Township of North Brunswick, NJ Chapter 147 Construction Codes, Uniform

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee (now Mayor and Council) of the Township of North Brunswick 2-23-1977. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Construction work restrictions — See Ch. 149.

Contractor registration — See Ch. 151.

Dwellings unit for human habitation — See Ch. 161.

Fire prevention — See Ch. 176.

Housing standards — See Ch. 197.

Sewage disposal — See Ch. 274.

Sewers — See Ch. 276.

Water — See Ch. 352.

Individual sewage disposal systems — See Ch. 421.

§ 147-1 Enforcing agency.

A. There is hereby established in the Township of North Brunswick a State Uniform Construction Code enforcing agency to be known as the "Division of Inspections" consisting of a Construction Official, Building Subcode Official, Plumbing Subcode Official, Electrical Subcode Official, Assistant 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. The Construction Official shall be the chief administrator of the Division of Inspections related to Uniform Construction Code activities. Directly responsible to the Construction Official shall be the various subcode officials established herein. The Construction Official shall be directly responsible to the head of the department as assigned by the Mayor and Council. The duties of the Construction Official and subcode officials shall be consistent with the State Uniform Construction Code Act and the rules and regulations of the Commissioner of the State Department of Community Affairs and as set forth in the various ordinances of the Township of North Brunswick.

B. Each official position created in Subsection A hereof shall be filled by a person qualified for such position pursuant to P.L. 1975, c. 217,[1] 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 P.L. 1975, c. 217, and N.J.A.C. 5:23 to hold each such position.

[1] Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 52:27D-119 et seq.

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.

§ 147-2 Certificates of occupancy and certificates of continued occupancy.

[Added 11-2-2015 by Ord. No. 15-18[1]]

A. Certificate of occupancy (CO). Pursuant to the provisions of § 205-138B of the Code of the Township of North Brunswick, a certificate of occupancy is required as a precondition for the occupancy of any new building, structure, or land and must be issued by the Construction Official with the approval given by the Zoning Officer. In addition, the Fire Marshal shall issue a fire certificate of compliance permit for all new nonresidential uses other than one- and two-family homes.

B. Certificate of continued occupancy required (CCO).

(1) A certificate of continued occupancy is the document issued by the Township of North Brunswick upon the determination that a dwelling is fit for human habitation in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code, ordinances of the Township of North Brunswick, and the rules, regulations and laws of the State of New Jersey.

(2) No owner, agent or broker shall sell, transfer or grant with right of occupancy, whether or not for consideration, any residential dwelling, unit or premises on which a building is located and used for human occupancy, unless a certificate of continued occupancy is first obtained from the Construction Code Official by use of the appropriate application and fees provided herein. The owner shall afford the Construction Official the opportunity to inspect the structure and premises and shall consent to inspection.

(3) The owner of the residential dwelling unit is hereby charged with the responsibility for making written application in accordance with this section for a CCO. The buyer of such dwelling unit may waive the seller's responsibility and assume the same; provided, however, that such waiver shall be in writing, which said waiver shall further state that the buyer is fully aware that he, she or it is assuming responsibility for obtaining a CCO pursuant to this section, and provided further that such written waiver shall be filed with the Construction Official.

(4) The Construction Official shall issue a residential certificate of continued occupancy, provided that there are no violations of law or orders of the Construction Official, in consultation with the Zoning Officer, and it is established upon receipt of a notarized affidavit and investigation of available municipal records that the alleged use of the building or structure has lawfully existed. The certificate shall evidence only that a notarized affidavit has been received and accepted, and that no violations of N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.14, as amended (Construction permits  —  when required), and N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.18, as amended (Inspections), have been determined to exist, no conditions of violation of N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.32, as amended(Unsafe structures), or unsafe conditions have been identified and no violations of the Code of the Township of North Brunswick have been found to exist.

[Amended 4-4-2022 by Ord. No. 22-07]

(5) If the Construction Official, as the result of a permit records search or a general inspection of visible parts of the structure, finds any violation as set forth in Subsection B(4), he shall notify the owner of the violation in writing, by mail, or by delivering the notice to the owner or his agent. The notice shall identify the premises and specify the violations and any remedial action, along with compliance date. The notice will require the owner to satisfy the violations, file any necessary permits as required, and state that failure to correct the violations within the time specified shall result in fines as prescribed in the Uniform Construction Code.

[Amended 4-4-2022 by Ord. No. 22-07]

(6) A certificate of continued occupancy shall be effective for a period of 120 days. One administrative extension of not more than 30 days may be granted by the Construction Official. If a dwelling fails to sell, transfer or grant with right of occupancy within this period, and the dwelling remains for sale, the owner shall make written application and obtain a new CCO.

(7) If the application for a certificate states that the dwelling unit is not intended for residential occupancy or human habitation, the Construction Official may waive the requirement for a certificate of continued occupancy.

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated former §§ 147-2 and 147-3 as §§ 147-3 and 147-4, respectively.

§ 147-3 Fees.

[Amended 3-4-1985; 3-17-1986; 4-20-1992; 9-2-2003 by Ord. No. 03-27; 8-5-2013 by Ord. No. 13-13; 4-20-2015 by Ord. No. 15-06; 11-2-2015 by Ord. No. 15-18]

The Township of North Brunswick shall charge fees in accordance with fees established in the regulations for the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23-1 and 5:23A-1 et seq.), specifically Subsection 5:23-4.20 (Department Fees), adopted and supplemented pursuant to the Department of Community Development Fee Schedule as adopted by resolution of the Township of North Brunswick.

A. Certificate of occupancy. The fee for a certificate of occupancy (CO) shall be 5% of the permit fee. The minimum fee shall be $100 for R-5 Residential Use Group and $200 for all other use groups. The fee for the certificate of occupancy must be paid prior to the issuance of a temporary or final certificate of occupancy. If the temporary certificate of occupancy expires prior to the issuance of the final certificate of occupancy, a fee of 50% of the original certificate of occupancy will be required.

B. Certificate of continued occupancy. The fee for a certificate of continued occupancy (CCO) for detached residential dwellings (including one-, two-, three-, and four-family dwellings) shall be $150. The fee for a certificate of occupancy for attached multifamily dwellings, commonly referred to as "townhomes" or "condominiums," shall be $125.

§ 147-4 Waiver of building permit fees.

[Added 5-1-2000 by Ord. No. 00-8]

A. 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.

B. A disabled person, or a parent or sibling of a disabled person, shall not be required to pay any municipal fee or charge in order to secure a construction permit for any construction, reconstruction, alteration or improvement which promotes accessibility to his or her own living unit.

C. "Disabled person" means a person who has a 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 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 fields subtends an angle no greater than 20° shall be considered as having a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less.

D. No volunteer fire company and no volunteer first-aid and rescue squad shall be charged an enforcing agency fee for any plan review, construction permit, certificate of occupancy, demolition permit, moving of building permit, elevator permit or sign permit.

[Added 1-14-2002 by Ord. No. 02-1]

E. No person shall be charged a construction permit fee or enforcing agency fee for any construction, reconstruction, alteration or improvement to a service line repair due to a leak that is required to be repaired under the Township's Meter Replacement Program for the remainder of calendar year 2019 and for calendar year 2020.

[Added 9-16-2019 by Ord. No. 19-26]