[Amended 12-1-2021 by Ord. No. 2391, approved 12-1-2021]
A. 
Unless specifically exempted as noted in § 193-17 below, all rental dwelling units shall be inspected by a code official and no owner of a rental dwelling unit or the owner's property manager or property management company shall rent a unit to a tenant or allow the unit to be occupied unless the rental unit has been inspected by a code official and a license for the unit has been issued by the Borough. All units lawfully existing upon the effective date of the amendments to this chapter may continue to be leased and occupied without a license; however, all such units will be subject to inspection and license requirements noted above.
B. 
In lieu of inspection by a code official, a property owner, property manager or property management company may, at his, her or its expense, utilize the services of a qualified code inspector to perform and report on the inspection conducted of a unit using those criteria noted in § 193-16. A qualified code inspector shall be a person or Pennsylvania firm maintaining an office in Pennsylvania that is either (1) a person or firm listed by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry as a certified third party or agency (buildings); (2) a person or firm that has ICC Property Maintenance/Residential Building Inspector #10 status; or (3) a person or firm that has the American Society of Home Inspector's certification.
(1) 
The inspection report, which must be completed on a form to be provided by the Borough, must be provided to the Borough by the applicable unit inspection deadline. If the Borough finds the inspection acceptable, it will issue a license for the unit inspected. The Borough reserves the right to reject the inspection and not issue a license if the inspector was not qualified as noted above or if there are any irregularities in the inspection report submitted.
(2) 
Any property manager or property management company that utilizes the services of a qualified code inspector as described above shall provide proper evidence of licensure/certification and a current fully signed contract with the owner for approval by the Borough at or before the submission of the inspection report to the Borough.
C. 
It shall be the duty of all owners, property managers, property management companies and occupants to provide access to the code official to all units subject to inspection. Failure to provide such access shall be deemed a violation of this chapter. For purposes of enforcing this requirement, the code official may seek to obtain an administrative warrant for purposes of compelling an inspection of a unit, or take other appropriate action.
D. 
It is anticipated that the initial inspection of all rental dwelling units shall be completed within eight months of September 1, 2022 and after the rental dwelling units have been registered. Thereafter, units will be subject to inspection every three years unless the following circumstances are or become applicable:
(1) 
If there are no building or property maintenance violations within the prior three-year period, the owner shall be permitted to have the units or building inspected on a five-year cycle. Accordingly, if there are no building or property maintenance violations during the three-year period, the next inspection will take place every five years thereafter.
(a) 
If a unit is on a five-year inspection cycle, and there are more than four building or property maintenance violations within the prior five-year period, the inspection schedule will change to an inspection every three years.
(b) 
Any unit that is moved from a five-year inspection cycle to a three-year inspection cycle as noted Subsection D(1)(a), above, may again be moved into a five-year inspection cycle as provided in Subsection D(1), above.
(2) 
If there are more than four building or property maintenance violations within the prior three-year period, the owner's units shall be placed on a two-year inspection cycle.
(a) 
If there are no building or property maintenance violations for two consecutive two-year inspection periods, the inspection period will be extended to every three years and can later be extended to five years if the requirements of Subsection D(1) above are met.
E. 
All owners of rental dwelling units shall after completing registration as required in § 193-10 submit an application to the Borough for the initial inspection of each rental dwelling unit. Such application must be made within 90 days of the Borough issuing confirmation to the owner that a rental dwelling unit has been registered. All subsequent applications for inspections shall be submitted at least 60 days' prior to the expiration of the license for the unit to be inspected. Applications for inspection of a dwelling unit may be submitted by a property manager or a property management company provided proper evidence of licensure/certification and a current fully signed contract with the owner is provided to and approved by the Borough, redacted as necessary as noted in § 193-10A, above. Upon submission of an application, it is the responsibility of the owner, property manager or property management company to contact the Borough to schedule a specific date and time for the inspection to be conducted, at which inspection, the owner, property manager or representative of the property management company shall be present.
(1) 
Any owner of a rental dwelling unit seeking an exemption from inspection in accordance with § 193-17 shall submit information to the Borough prior to the deadline for the submission of an application for inspection in support of the exemption claimed.
(2) 
No application shall be required for any owner, property manager or property management company that complies with § 193-15B, above; however, the completed inspection report must be submitted to the Borough in accordance with the time limits noted in this chapter.
A. 
Each rental dwelling unit shall be subject to inspection based upon the following sections and criteria of the 2006 ICC Property Maintenance Code. All other provisions of the 2006 ICC Property Maintenance Code not referenced below shall still be applicable in the Borough.
Section
2006, ICC Property Maintenance Code
Ingress - Egress
304.1
Stairways, decks, porches, balconies, and attached appurtenances shall be maintained in a safe and structurally sound condition.
304.15; 702.3
Doors - No interior keyed locks on exterior doors.
702.1
A safe, unobstructed [uncluttered] path of travel shall be provided from any point in a building or structure to the public way. Means of egress shall comply with the IFC.
Interior
108.1.1, 2
Unsafe building, equipment (boiler, electric, HVAC, stairs), or structures - Dangerous to the life, health, property or safety of the public or the occupants of the structure by not providing minimum safeguards to protect or warn occupants in case of fire, or unsafe equipment or is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, structurally unsafe, or of such faulty construction or unstable foundation that partial or complete collapse is possible.
108.1.3
Structure unfit for human occupancy - Disrepair/lacks maintenance to the degree that structure is unsanitary, vermin or rat infested, filth and contamination, or lacks ventilation, illumination.
304.12; 305.5; 306.1; 307.1
Hand (interior/exterior) and guardrails shall be firmly fastened, capable of supporting normally imposed loads, and shall be maintained in good condition. Stairs having more than four risers shall have handrail. Balconies, decks, landings, porches, ramps more than 30 inches above grade shall have a guard (30 - 42 inches high).
