Two Buildings, Two Answers
On a masonry row building, an interior fire frequently burns out the floors, the roof and the finishes while leaving the brick walls standing and sound. That shell removes the demolition and much of the structural rebuild, and it is the most valuable thing on the property.
On a wood frame three-family, there is no shell. Where fire reaches the framing what remains is generally not worth preserving, and the answer moves toward a rebuild or toward the land.
Those are opposite conclusions from the same fire, and the only thing separating them is what the walls are made of. The statewide layer is on our page covering Massachusetts certificates, claims and excise.
How Do I Tell Which Kind of Building I Own?
Why That Widens the Offer Range
Both building types here date largely from the 1850s through the 1920s, well past the 50 year Article 85 threshold. Staff have 10 calendar days from a complete application to determine significance, and a finding brings up to 90 days of delay after the hearing closes. The c.148 §26F smoke certificate applies to buildings of 1 to 5 units built before 1 January 1975, and the §26F½ carbon monoxide certificate to all residential units. Inspection fees are set by each municipality, and the deeds excise is collected at the Registry of Deeds on recording. Photoelectric alarms have been required within 20 feet of kitchens and bathrooms since 2010.
Buyers who work only one of these two types apply their model to whatever they are looking at. A rehabber used to masonry overvalues what is standing on a frame building. A buyer used to frame construction undervalues a sound brick shell and prices it as a teardown.
Both errors are yours to catch, and both are caught with the same document: a licensed engineer's assessment of what actually survived. On a masonry building it establishes that the shell is usable, which is the largest single number in your favour. On a frame building it establishes that it is not, which stops you accepting a figure premised on a shell that is not there.
What Does an Engineer's Report Do for the Price?
We publish no cost figures for either construction type in South Boston. The spread between a shell restoration and a frame rebuild is very wide, and quoting a middle number would be useless for both.
What Applies to Both
Article 85 review before any demolition permit, on any building fifty years or older, which covers the overwhelming majority here. The smoke and carbon monoxide Certificates of Compliance, which are the seller's obligation at closing whichever kind of building it is. And tenancies, where the property held more than one unit.
Lot sizes here are tight and many buildings are attached or nearly so, which means a clearance on either construction type involves the buildings either side rather than being a self-contained job.
South Boston in Context
The neighbourhood where wood frame three-family construction dominates almost exclusively is covered on our page about the triple-decker belt. Where the buildings are older and Article 85 review most often produces a significance finding, see our page for a neighbourhood where the demolition review bites hardest.
South Boston Questions
The Brick Walls Are Standing but the Inside Is Gone.
Potentially the best outcome available on a masonry building. Get an engineer to confirm the walls are sound rather than merely upright, then make sure every buyer knows.
My Three-Family Is Frame and the Fire Reached the Roof.
Then there is unlikely to be much structural worth keeping, and the honest answer is usually a rebuild or the land. We will say so rather than pricing a shell that is not there.
Do the Same Rules Apply to Both Types?
Yes. Article 85 and the certificate requirement do not distinguish between construction types. Only the economics do.