[Moshe H.]

I'm very excited to have closed on my second MA investment property today. It's a doosie of a fixer-upper and I'm a long distance investor so I may be about to go through trial by fire but I hope it makes me stronger. My main concern here is with the existing second egress upstairs (porch leading to stairway), which is structurally unsound and must be taken down. I have heard that now in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 4-unit buildings are treated more or less like 5+ when it comes to building codes, meaning that I must hire a GC and architect to draw up plans for this minor renovation. I have also been told that I need covered stairs for the egress and possibly a second landing (sounds bizarre for a regular second story height). I have been quoted an ungodly sum to do this work and I really would like some insight into what the codes are and what I "really have to" do. I can't find any ready info on this and I wasn't able to gain any insight from trying to peruse the MA Building Code.

Help!?

Another problem is the second apartment upstairs, which is non-conforming with only 1 egress (seller thought it was "grandfathered in" and never bothered to make it conform to code). My plan is to try to get the tenant out of there until I can figure out what to do, but I'm interested to know what the exact problem is. Can a tenant technically live in a 1-egress apt legally for any length of time? Am I subject to fines for just letting him continue to live there, and am I obligated to evict him immediately? Or even better... pay for him to live elsewhere while the necessary changes are made? (C'mon, this is MA so it's believable.) Again, any insight would be most greatly appreciated and, of course, upvoted.

Thanks!