504.1, 3; 505.1, 2
Plumbing fixtures shall be maintained in a safe, sanitary and functional condition. Hot water must be provided.
602.3
Owner/operator of any building who rents, leases or lets one or more DU or sleeping units, shall furnish the dwelling with a heat source capable of furnishing heat to the occupants during the period from October 15 until April 30 to maintain a temperature of not less than 68° F. in all habitable rooms, bathrooms, and toilet rooms. The use of portable, space heaters, as a primary source, is not an acceptable heating source.
604.3; 605.1, 2
Electrical system hazards - DU shall have safe and reliable service, including proper fusing/circuit breaker. Habitable rooms shall contain grounded-type receptacles, or a receptacle with a ground fault circuit interrupter. Every bathroom shall contain at least one receptacle.
704
Smoke detectors/fire alarm, or fire suppression shall be maintained in an operable condition at all times in accordance with the IFC.
B. 
If an inspection discloses noncompliance with any of the criteria noted in Subsection A, above, the code official shall issue an advisory notice letter setting forth the following:
(1) 
The street address and identification of the unit;
(2) 
The date and time of the inspection;
(3) 
The name of the inspector;
(4) 
A list of the code deficiencies;
(5) 
The time, indicated by the number of days, the owner has by which to repair or otherwise cure the code deficiencies.
C. 
If after a subsequent inspection by the code official or a qualified code inspector conducted after the time period given in the advisory notice letter all deficiencies identified are not repaired or cured, an enforcement letter shall be issued containing the information noted in Subsection B(1) through (5), above, together with a notice that if the conditions are not repaired or cured within the time given, the owner may be prosecuted and/or the rental dwelling unit may be placarded as unfit for human occupancy if the conditions are such that they pose a threat to health and safety.
D. 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a code official from immediately condemning a property if the conditions of the unit warrant such action.
E. 
If the inspection reveals no code deficiencies, the Borough shall issue a license certifying that the unit is in compliance with this chapter and may be occupied. A license shall also be issued by the Borough upon any deficiencies noted in an advisory notice letter or a notice of violation being repaired or cured based upon a subsequent inspection by a code official or a qualified code inspector.
F. 
The issuance of a license shall not be deemed or construed as a representation, guaranty or warranty of any kind by the Borough, its officials, agents or employees, and shall create no liability upon the Borough, it officials, agents or employees.
G. 
The license issued by the Borough for a unit shall be displayed in a conspicuous location within each unit near the main entrance to the unit. The temporary absence or removal of a license shall not by itself constitute a violation of this chapter.
H. 
An inspection fee as well as a license fee, required to be paid to the Borough, shall be noted in Chapter 120. The inspection and license fee is payable at the time of the submission of the application for an inspection license as a condition of the Borough accepting the application. For inspections conducted in accordance with § 193-15B, a separate license fee shall be paid at the time of the submission of the inspection report as a condition of the Borough accepting the report.
A. 
The following properties and uses shall be exempt from the inspection and licensing requirement of this chapter:
(1) 
Hotels and motels for transient visitor use;
(2) 
Hospitals, state-licensed nursing homes, state-licensed personal care homes and state-licensed group homes;
(3) 
On-campus student housing that is owned by an accredited college or university; and
(4) 
Shelter and transitional housing provided for indigent or homeless persons.
B. 
The following properties and uses may be exempt from the inspection and licensing requirement of this chapter when approved by a code official, after being provided documentation from the property owner, property manager or representative of the property management company establishing compliance with the criteria specified below:
(1) 
Rental housing building(s) or complex, whether or not it has its own in-house superintendent, property manager or property management company, and which provides evidence that regular interior and external inspections of the buildings or complex is conducted on a minimum two-year cycle utilizing U.S. HUD Housing Quality criteria, Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency inspection standards, the ICC International Property Maintenance Code, Version 2006 ("ICC") or American Society for Testing and Materials E2018 - 15 Standard Guide for Property Condition Assessments: Baseline Property Condition ("ASTM").
(2) 
Individual rental buildings or a complex of contiguous rental buildings under the same ownership, having more than 10 individual rental dwelling units, which can produce evidence of having a written contract with a property manager or property management company that provides "24-7 on-call" service, and that can also demonstrate that there has been no more than six property maintenance citations, or violations for units and/or buildings in the 24 months' prior to license application, or renewal, and that the property manager or property maintenance company conducts regular interior and external inspections, at a minimum two-year cycle, utilizing written criteria promulgated by ICC, ASTM, or other accredited institute or organization.
(3) 
Residential buildings, where the current property owner either resides within the Borough or within a twenty-five-mile radius of the Borough as determined from the closest point of the Borough boundary line, or who utilizes the services of a property manager or a property management company that maintains an office in the Borough or within a twenty-five-mile radius of the Borough as determined from the closest point from the Borough boundary line, and can demonstrate that no more than four property maintenance citations or violations for that building have occurred in the 24 months' prior to license application or renewal. However, for this exemption to be applicable, the rental dwelling units must first be subject to inspection as provided for in § 193-15 and then every five years thereafter.
A rental dwelling unit license may be denied, revoked, or not renewed if any of the following issues exist:
A. 
The property and/or dwelling is in the process of being, or has been, condemned by the Borough;
B. 
The owner has not received a valid building permit for the rental dwelling unit or associated building structure, unless Borough staff determines that the dwelling unit or building is considered a legal, nonconforming structure;
C. 
There are significant outstanding or unresolved building or property maintenance citations or violations related to health, safety, or unsound structural issues as determined by Borough staff; or
D. 
There have been more than six property maintenance citations, or violations for the dwelling unit and/or building in the 24 months' prior to original license application or renewal.