[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood 8-23-1977 by Ord. No. 1647. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. 145.
Flood damage prevention — See Ch. 154.
Housing standards — See Ch. 175.
A. 
There is hereby established in the Village of Ridgewood a State Uniform Construction Code enforcing agency to be known as the "Department of Building and Inspections," consisting of a Construction Official, Building Subcode Official, Plumbing Subcode Official, Electrical Subcode Official, Fire Protection Subcode Official and such other subcode officials for such additional subcodes as the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, State of New Jersey, shall hereafter adopt as part of the State Uniform Construction Code. Said officials shall be those department personnel designated by the Village Manager. The Construction Official shall be the chief administrator of the enforcing agency. For purposes of providing the required services of any of the subcode officials mandated hereinabove, the Village Manager shall have the authority, from time to time, to designate personnel from such other departments of the Village of Ridgewood to the Department of Building and Inspections who shall thereupon be subject to the procedures and policies of the enforcing agency and be primarily responsible to the Construction Official.
B. 
Each official position created in Subsection A hereof shall be filled by a person qualified for such position pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., as amended, and N.J.A.C. 5:23, provided that in lieu of any particular subcode official, an on-site inspection agency may be retained by contract pursuant to N.J.A.C. 5:23. More than one such official position may be held by the same person, provided that such person is qualified pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 5:23 to hold each such position.
C. 
The public shall have the right to do business with the enforcing agency at one office location except for emergencies and unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances.
A. 
The Building Code Board of Appeals heretofore established by resolution dated May 11, 1976, is hereby designated the Construction Board of Appeals to hear appeals from decisions by the enforcing agency. Such Board shall consist of five members. At least one Board member shall be a registered architect or licensed professional engineer of building construction experience, and at least one Board member shall be as qualified as a plumbing subcode official and one as qualified as an electrical subcode official. No more than two Board members shall be selected from the same business or profession. Each Board member shall have had at least three years' experience in construction, design or supervision as a licensed engineer or registered architect or, in the alternative, five years' experience in construction, design or supervision as an architect or engineer with a bachelor's degree in architecture or engineering, respectively, from an accredited institution of higher education or, as a further alternative, supervision as a journeyman in a construction trade or as a construction contractor, subcontractor or inspector.
B. 
The Village Manager shall appoint the Board members and any alternative members. For the members first appointed, the Village Manager shall designate the appointees' terms so that one shall be appointed for a term of one year, one for a term of two years, one for a term of three years and two for terms of four years. At the expiration of such terms and thereafter, appointments shall be made for terms of four years. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term. The Village Manager shall appoint such number of alternates as may be appropriate or terms not to exceed four years; or may, in the alternative, appoint alternates on a case-by-case basis. No regular or alternative Board member may be a member of the enforcing agency, the decisions of which are subject to the review of the Board.
C. 
Neither regular nor alternate members of the Construction Board of Appeals shall receive any compensation for services rendered.
[Amended 2-14-1978 by Ord. No. 1663; 2-26-1980 by Ord. No. 1746; 1-12-1982 by Ord. No. 1833; 2-28-1984 by Ord. No. 1916; 5-7-1984 by Ord. No. 1924; 2-12-1985 by Ord. No. 1972; 9-9-1986 by Ord. No. 2061; 4-12-1988 by Ord. No. 2147; 12-12-1989 by Ord. No. 2232; 10-13-1992 by Ord. No. 2375]
A. 
The fee for a construction permit and other related permits shall be as set forth in Chapter 145, Fees, and shall be paid before the permit is issued.
B. 
The fee for plan review, as set forth in said Chapter 145, Fees, shall be paid before the plans are reviewed. The amount paid for said fee shall be credited toward the amount of the fee to be charged for the construction permit.
C. 
In order to provide for the training, certifications and technical support programs required by the Uniform Construction Code Act and the regulations, the enforcing agency shall collect, in addition to the fees specified above, a surcharge fee as set forth in Chapter 145, Fees. Said surcharge fee shall be remitted to the Bureau of Housing Inspection, Department of Community Affairs as required by the state.
D. 
No person shall be charged a construction permit surcharge fee or enforcing agency fee for any construction, reconstruction, alteration or improvement designed and undertaken solely to promote accessibility by disabled persons to an existing private structure or any of the facilities contained therein. For the purposes of this subsection, "disabled person" means a person who has the total and permanent inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable, physical or mental impairment, including blindness, and shall include but not be limited to any resident of this state who is disabled pursuant to the Federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 416), or the Federal Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. § 231 et seq.) or is rated as having a 60% disability or higher pursuant to any federal law administered by the United States Veterans' Act. For purposes of this subsection, "blindness" means central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye which is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20° shall be considered as having a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less.
[Added 10-13-1998 by Ord. No. 2641]
[Amended 10-13-1992 by Ord. No. 2375]
The enforcing agency shall report as required by the state the total amount of the surcharge fee collected in the fiscal year. In the fiscal year in which the regulations first become effective, said report shall be for the third and fourth quarters only.
[Amended 10-13-1992 by Ord. No. 2375]
To control types of construction based on the inherent fire hazard by reason of the use groups of buildings, there are hereby established fire district limits to include all areas in which congested business, commercial and public assembly use may be housed. Such areas shall be designated as "within the fire limits" and shall be bounded and described as being all lands within the B-1, B-2 and B-3 Retail Business Districts, C Commercial District, OB-1 and OB-2 Office Building Districts, R-4 Garden Apartment Residence District, and R-5 Multifamily Residence District as such areas are now or may be from time to time shown on the Zoning Map of the Village of Ridgewood. In addition, all regulations of the fire district limits regarding construction materials, procedures and safety requirements shall apply to all schools, churches, hospitals and municipal buildings, in no matter what zone the same may be located.