A. 
Definitions. The following terms wherever used or referred to in this code shall have the respective meanings assigned to them unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
A structure, the use of which is incidental to that of the main building and which is attached thereto or located on the same premises.
AREA INSPECTION
A systematic inspection of more than one (1) premises in close geographic proximity within an area designated in the city for concentrated area code enforcement in order to implement urban renewal, property conservation or other programs for neighborhood maintenance or improvement adopted by the city.
BASEMENT
The portion of the building that is partly underground which has more than one-half (1/2) of its height, measured from clear floor to ceiling, above the average adjoining ground level. Where the natural contour of the ground level immediately adjacent to the building is interrupted by ditching, pits or trenching, then the average adjoining ground level shall be the nearest natural contour line parallel to the walls of the building without regard to the levels created by the ditching, pits or trenching.
BATHROOM
Enclosed space containing one (1) or more bathtubs, showers, or both, and which shall also include toilets, lavatories or fixtures serving similar purposes.
BOARDINGHOUSE (CLASS A)
Any dwelling, whether furnished or unfurnished, with one (1) or more independent rooming units in which there are sleeping accommodations occupied or available for occupancy by three (3) or more persons and where meals are regularly served by the owner or operator of the building and where there is no agreement between operator and occupant to assist in bathing or dressing or providing other type of supervision and, by reason of the same, the accommodations are not suited for occupancy by disabled persons or persons requiring special care, except that hotels as defined by N.J.S.A. 29:1-11 containing fifteen (15) or more rooms or accommodating thirty (30) or more persons shall be excluded therefrom.
BOARDINGHOUSE (CLASS B)
Any dwelling, whether furnished or unfurnished, with one (1) or more independent rooming units in which there are sleeping accommodations occupied or available for occupancy by one (1) or more adult persons and where meals are regularly served by the owner or operator to the occupants and where, by reason of the needs of the occupants, there is provided assistance in bathing or dressing or providing other type of supervision to assure safety at all times to all of the occupants, and thereby occupancy is suited to persons requiring special care, but not for disabled persons. Where not more than two (2) disabled persons, or persons requiring special care, live with persons to whom they are related by blood or marriage as part of a common household, the dwelling unit in which they reside shall not be a "boardinghouse (Class B)" pursuant to this definition.
BUILDING
Any building or structure or part thereof having a permanent location, whether used for human habitation or otherwise, including outhouses and appurtenances belonging thereto or usually enjoyed therewith.
BUILDING CODE
The Building Code of the City of Orange.[1]
CELLAR
The lowermost portion of the building partly or totally underground, having one-half (1/2) or more of its height measured from clear floor to ceiling below the average adjoining ground level. Where the natural contour of the ground level immediately adjacent to the building is interrupted by ditching, pits or trenching, then the average adjoining ground level shall be the nearest natural contour line parallel to the walls of the building without regard to the levels created by the ditching, pits or trenching.
CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEM
A heating system in a fire-resistant enclosed space or spaces, separate and apart from the area to be heated, which system is permanently affixed on a fireproof base and connected by breaching to a stack in accordance with Sections B-711 to B-730 of the Building Code.[2] Direct electric or gas heating systems without the use of a boiler, serving all dwelling units in a structure, are exempt from the above requirements.
COMMUNITY KITCHEN
A kitchen facility shared by occupants of one (1) or more rooming units or dwelling units.
DETERIORATION
The condition or appearance of a building or part thereof, characterized by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling, rusting or other evidence of physical decay or neglect, lack of maintenance or excessive use.
DIRECTOR
The Director of the Building Inspections and Code Enforcement Department.
DISABLED PERSON
Any person who by reason of his or her physical or mental condition is not sufficiently ambulatory or otherwise by reason of physical or mental incapability to reach or use the two (2) means of egress most accessible to his or her living quarters without assistance and with reasonable facility or who is unable to attend to his or her daily personal and bodily needs.
