Mother-Daughter Conversions on Long Island.

It varies by township, and that is the whole difficulty. Most Long Island towns permit an accessory apartment only under specific conditions — owner-occupancy of one unit, a minimum lot size, a single meter in some jurisdictions, dedicated egress, and a rental or accessory-apartment permit that must be renewed. An apartment built without that permit is not legal no matter how well it is constructed, and it becomes a problem at resale.

No. Lot size, zoning district, existing square footage, and parking all factor in, and some districts do not allow accessory apartments at all. We check your address against the township's requirements before quoting anything, and we will tell you if the answer is no.

Drawings, a zoning review, and usually a public hearing or board of appeals appearance depending on the township. Our permit coordinator files the application, tracks it, and represents the plan through to approval. Expect the approval process to take longer than the construction.

Nearly always, yes — a dedicated means of egress is a code requirement for a legal accessory unit, and most townships also require it as a condition of the permit. That usually means a side or rear entrance and an interior separation.

Construction typically runs 8 to 14 weeks depending on whether we are converting existing space or building out. Permitting runs ahead of that and is the less predictable half.