As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BASEMENT Any portion of a building located wholly or partially underground having any portion or all of its clear floor-to-ceiling height below the average grade of the adjoining ground.
BUILDING CODE The Basic Building Code, latest edition, and current cumulative supplement officially adopted by Prince George's County and the Town of Brentwood for the regulation of construction, alteration, addition, repair, removal, demolition, use, location, occupancy and maintenance of premises, buildings and structures.
CENTRAL HEATING The heating system permanently installed and adjusted so as to provide the distribution of heat to all habitable rooms, bathrooms and water closet compartments from a source outside of these rooms.
CONDEMN To declare a structure or part thereof, premises or equipment unsafe or unfit for use or occupation.
DWELLING A building or structure, or portion thereof, used for human occupancy, including garages and other appurtenances.
DWELLING UNIT Any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling intended to provide a complete single habitable unit for one or more persons with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating.
EMERGENCY An unforeseen occurrence or condition, or a rapid deterioration of circumstances, necessitating immediate action to avert imminent danger to life, liberty or property.
EXTERIOR PROPERTY AREAS The open space on the premises and on adjoining property under the control of owners or operators of such premises.
EXTERMINATION The control and elimination of insects, rodents or other pests by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their food; by poison spraying, fumigating or trapping; or by any other pest-elimination methods as allowed by law.
GARBAGE The animal, mineral and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparing, cooking and serving of food, exclusive of recognized industrial by-products and human and animal feces.
GROSS FLOOR AREA The total area of all habitable space in a building or structure.
HABITABLE SPACE A room or enclosed floor space used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking or eating purposes, excluding bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries, pantries, foyers or communicating corridors, closets and storage spaces, recreation rooms, workshops and other rooms used only occasionally.
HOUSING CODE All rules and regulations contained herein or promulgated pursuant to authority hereunder.
HOUSING OFFICER That person appointed by the Mayor with consent of the Council to enforce the Housing Code(s).
INFESTATION The presence, within or around a dwelling, of insects, rodents, vermin or other pests.
MAINTENANCE Acts of repair and other acts to prevent a decline in the condition of grounds, structures, other appurtenances and equipment such that the condition does not fall below the standards established by this code and other applicable statutes, codes and ordinances.
OCCUPANT Any person over one year of age (including the owner or operator and domestic service employees) living, sleeping, cooking or eating in or having actual possession of space within a dwelling unit or rooming unit.
OWNER Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others:
(1) Shall have legal and/or equitable title to any dwelling, dwelling unit or rooming unit, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or
(2) Shall have charge, care, possession or control of any dwelling unit or rooming unit, as owner or agent of the owner or as executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee or guardian of the state of the owner. Any such person thus representing the actual owner shall be bound to comply with the provisions of this article and of rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, to the same extent as if he were the owner.
PERSON Any individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, limited partnership, trust or estate.
PLUMBING The practice, materials and fixtures used in the installation, maintenance, extension and alteration of all piping, fixtures, appliances and appurtenances within the scope of the Plumbing Code, including but not limited to all of the following supplied facilities and equipment: gas pipes, gas-burning equipment, water pipes, water heating facilities, garbage disposal units, waste pipes, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes-washing machines, catch basins, drains, vents and any other similar supplies or fixtures, together with all connections to water, sewer or gas lines.
PLUMBING FIXTURE A receptacle or device which is either permanently or temporarily connected to the water distribution system of the premises and demands a water supply therefrom, or which discharges used water, liquidborne waste materials or sewage either directly or indirectly to the drainage system of the premises, or which requires both a water supply connection and a discharge to the drainage system of the premises.
PREMISES A lot, plot or parcel of land, including the buildings or structures thereon.
RENTAL DWELLING A rented or leased room or group of rooms forming a single habitable dwelling or rooming unit occupied by one or more persons which is intended to be used by the occupants for living or sleeping.
RENOVATION A building and its facilities made to conform to present day minimum standards of sanitation, fire- and life safety.
RESIDENCE BUILDING A building in which sleeping accommodations or sleeping accommodations and cooking facilities as a unit are provided, except when classified as an institution under the Building Code.
ROOMING UNIT Any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living and sleeping but not for cooking or eating purposes.
RUBBISH All combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage; and the term shall include but not be limited to the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible materials, paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin and aluminum cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery, and dust.
SUPPLIED Paid for, furnished or provided by or under the control of the owner or operator.
TEMPORARY HOUSING Any tent, trailer or other structure used for human shelter which is designed to be transportable and which is not attached to the ground, to another structure or to any utility system on the same premises for more than 30 consecutive days.
VENTILATION The process of supplying and removing air by natural or mechanical means to or from any space.
(2) NATURALVentilation by openings to the outer air through windows, skylights, doors, louvers or stacks without wind-driven devices.
WORKMANLIKE Whenever the words "workmanlike state of maintenance and repair" are used in this article, they shall mean that such maintenance and repair shall be made in a reasonably skillful manner and in accordance with industry standards so as to secure the results intended by this code.
YARD An open space surrounding a building.