DWELLING
Any structure designed for use by human occupants for sleeping and living purposes, whether occupied or vacant, except that the foregoing shall not apply to hotels as defined in N.J.S.A. 29:1-11.
DWELLING UNIT
Any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling forming a single habitable unit, which includes facilities for living, sleeping, cooking and eating.
EMANCIPATED MINOR
Any person under the age of eighteen (18) who is gainfully employed and self-supporting or who is married to a spouse who is gainfully employed and who supports the minor, or who is a student living away from home and is in regular attendance at an institution of higher learning.
[Amended 5-18-1982 by Ord. No. 16-82]
ESTABLISHMENT SUBJECT TO LICENSING
Any lodging house, boardinghouse or nursing home which is required to be licensed pursuant to this code.
EXPOSED TO PUBLIC VIEW
Any premises or part thereof, or any building or part thereof, which may be lawfully viewed by the public or any member thereof from a sidewalk, street, alleyway, licensed open air parking lot or from any adjoining or neighboring premises.
EXTERIOR OF THE PREMISES
Those portions of a building which are exposed to public view and the open space of any premises outside of any building erected thereon.
EXTERMINATION
The control and elimination of insects, rodents and vermin by eliminating their harborage places, by removing or making inaccessible material that may serve as their food, by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping or by other approved means of pest elimination.
FAMILY
See "immediate family."
FIRE CHIEF
The Fire Chief of the City of Orange.
FIRE HAZARD
Any thing or any act which increases or may cause an increase of the hazard or menace of fire to a greater degree than that customarily recognized as normal by persons in the public service of preventing, suppressing or extinguishing fires or which may obstruct, delay or hinder or may become the cause of an obstruction, a delay, a hazard or a hindrance to the prevention, suppression or extinguishment of fires. (Also see "nuisance.")
FLOOR AREA, SUPERFICIAL
The net floor area within the enclosing walls of the room, excluding built-in equipment such as wardrobes, cabinets, closets, kitchen units or fixtures which are not readily removable and excluding the floor area where the floor-to-ceiling height is less than seven (7) feet.
GARBAGE
Putrescible animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food. (See also "refuse and rubbish.")
GROSS FLOOR AREA
The total area within a dwelling unit or rooming unit available and accessible to the occupants thereof for all purposes associated with living in the unit.
HABITABILITY
A state of being fit for human life in compliance with and in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
[Added 12-5-72 by Ord. No. 105-72]
HABITABLE ROOM
Any room in a dwelling unit constituting all or part of a rooming unit having a gross floor area of fifty (50) square feet or more.
HEALTH OFFICER
The Health Officer of the City of Orange.
HOTEL
Any building kept, used, maintained, advertised as or held out to be a place where sleeping accommodations are supplied for pay to transient or permanent guests in which fifteen (15) or more rooms are rented, furnished or unfurnished, including any room found to be arranged or used for sleeping purposes, with or without meals, for the accommodation of such guests, or every building or part thereof which is rented for hire to thirty (30) or more persons for sleeping accommodations. There shall not be included rooms which are physically a part of a self-contained and enclosed dwelling unit. This definition shall not be construed to include any building defined as a tenement house pursuant to Title 55 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey,[3] or any amendments now or hereafter enacted thereto.
HOUSING INSPECTORS
All officials, officers or employees of the City of Orange entrusted with the enforcement of this code.
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
The head of the family, spouse, the parents and children, including adopted children, of either the head of the family or spouse. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that three (3) or more persons occupying any dwelling unit or rooming unit are not related to one another so that any two (2) or more shall be members of an "immediate family," and the burden of proving such relationship shall be on the person or persons asserting it.
INCIDENTAL COOKING
Cooking facilities containing no more than two (2) plates or burners not exceeding six (6) inches in diameter.
INDEPENDENT ROOMING UNIT
A rooming unit in other than a single-family dwelling which opens directly to the exterior of the premises by way of a common hallway, common areaway or common stairway or door to the exterior of the premises without passing through any other rooming unit or dwelling unit.
