Apartment Bedroom Egress Window Replacement — Escape Opening Kept
A rental inspector wrote up a bedroom window as too small, or you are replacing every window and each bedroom has to pass afterward.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Apartment bedroom egress window replacement means each new bedroom window gives at least the escape opening the old one did, and more where the opening allows. JMB Builders measures every bedroom window's clear opening and sill height before ordering, picks a style that keeps or improves it, and installs unit by unit from the Twin Cities metro to St. Cloud. Priced per opening; send photos for a reply within one business day or book a free in-home estimate.
- Clear opening measured before ordering
- Style picked to keep or gain escape area
- City rules checked before we bid
Apartment buildings of five or more units fall under the commercial building code, and it still requires an emergency escape and rescue opening in sleeping rooms on the lower floors. The code generally sets a minimum clear opening, width and height, and a maximum sill height. For replacement windows in an existing building, it generally allows the largest standard size that fits the existing opening, in a style that opens at least as much as the old one, as long as the sill does not go up. How that applies to your building is the building official's call.
Rental licensing adds a second check. City rental inspectors look at bedroom windows, and Minneapolis has its own escape and rescue window policy for rental properties. Before we bid, we check the city's contractor licensing and permit rules for that building and what its inspectors expect from replacement bedroom windows.
Style is the lever. A slider or double-hung opens only half the frame. A casement swings its whole sash clear, so the same rough opening often gains real escape area with a casement. When even a casement falls short, the opening itself has to grow: a lower sill or a wider opening, a new header sized by an engineer where the wall is structural, and exterior patching. That is priced as its own line.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
What you supply
- Unit access and the tenant notice your leases and Minnesota law require
- Any rental inspection or correction order that names bedroom windows
- Floor plans or a list of bedrooms by unit, if you have them
- Your decision on window style for the bedrooms
What JMB supplies
- Clear opening and sill height measured on every bedroom window
- The style and size for each bedroom window written on the quote
- Windows ordered with the rest of the building as one package
- Install, flashing, insulation and sealing at every opening
- Permit pulled when the job needs one, and the inspection scheduled with you
- Photos of each finished bedroom window in your job folder
- A certificate of insurance and a W-9 on request
How it is priced: per opening
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Same style or a change to casement for more opening
- Insert in the old frame or full-frame removal
- Openings that must be enlarged: sill cut down, wider opening, new header
- Brick, block, stucco or siding at the opening
- Upper-floor exterior access
- Number of bedroom windows in the building
Send the inspection order if there is one, and a photo of each bedroom window fully open with a tape measure across the opening.
How long it takes
Same-size swaps typically go in with the rest of the unit, one to two working days per unit. An opening that has to be enlarged adds days and is scheduled on its own.
How your project works
- 1
Measure every bedroom window
Clear opening width, height and sill height, opened the way a tenant would open it, noted by unit and room.
- 2
Check the city's rules
Contractor licensing, permit type and what the building and rental inspectors expect from a replacement bedroom window in that city.
- 3
Pick the style and quote it
Each bedroom window gets a style and size on the quote, with any opening that has to grow priced as its own line.
- 4
Install and inspect
Unit by unit, each opening closed the same day. JMB pulls the permit when one is needed and schedules the inspection with you.
Apartment Bedroom Egress Window Replacement — Escape Opening Kept: questions, answered
Does a replacement window in an apartment bedroom have to be egress?
Generally a replacement must not reduce the escape opening, and the code generally allows the largest standard size that fits the existing opening in a style that opens at least as much as the old one. Full new-window size is not always required. The building official decides for your building, and we measure every bedroom window before ordering.
What if a rental bedroom window is too small?
First try the style: a casement in the same rough opening often gives enough clear opening where a slider or double-hung did not. If that still falls short, the opening has to be enlarged, which means cutting the wall, a new header sized by an engineer where it is structural, and exterior patching. Some owners change the room's use instead; that is your call with the city.
Can replacing apartment windows make a bedroom fail inspection?
It can, if the new window opens less than the old one or the sill ends up higher. We measure the clear opening and sill height before ordering and pick sizes and styles that keep or improve them. That measurement is written on the quote for every bedroom window.
Is a casement or a slider better for an apartment bedroom escape opening?
A casement, in most openings. A slider opens half its width, while a casement swings its whole sash out of the way. In a wide, short opening, a slider can still work if the clear opening is large enough, and we check the numbers before ordering.
Do upper-floor apartment bedrooms need egress windows?
The building code generally requires escape openings in sleeping rooms on the lower floors of an apartment building, and the rules change higher up and in sprinklered buildings. Which bedrooms in your building need them is the building official's call. Upper-floor bedroom windows may also need opening control devices that release for escape.
Does Minneapolis have its own rules for rental bedroom windows?
Yes, Minneapolis has an escape and rescue window policy for rental properties. Confirm the current version with the city before ordering. Before we bid any building of five or more units, we check that city's contractor licensing and permit rules; this page is not legal advice.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and the builders we work with. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
Related jobs we do
Does a Replacement Bedroom Window Have to Be Egress? Sizes Explained
You are replacing the windows in a bedroom and want to know whether the new ones have to meet egress, and which style gets you there without cutting the wall.
Read moreRental License Inspection Repairs — Correction Orders Fixed
The city inspector left a correction order with a compliance date. We work the carpentry lines on that order in one visit, unit by unit, and send you the photos to close it out.
Read moreWindow Opening Control Devices for Apartments — Upper-Floor Units
Your building has low-sill windows on the second floor and up, families with small children live there, and the windows have to stop a fall without blocking a fire escape.
Read moreReplace Sliding Windows With Casement Windows — Same Opening
Your horizontal sliders stick in the track, only open halfway and whistle in the wind, and you want windows that crank open and seal shut.
Read moreEgress Window Installation — Basement Opening Cut, Window and Well
A basement bedroom needs a way out. We cut the wall, set the window and the well, and finish the inside so the room is legal and usable.
Read more1960s Apartment Building Window Replacement — Aluminum Sliders Out
Your building went up in the 1960s or '70s, and the original aluminum sliders sweat, frost, rattle and leak in every unit.
Read morePage reviewed October 9, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All apartment buildings pages
Where we work
Apartment & Multifamily Window and Door Projects near you
Based in Zimmerman, scheduling across the Twin Cities metro. Closest first: