The Berwyn inspectors want me to put egress windows on one of the windows in all bedrooms and one in the basement because it is habitable even though nobody will live there. The bedrooms have the regular double hung windows. I am loathe to change them, I've never heard of requiring special egress windows when you have the regular double hung windows. I can see if you could not get out of them but that is not the case. The basement I can see. Does anyone have any advice on this? I have gotten a few names from the city of Berwyn such as Air Guard on Cermak road. Pls advise.
Safety!
I just went through this. Luckily, the windows in the bedrooms opened to the proper height and we only needed to put one in the basement. Ask your contractor for a quote for an inswing casement window.
If you want to try to get out of it, ask the city to send an inspector. Maybe you can convince them that no one will be living in the basement.
Heres an image of one.
http://thermoroll.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/inswing-casement-window.jpg (http://thermoroll.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/inswing-casement-window.jpg)
Here is my post from last year. - http://www.berwyntalk.com/smf/index.php?topic=13355.0 (http://www.berwyntalk.com/smf/index.php?topic=13355.0)
I found out you do not need to put egress windows in unless you are putting new windows in. This may not be true if you have a basement bedroom but its true for the first and second floor. I spoke to the head inspector.
I would talk to the inspector again. We were installing new windows in an upstairs room that is used as a living room (our house was previously a 2-flat so we have an upstairs and downstairs living room). They insisted that we were going to use it in a bedroom but we disputed that (we are only a 3 person household, no need for another bedroom) and after they came in and looked around they did see that it was not something we would be using as a bedroom.