INFESTATION
The presence of insects, rodents, vermin or other pests on the premises which constitutes a health hazard.
KITCHEN
Any room or part thereof used for cooking or the preparation of food.
LODGING HOUSE
Any dwelling, whether furnished or unfurnished, in which there are one (1) or more independent rooming units where there are sleeping accommodations for occupancy or available for occupancy by three (3) or more persons and where there is no agreement between the operator and any occupant for feeding, personal care or special supervision or attention, except that hotels as defined by N.J.S.A. 29:1-11 containing fifteen (15) or more rooms or accommodating thirty (30) or more persons shall be excluded therefrom.
MIXED OCCUPANCY
Any building containing one (1) or more dwelling units or rooming units and also having a portion thereof devoted to nondwelling uses or as a hotel.
NET FLOOR AREA
The "net floor area" within the dwelling unit or rooming unit, as the case may be, shall be computed by deducting from the gross floor area the following:
(1) 
Built-in equipment, wardrobes and closets, bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries, serving and storage pantries, cellars, heating rooms, boiler rooms, utility rooms, kitchens, kitchenettes and areas utilized for cooking purposes.
(2) 
Other rooms or spaces that are not used frequently and regularly for living purposes.
(3) 
Such parts thereof as are used exclusively as hallways or corridors, entrance foyers or vestibules, or where part of a larger area so much thereof as is required to provide a means of passage, three (3) feet in width, through the room or foyer immediately adjoining from any point of ingress from the exterior of the dwelling unit to any exit from such room or foyer.
(4) 
Such part of any room where the floor-to-ceiling height is less than seven (7) feet.
(5) 
Any room or part remaining after eliminating areas in Subsections (3) or (4) of this definition which would then contain less than fifty (50) square feet.
NUISANCE
(1) 
Any public nuisance known at common law or in equity jurisprudence or as provided by the statutes of the State of New Jersey or the ordinances of the City of Orange.
(2) 
Any attractive nuisance which may prove detrimental to the health or safety of children, whether in a building, on the premises of a building or upon an unoccupied lot. This includes, but is not limited to, abandoned wells, shafts, basements, excavations, abandoned iceboxes, refrigerators, motor vehicles, any structurally unsound fences or structures, lumber, trash, fences, debris or vegetation, such as poison ivy, oak or sumac, which may provide a hazard for inquisitive minors.
(3) 
Physical conditions dangerous to human life or detrimental to the health of persons on or near the premises where the conditions exist.
(4) 
Overcrowding of a room with occupants in violation of this code.
(5) 
Insufficient ventilation or illumination in violation of this code.
(6) 
Inadequate or unsanitary sewage or plumbing facilities in violation of this code.
(7) 
Unsanitary conditions or anything offensive to the senses or dangerous to health in violation of this code.
(8) 
Whatever renders air, food or drink unwholesome or detrimental to the health of human beings.
(9) 
Fire hazards.
NURSING HOME
Any building in which two (2) or more disabled persons are housed for purposes of care, special attention, treatment or supervision and are housed for such purposes overnight or longer, but dwellings where not more than two (2) disabled persons live with members of their families to whom they are related by blood or marriage shall be excluded therefrom.
OCCUPANT
Any person living, sleeping or having actual possession of a dwelling unit or rooming unit.
OPERATOR
Any person who has charge, care or control of a dwelling or premises, or part thereof, whether with or without the knowledge and consent of the owner.
OWNER
Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others, shall have legal or equitable title to any premises with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or who shall have charge, care or control of any dwelling or dwelling unit, as owner or agent of the owner, or as fiduciary, including but not limited to executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee, receiver or guardian of the estate, or as a mortgagee in possession, regardless of how such possession was obtained. Any person who is a lessee subletting or reassigning any part or all of any dwelling or dwelling unit shall be deemed to be a co-owner with the lessor and shall have joint responsibility over the portion of the premises sublet or assigned by the lessee.
PARTIES IN INTEREST
All individuals, associations or corporations who or which have interests of record in any premises or are in actual possession thereof.
