SENATE, No. 164
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION
By Senator KENNY
An Act concerning building regulations applicable to certain residential structures, and amending P.L.1975, c.217.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "The Affordable Housing Regulatory Flexibility Act."
2. Section 3 of P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-121) is amended to read as follows:
3. Definitions. As used in this act:
"Building" means a structure enclosed with exterior walls or fire walls, built, erected and framed of component structural parts, designed for the housing, shelter, enclosure and support of individuals, animals or property of any kind.
"Business day" means any day of the year, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
"Certificate of occupancy" means the certificate provided for in section 15 of this act, indicating that the construction authorized by the construction permit has been completed in accordance with the construction permit, the State Uniform Construction Code and any ordinance implementing said code.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Community Affairs.
"Code" means the State Uniform Construction Code.
"Commercial farm building" means any building located on a commercial farm which produces not less than $2,500 worth of agricultural or horticultural products annually, which building's main use or intended use is related to the production of agricultural or horticultural products produced on that farm. A building shall not be regarded as a commercial farm building if more than 1,200 square feet of its floor space is used for purposes other than its main use. A greenhouse constructed in conjunction with the odor control bio-filter of a solid waste or sludge composting facility, which greenhouse produces not less than $2,500 worth of agricultural or horticultural products in addition to its function as a cover for the bio-filter, shall be considered a commercial farm building for the purposes of this act, provided, however, that the greenhouse is not intended for human occupancy.
"Construction" means the construction, erection, reconstruction, alteration, conversion, demolition, removal, repair or equipping of buildings or structures.
"Construction board of appeals" means the board provided for in section 9 of this act.
"Department" means the Department of Community Affairs.
"Enforcing agency" means the municipal construction official and subcode officials provided for in section 8 of this act and assistants thereto.
"Equipment" means plumbing, heating, electrical, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigerating and fire prevention equipment, and elevators, dumbwaiters, escalators, boilers, pressure vessels and other mechanical facilities or installations.
"Hearing examiner" means a person appointed by the commissioner to conduct hearings, summarize evidence, and make findings of fact.
"Maintenance" means the replacement or mending of existing work with equivalent materials or the provision of additional work or material for the purpose of the safety, healthfulness, and upkeep of the structure and the adherence to such other standards of upkeep as are required in the interest of public safety, health and welfare.
"Manufactured home" or "mobile home" means a unit of housing which:
(1) Consists of one or more transportable sections which are substantially constructed off site and, if more than one section, are joined together on site;
(2) Is built on a permanent chassis;
(3) Is designed to be used, when connected to utilities, as a dwelling on a permanent or nonpermanent foundation; and
(4) Is manufactured in accordance with the standards promulgated for a manufactured home by the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the "National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974," Pub.L. 93-383 (42 U.S.C. § 5401 et seq.) and the standards promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.).
"Municipality" means any city, borough, town, township or village.
"Owner" means the owner or owners in fee of the property or a lesser estate therein, a mortgagee or vendee in possession, an assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, lessee, or any other person, firm or corporation, directly or indirectly in control of a building, structure, or real property and shall include any subdivision thereof of the State.
"Premanufactured system" means an assembly of materials or products that is intended to comprise all or part of a building or structure and that is assembled off site by a repetitive process under circumstances intended to insure uniformity of quality and material content.
"Public school facility" means any building, or any part thereof, of a school, under college grade, owned and operated by a local, regional, or county school district.
"State sponsored code change proposal" means any proposed amendment or code change adopted by the commissioner in accordance with subsection c. of section 5 of this act for the purpose of presenting such proposed amendment or code change at any of the periodic code change hearings held by the National Model Code Adoption Agencies, the codes of which have been adopted as subcodes under this act.
"Stop construction order" means the order provided for in section 14 of this act.
"State Uniform Construction Code" means the code provided for in section 5 of this act, or any portion thereof, and any modification of or amendment thereto.
"Structure" means a combination of materials to form a construction for occupancy, use, or ornamentation, whether installed on, above, or below the surface of a parcel of land; provided the word "structure" shall be construed when used herein as though followed by the words "or part or parts thereof and all equipment therein" unless the context clearly requires a different meaning.
"Townhouse" means a single-family dwelling unit constructed in a row of attached units separated by property lines and with open space on at least two sides.
(P.L.1992, c.12, s.1)
3. Section 5 of P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-123) is amended to read as follows:
5. Adoption of a State Uniform Construction Code.
a. The commissioner shall after public hearing pursuant to section 4 of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c. 410 (C. 52:14B-4) adopt a State Uniform Construction Code for the purpose of regulating the structural design, construction, maintenance and use of buildings or structures to be erected and alteration, renovation, rehabilitation, repair, maintenance, removal or demolition of buildings or structures already erected. Prior to the adoption of said code, the commissioner shall consult with the code advisory board and other departments, divisions, bureaus, boards, councils or other agencies of State Government heretofore authorized to establish or administer construction regulations.
