Article XI: Responsibility of Owners and Occupants

§ 15.12.760 Generally.

The following provisions shall pertain to the responsibilities of owners, operators and occupants of dwellings and their premises:

Maintenance of Private Space. Every occupant of a dwelling or dwelling unit shall keep in a clean and sanitary condition that part of the dwelling, dwelling unit and dwelling premises thereof which he or she occupies and controls.

Maintenance of Public Space. Every owner of a multiple dwelling shall be responsible for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition the common areas of the dwelling and the premises thereof. Occupants of two and three family dwellings shall share the responsibility for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition the common areas of the dwelling and the premises thereof.

Provisions of Disposal Facilities. Every occupant of a dwelling or dwelling unit shall dispose of all his or her garbage and other organic waste which might provide food for rodents in a clean and sanitary manner, by placing it in the garbage disposal facilities or garbage storage containers required by Sections 15.12.690 and 15.12.700. It shall be the responsibility of the owner to supply such facilities or containers for all dwelling units in a dwelling containing four or more dwelling units and for all dwelling units located on premises where four or more dwelling units share the same premises. In all other cases it shall be the responsibility of the occupant to furnish such facilities or containers.

Extermination. Every occupant of a dwelling containing a single dwelling unit shall be responsible for the extermination of any rodents, vermin or other pests therein or on the premises; and every occupant of a dwelling unit in a dwelling containing more than one dwelling unit shall be responsible for such extermination whenever his or her dwelling unit is the only one infested; except that whenever such infestation is caused by the failure of the owner to carry out the provisions of this chapter, extermination shall be the responsibility of the owner.

Use of Screens. The owner of a dwelling, dwelling unit or structure shall be responsible for providing and hanging all screens and double or storm doors and windows where used for ventilation whenever the same are required under the provisions of this chapter or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, except where there is a written agreement between the owner and occupant.

In the absence of such an agreement, maintenance or replacement of screens, storm doors and windows, once installed in any one season, become the responsibility of the occupant.

Maintenance of Plumbing and Equipment. Every occupant of a dwelling unit shall be responsible for the exercise of proper care and cleanliness in the use and operation of all plumbing fixtures, sanitary facilities, appliances and equipment therein.

Discontinuance of Utilities. No owner, operator or occupant shall cause any service, facility, equipment or utility, which is required to be supplied by the provisions of this chapter to be removed from or shut off from or discontinued for any occupied dwelling or dwelling unit, except for such temporary interruption as may be necessary when actual repairs or alterations are being expeditiously made, or during other temporary emergencies when discontinuance of service is approved by the enforcement officer.

Occupancy of Vacant Units. No person shall occupy as owner-occupant or permit to be occupied by another, any vacant dwelling or dwelling unit unless or until it is in good repair, clean, sanitary, in habitable condition and in full compliance with all provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

Supplied Heat. Every owner or operator of a dwelling who permits to be occupied any dwelling unit therein under an agreement, express or implied, to furnish heat to the occupants thereof, shall maintain therein from October 1 to May 1, a minimum air temperature level of not less than sixty-eight (68) degrees Fahrenheit at eighteen (18) inches above floor level under average winter conditions between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. and not less than sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. and all habitable rooms, bathrooms, toilet rooms and compartments and communicating corridors; provided that when the outside air temperature drops below zero degrees Fahrenheit heating facilities shall be operated; so as to furnish at least the minimum requirements hereof.

Whenever heating facilities are incapable of furnishing minimum requirements hereof at an outside air temperature of below zero degrees Fahrenheit, they shall be operated to full capacity. Whenever a dwelling is heated by means of a central heating facility, or other heating apparatus under the control of the owner or operator of the dwelling, such owner or operator in the absence of a written contract or agreement to the contrary, or shall be deemed to have contracted, undertaken or bound himself or herself to furnish heat in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply where the failure to maintain such an air temperature level is approved by the enforcement officer because of a general shortage of fuel, or any negligent or malicious act of the occupant, or while repairs are expeditiously made to the heating equipment, or any cause beyond the control of the owner or operator.

Maintenance of Land. The owner or occupant of any land upon which there is permitted or suffered to remain an accumulation of garbage, trash, junk or other debris or tall grass, weeds, or jungle-like conditions and which may become a source of, or contribute to, the breeding of rodents, vermin or obnoxious insects, or which are offensive to the public, their health, safety and welfare, shall upon written notice by the director of minimum housing, correct and remove such not later than five days from the giving of such notice.

Whenever the owner of the land fails to remove the garbage, trash, junk or other debris or the tall grass, weeds or jungle-like conditions within five days of the receipt of written notice to do so by the director of minimum housing, the director, at the expense of the person responsible for alleviating the violation, may take such direct action as is necessary to alleviate the violation. All reasonable cost incurred by him or her in such action shall be a lien against the real property and such lien shall be enforced in the manner provided or authorized by law for the enforcement of common law liens on real property. The director shall cause such lien to be recorded in the office of the city clerk.

Smoke Detectors Required in Residential Dwellings. A smoke detector must be installed in the ceiling area of common corridors immediately adjacent to all sleeping rooms in all residential dwellings and in the ceiling area adjacent to all sleeping rooms and in common corridors in all residential buildings within the city. Said smoke detector shall either have a self-contained battery as a primary power source or shall have low voltage circuitry with a self-contained or remote battery for standby power after the principal source of power has failed. Said smoke detector will be required in all existing residential dwellings or residential buildings that are not covered by the Rhode Island Fire Safety Code of 1969, as amended, 1976.

Any person or persons who shall fail to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and for each violation thereof shall pay a fine of fifty dollars ($50.00).

The smoke detector required of this subsection must meet at least the minimum requirements as established by Underwriters Laboratories or Factory Mutual. In addition, the smoke detector or the remote power supply control panel of the smoke detector required by this subsection must have a low battery indicator and an integral test device.

(Prior code § 14-72)