PERSON REQUIRING SPECIAL CARE
Any person who does not suffer from such physical or mental incapacity as to be classified as a disabled person, but by reason of physical or mental limitations or advanced years does require a limited degree of care and attention to assure personal safety at all times.
PLUMBING
All the following supplies, facilities and equipment: gas pipes, gas-burning equipment, water pipes, garbage disposal units, waste pipes, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes-washing machines, catch basins, vents and any other similar supplied fixtures, together with all connections to water-, sewer or gas lines, and water pipes and -lines utilized in conjunction with air-conditioning equipment.
PREMISES
A vacant or improved lot, plot or parcel of land, including the buildings or structures thereon.
PUBLIC AUTHORITY
The housing authority of the City of Orange or any officer in charge of any department of the City of Orange, County of Essex or State of New Jersey, relating to health, fire and building regulations, or to other activities concerning buildings in the City of Orange.
PUBLIC OFFICER
The person designated and appointed under § 156-65 of this code.
REFUSE
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes, except body wastes, including but not limited to garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles and solid market and industrial wastes. (See also "garbage" and "rubbish.")
REGISTERED MAIL
Registered mail or certified mail.
ROOM
Space in an enclosed building, or space set apart by a partition or partitions, and any space in a building used or intended to be used as a bedroom, dining room, living room, kitchen, sewing room, library, den, music room, dressing room, enclosed sleeping porch, sun room, party room, recreation room, breakfast room, study, storage room and similar uses.
ROOMING HOUSE
See "lodging house" and "boardinghouse."
ROOMING UNIT
Any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit other than a dwelling unit which is rented or available for rent for sleeping purposes, with or without cooking facilities.
RUBBISH
Nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible wastes, such as paper, wrappings, cigarettes, tin cans, yard clippings, leaves, wood, glass, bedding, crockery and similar materials. (See also "garbage" and "refuse.")
SANITARY SEWER
Any sanitary sewer owned, operated and maintained by the City of Orange and available for public use for the disposal of sewage.
SEWAGE
Waste from a flush toilet, bathtub, sink, lavatory, dishwashing or laundry machine, or the water-carried waste from any other fixture or equipment or machine.
SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by one (1) family, and in no case permitting more than two (2) roomers or boarders.
STORY
That portion of a building included between the upper surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor next above, except that the topmost story shall be that portion of a building included between the upper surface of the topmost floor and the ceiling or roof above. If the finished ceiling level directly above a basement or cellar is more than six (6) feet above grade, such basement or cellar shall be considered a "story."
STRUCTURE
A combination of any materials, whether fixed or portable, forming a construction, including buildings.
SUPERFICIAL FLOOR AREA
See "floor area, superficial."
VENTILATION
Supply and removal of air to and from any space by natural or mechanical means.
VENTILATION, MECHANICAL
Ventilation by power-driven devices.
VENTILATION, NATURAL
Ventilation by opening to outer air through windows, skylights, doors, louvers or stacks, with or without wind-driven devices.
WASHROOMS
Enclosed space containing one (1) or more bathtubs, showers, or both, and which shall also include toilets, lavatories or fixtures serving similar purposes.
WATER CLOSET COMPARTMENT
Enclosed space containing one (1) or more toilets which may also contain one (1) or more lavatories, urinals and other plumbing fixtures.
WEATHERING
Deterioration, decay or damage caused by exposure to the elements.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 74, Construction Codes, Uniform.
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 74, Construction Codes, Uniform.
[3]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 55:1-24.
B. 
Word usage. Whenever the words "accessory structure," "boardinghouse," "building," "dwelling," "dwelling unit," "establishment subject to licensing," "habitable room," "independent rooming unit," "lodging house," "nursing home," "premises," "room," "rooming unit" or "structure" are used in this code, they shall be construed, unless expressly stated to the contrary, to include the plurals of these words and as if they were followed by the words "or any part thereof." The word shall be applied retroactively as well as prospectively.