[Amended 6-2-1986 by L.L. No. 3-1986]
The Building Inspector shall enforce the housing standards.
No officer, agent, member of a commission or employee of the City shall render himself personally liable for any damage that may accrue to persons or property as a result of any act required or permitted in the discharge of his duties under this chapter.
A. 
The Building Inspector shall be charged with the duty of administering the standards of this chapter and securing compliance therewith.
[Amended 6-2-1986 by L.L. No. 3-1986]
B. 
The Building Inspector shall be authorized to conduct surveys of housing in any area of the City to determine the condition of premises, extent of deterioration, lack of facilities, inadequate maintenance, unsafe and insanitary conditions, extent of overcrowding, land use and other relevant factors.
C. 
He shall cause necessary inspections to be made of all premises within the scope of these standards, insofar as possible with personnel assigned to this work.
D. 
He shall order, in writing, the remedying of all conditions found to exist in or on any premises in violation of the provisions of the housing standards of this chapter.
A. 
The Building Inspector shall receive the assistance of the Engineering, Public Works, Fire and Police Departments or officers and all other municipal officials as may be required for the inspection of premises within the scope of these standards and to the extent and limit determined by the Mayor.
[Amended 6-2-1986 by L.L. No. 3-1986; 8-31-1992 by Ord. No. 92-40]
B. 
The Corporation Counsel shall, upon complaint of the Building Inspector, institute appropriate action to restrain, prevent, abate, correct or remove violations of these standards and take such other legal action as is necessary to carry out the terms and provisions of said standards. He shall also render such other legal assistance as may be requested by the Building Inspector.
The Building Inspector or his representative or any duly authorized City representative, upon the showing of proper credentials and in the discharge of his duties, may enter upon any building, structure or premises at any reasonable hour or, in any emergency, at any hour whatsoever, and no person shall interfere with or prevent such entry.
A. 
The Building Inspector shall keep permanent official records of all transactions and activities conducted by him, including all applications received, permits and certificates issued, fees charged and collected, inspection reports and notices and orders issued. All such records shall be public records, open to public inspection during business hours.
B. 
The Building Inspector shall annually submit to the Mayor a written report and summary of all business conducted by his office.
[Amended 6-2-1986 by L.L. No. 3-1986]
C. 
All inspections and maintenance reports required to be furnished to the City of Schenectady by the laws and regulations of New York State or the Code of the City of Schenectady which are related to the inspection of commercial buildings shall be electronically forwarded to the City of Schenectady in a manner specified by the Mayor or her or his designee. This requirement shall take effect on January 1, 2015.
[Added 9-22-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-21]
A. 
Notice of violation. Whenever the Building Inspector determines that there has been a violation of any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, he shall give notice of such violation to the person or persons responsible for the violation. Such notice shall be in writing and shall be served upon the owner, agent, operator or occupant, as the case may require. This notice shall specify the alleged violation and shall provide a reasonable time for compliance. Such notice shall be deemed to be properly served upon such owner, agent, operator or occupant if a copy is served upon such owner, agent, operator or occupant personally or if a copy thereof is delivered by first-class mail to the last known address of such person or if a copy is posted in a conspicuous place in or about the building affected by the notice and if a copy is mailed by first-class mail.
[Amended 6-2-1986 by L.L. No. 3-1986; 6-16-1997 by Ord. No. 97-16]
B. 
[1]Failure to abate violations. In case the owner, agent, operator or occupant cannot be found within the time limit set for the abatement of said violations or if such owner, agent, operator or occupant shall fail, neglect or refuse to abate such violations, the Corporation Counsel shall be advised of all facts in the case and shall institute appropriate action in the court to compel compliance.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B, Right of appeal, as amended, was repealed 3-28-1994 by Ord. No. 94-07, which ordinance also renumbered former Subsections C through F as B through E.
C. 
Emergency action. In cases of emergency which, in the opinion of the Building Inspector, require immediate action to abate a direct hazard or imminent danger to the health, safety, morals or welfare of the occupants of a building or the public, he shall promptly cause such action to be taken as is necessary to remove or abate the hazard or danger. The Building Inspector has the power and the responsibility to vacate buildings that are found to be unfit for human habitation.
D. 
