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Board approves 6-foot-6 bathroom ceiling variance at 2804 Lander Lane after inspection dispute
Summary
The Waukesha Board of Building Appeals granted a variance permitting a 6-foot-6-inch ceiling in a basement bathroom at 2804 Lander Lane after the owners described multiple prior inspections and disputed a final inspection finding; the board said the small bathroom presented lower life-safety risk than main finished spaces.
The Waukesha Board of Building Appeals approved a variance allowing a 6-foot-6-inch ceiling height for a basement bathroom at 2804 Lander Lane after owners described repeated inspections and construction constraints that limited ceiling clearance.
Staff said the structure, built in 1975, qualifies to seek variances under Waukesha code section 16.17 and that the inspector reported the basement bathroom does not meet the 7-foot unfinished-ceiling requirement. The owners and their representative told the board the basement received multiple rough and specialty inspections (plumbing, electrical, insulation, construction) before drywall was installed and expressed surprise the final inspection later flagged the bathroom ceiling.
“We were just like flabbergasted,” the owner said of the inspector’s later finding, and the owner read a note attributed to the building inspector that said a conditionally approved rough inspection does not supersede the building code and that final ceiling height cannot be measured during the rough inspection.
Board members discussed life-safety considerations and whether a lower ceiling in a small bathroom posed the same emergency risks as lower ceiling heights in main finished areas. Several members said they were comfortable making an exception for the small space because an occupant could be removed to a larger area in an emergency, and firefighters would not be operating in that confined bathroom space.
A member moved to approve the 6-foot-6-inch bathroom ceiling variance; another member seconded, and the motion passed by voice vote. The board’s decision resolved the immediate code violation for that address; owners were thanked and the meeting moved on.
Because the board’s discussion centered on the bathroom as a small, contained space with extensive soffits and ductwork that constrained ceiling height, members treated the variance as limited to the bathroom rather than the wider basement.
