[Adopted 4-12-1977 by Ord. No. 794 (Ch. 89 of the 1982 Code)]
A. 
Administrative officers.
(1) 
There is hereby established in the Borough of Leonia a State Uniform Construction Code enforcing agency to be known as the "Building Inspection Department," 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. The Construction Official shall be the chief administrator of the enforcing agency. The Construction Official shall be a part-time employee of the Borough, appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council. The Construction Official first appointed under this chapter shall serve for a term ending December 31, 1977, or until a successor is appointed and qualifies; appointments thereafter shall be for additional one-year terms until such time as the Official may be certified by the state. After certification, the Construction Official shall be appointed for a four-year term. All appointments shall be in conformity with the requirements of N.J.S.A. 52:27D-126.
(2) 
The salary of the Construction Official shall be no greater than $1,500 per year or as may be set, from time to time, in the Salary Ordinance of the Borough hereafter adopted, which shall supersede the salary section of this chapter. The salary shall compensate the Construction Official for up to 125 hours of service to the Borough per year; thereafter, the Construction Official shall be compensated at the rate of $12 per hour.
(3) 
The Construction Official shall be responsible to the Municipal Administrator for administrative purposes. The function of property maintenance inspection shall not be a responsibility of 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. 52:27D-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. 52:27D-1 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 5:23 to hold each position.
C. 
Except for emergencies and unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances, all business transactions between the Department of Building Inspection and the public shall take place at the Borough Hall. On-site inspections shall not be included in the requirements of this section.
A. 
There is hereby established a 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, 10 years' experience in construction, design or supervision as a journeyman in a construction trade or as a construction contractor, subcontractor or inspector.
B. 
Appointment.
(1) 
The Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council, shall appoint the Board members and any alternate members. For the members first appointed, the Mayor 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.
(2) 
The Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council, shall appoint such number of alternates, as may be appropriate, for terms not to exceed four years or may, in the alternative, appoint alternates on a case-by-case basis.
(3) 
No regular or alternate Board member may be a member of the enforcing agency, the decisions of which are subject to the review of the Board.
C. 
The members shall serve without compensation.
A. 
The subcode fees shall be as set forth in Chapter 123, Fees.
B. 
The Construction Official shall, with the advice of the Subcode Officials, prepare and submit to the governing body biannually a report recommending a fee schedule based on the operating expenses of the agency and any other expenses of the municipality fairly attributable to the enforcement of the State Uniform Construction Code Act.
C. 
In order to provide for the training, certification and technical support programs required by the N.J.S.A. 52:27-1 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 5:23, the enforcing agency shall collect in addition to the fees specified above, a surcharge fee of $0.0006 cubic foot of volume of new construction. Said surcharge fee shall be remitted to the Bureau of Housing Inspection, Department of Community Affairs, on a quarterly basis for the fiscal quarter ending September 30, December 31, March 31 and June 30 and not later than one month next succeeding the end of the quarter for which it is due. In the fiscal year in which N.J.A.C. 5:23 first becomes effective, said fee shall be collected and remitted for the third and fourth quarters only.
D. 
The enforcing agency shall report annually at the end of each fiscal year to the Bureau of Housing Inspection, and not later than July 31, the total amount of the surcharge fee collected in the fiscal year. In the fiscal year in which N.J.A.C. 5:23 first becomes effective, said report shall be for the third and fourth quarters only.
E. 
Waiver of building permit fees.
[Added 8-9-1999 by Ord. No. 6-99]
(1) 
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 herein.
(2) 
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.
(3) 
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 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 section "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.
A. 
The following fire limits are established pursuant to N.J.A.C. 5:23: the corporate boundaries of the Borough.
B. 
The Construction Official shall prepare and submit to the governing body biannually a report reevaluating the delineation of the fire limits. This report shall indicate the recommendations of the Construction Official, the Building Subcode Official and the Fire Subcode Official regarding those areas which should be designated as within fire limits with the reasons therefor.