Recovery of costs. Costs incurred under Subsections C and D of this section shall be paid out of the municipal treasury on certification of the Building Inspector. Any person issued a notice pursuant to any provision of this chapter shall be subject to an administrative fee of $50. Such costs, together with said fifty-dollar administrative fee, shall be charged against the land on which the building existed as a municipal lien or cause such cost and/or administrative fee shall be added to the tax rolls as an assessment or to be levied as a special tax against the land upon which the building stands or did stand or to be recovered in a suit at law against the owner. The administrative fee of this subsection shall be waived in the event that all occupied units of the building have valid rental certificates.
[Amended 6-3-1996 by Ord. No. 96-31; 2-8-1999 by Ord. No. 99-01]
E. 
Appearance tickets as an alternative means of commencing prosecution.
[Added 8-20-1990 by Ord. No. 90-62; amended 5-23-1994 by L.L. No. 5-1994]
(1) 
The City Council deems it necessary to provide by law specially authorized public servants who may issue appearance tickets pursuant to Subdivision 3 of § 150.20 of the Criminal Procedure Law and § 10, Subdivision 4[a], of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York.
(2) 
The following public servants of the City of Schenectady are hereby authorized to issue appearance tickets in the performance of their respective duties when commencing prosecutions pursuant to this chapter, as well as Chapters 138, Building, Plumbing and Electrical Standards, and 208, Rat and Pest Control, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Schenectady: the Building Inspector, Assistant Building Inspector, Code Enforcement Officers, Plumbing Inspector and Electrical Inspector; and the following City employees are designated and empowered to issue appearance tickets for violations of § 167-46, entitled "Open areas," and § 167-49, entitled "Garbage and refuse": Solid Waste Department Supervisors, the Recycling Coordinator, the City Nuisance Inspectors and City fire fighters and Community Police Liaison Officers and Police Community Aid Officers.
[Amended 9-13-1999 by Ord. No. 99-15]
(3) 
The power to use the appearance ticket shall not imply any restraint upon the power of the aforementioned public servants to utilize any alternative methods of commencing prosecutions as may be provided by law.
(4) 
For purposes of this section, the term "appearance ticket" shall have the same definition as provided in Article 150, § 150.10, of the Criminal Procedure Law of the State of New York, and the procedure governing its uses shall conform in all respects to the procedure as enumerated in Article 150 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the State of New York and other applicable articles of that law.
[Amended 4-12-1993 by Ord. No. 93-17; 2-26-1996 by Ord. No. 96-10; 6-3-1996 by Ord. No. 96-33; 11-22-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-18]
A. 
Housing Code. Failure to comply with the terms of this chapter shall be a violation as defined by the Penal Law of the State of New York and shall be a violation and shall be punishable as follows:
(1) 
For a first offense: by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000.
(2) 
For a second offense of a prior violation of this chapter by the same person(s), firm(s) and/or corporation(s): by a fine of not less than $750 nor more than $1,500 or by a term of imprisonment of not less than five days nor more than 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
[Amended 9-12-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-16]
(3) 
For a third offense and any subsequent offenses thereafter of a prior violation of this chapter by the same person(s), firm(s) and/or corporation(s): by a fine of not less than $1,500 nor more than $3,000 or by a term of imprisonment of not less than five days nor more than 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
[Amended 9-12-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-16]
(4) 
In the alternative, each violation of this chapter may be punishable by a penalty of not less than $500 nor more than $3,000, to be recovered by the City in a civil action.
B. 
Building Code.
[Amended 9-12-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-16]
(1) 
When a person is convicted of failing to comply with any provision of the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (hereinafter "Uniform Code"), such person shall be subject to a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 per day of violation or by a term of imprisonment of not less than five days nor more than 15 days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) 
Each day of violation shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense.
(3) 
Fines levied shall constitute civil forfeitures to the City of Schenectady.
C. 
A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues unabated after the time limit set for the abatement of the violation.
D. 
Any person issued a notice of violation pursuant to any provision of this chapter shall be subject to an administrative fee of $50, and such administrative fee shall be charged against the land upon which the notice of violation was issued as a municipal lien or such administrative fee shall be added to the tax rolls as an assessment or levied as a special tax against said property or recovered in a civil suit against the person to which the notice of violation was issued.
[Added 2-26-1996 by Ord. No. 96-10]
All fines and penalties collected under § 167-15 of this chapter shall be received in a dedicated fund for the purpose of offsetting personnel costs of Code Enforcement Officers employed by the City of Schenectady.