Such prior consultations with departments, divisions, bureaus, boards, councils, or other agencies of State Government shall include but not be limited to consultation with the Commissioner of Health and the Public Health Council prior to adoption of a plumbing subcode pursuant to paragraph b. of this section. Said code shall include any code, rule or regulation incorporated therein by reference.
b. The code shall be divided into subcodes which may be adopted individually by the commissioner as he may from time to time consider appropriate. Said subcodes shall include but not be limited to a building code, a plumbing code, an electrical code, an energy code, a fire prevention code, a manufactured or mobile home code and mechanical code.
These subcodes shall be adoptions of the model codes of the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc., the National Electrical Code, and the National Standard Plumbing Code, provided that for good reasons, the commissioner may adopt as a subcode a model code or standard of some other nationally recognized organization upon a finding that such model code or standard promotes the purposes of this act, and provided further that, to the extent practicable, the standards and regulations to be established and enforced for the design, construction, alteration, equipment and repair of detached one and two-family dwellings not more than three stories in height and one-family townhouses not more than three stories in height shall be adopted from the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code issued by the Council of American Building Officials. The initial adoption of a model code or standard as a subcode shall constitute adoption of any subsequent revisions or amendments thereto. When any structure is designed, constructed, altered, equipped or repaired in accordance with the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code, as provided for in this section, nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the incorporation in the design or execution thereof of methods and techniques not specifically contained in that code but otherwise authorized by the State Uniform Construction Code adopted pursuant to this act.
The commissioner shall be authorized to adopt a barrier free subcode or to supplement or revise any model code adopted hereunder, for the purpose of insuring that adequate and sufficient features are available in buildings or structures so as to make them accessible to and usable by the physically handicapped.
c. Any municipality through its construction official, and any State agency or political subdivision of the State may submit an application recommending to the commissioner that a State sponsored code change proposal be adopted. Such application shall contain such technical justification and shall be submitted in accordance with such rules of procedure as the commissioner may deem appropriate, except that whenever the State Board of Education shall determine that enhancements to the code are essential to the maintenance of a thorough and efficient system of education, the enhancements shall be made part of the code; provided that the amendments do not result in standards that fall below the adopted subcodes. The Commissioner of the Department of Education shall consult with the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs prior to publishing the intent of the State Board to adopt any amendments to the Uniform Construction Code. Upon adoption of any amendments by the State Board of Education they shall be transmitted forthwith to the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs who shall publish and incorporate the amendments as part of the Uniform Construction Code and the amendments shall be enforceable as if they had been adopted by the commissioner.
At least 45 days prior to the final date for the submission of amendments or code change proposals to the National Model Code Adoption Agency, the code of which has been adopted as a subcode under this act, the commissioner shall hold a public hearing in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, P.L.1968, c. 410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.), at which testimony on any application recommending a State sponsored code change proposal will be heard.
The commissioner shall maintain a file of such applications, which shall be made available to the public upon request and upon payment of a fee to cover the cost of copying and mailing.
After public hearing, the code advisory board shall review any such applications and testimony and shall within 20 days of such hearing present its own recommendations to the commissioner.
The commissioner may adopt, reject or return such recommendations to the code advisory board for further deliberation. If adopted, any such proposal shall be presented to the subsequent meeting of the National Model Code Agency by the commissioner or by persons designated by the commissioner as a State sponsored code change proposal. Nothing herein, however, shall limit the right of any municipality, the department, or any other person from presenting amendments to the National Model Code Agency on its own initiative.
The commissioner may adopt further rules and regulations pursuant to this subsection and may modify the procedures herein described when a model code change hearing has been scheduled so as not to permit adequate time to meet such procedures.
d. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1983, c.496)
(cf: P.L.1983, c.496, s.2)
4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill is intended to encourage greater use of the CABO One and Two Family Building Code in connection with the structures to which it applies: one and two-family detached houses and townhouses not more than three stories in height. The code has been formulated by the Council of American Building Officials as a simplified version of the BOCA National Building Code, upon which New Jersey's Uniform Construction Code is based. It prescribes time-tested construction methods which do not involve the judgment and analysis of professional engineers or architects.
Use of this code provides an opportunity for simplification of the home-builder's task, with consequent savings in design and construction costs. Housing affordability would thus be enhanced while preserving the soundness of design, materials and techniques.
At present, the State Uniform Construction Code (UCC) authorizes use of the CABO code as an alternative in the case of one- and two-family detached structures. This bill provides for its application, "to the extent practicable," to such structures and also to townhouses, for which that code was also formulated.
This bill would preserved flexibility in the application of the CABO code, clearly authorizing the use, where desired of UCC-authorized techniques, not specifically recognized by CABO, in conjunction with the methods set forth in CABO.
The definition of "townhouse," incorporated by this bill into the terminology of the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," is drawn from section R-115 of the CABO Code.
"The Affordable Housing Regulatory Flexibility Act".