Definitions. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the
following terms shall, for the purpose of the Building Code, have
the meanings indicated in this section:
ALTERATION (as applied to a structure)
A change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the
exit facilities or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side
or by increasing in height, or the moving from one location or position
to another. The term "alter" in its various modes and tenses and its
participal forms refers to the making of an "alteration."
AMUSEMENT DEVICE
A mechanically operated device which is used to convey persons
in any direction as a form of amusement.
APARTMENT UNIT
That portion of a building used as a family or housekeeping
unit or a unit used by and occupied by the building superintendent
and his immediate family in the case of an apartment house or a unit
or units used for permitted professional purposes. If these apartment
units have provision for future subdivision, all provisions of this
Zoning Ordinance shall apply as if the division had actually taken
place.
[Added 11-28-1966]
APRON WALL
That part of a panel wall between the window sill and the
support of the panel wall.
BASEMENT
A story partly underground but having at least 1/2 of its
height above the average level of the lawfully established grade of
the street curb.A story partly underground but having at least 1/2
of its height above the average level of the lawfully established
grade of the street curb.A basement shall be counted as a story for
the purposes of height measurement if the vertical distance between
the ceiling and the average level of the lawfully established grade
of the street curb is more than four feet six inches. A basement may
not be used for persons to live in or sleep or for professional or
business purposes, except that in the case of an apartment house,
one apartment unit may be therein located to be used by and occupied
by the building superintendent and his immediate family only.
[Amended 11-28-1966]
BEARING WALL
A wall which supports any vertical load in addition to its
own weight.
BUILDING LINE
The line, established by law, beyond which a structure shall
not extend, except as specifically provided by law.
BULKHEAD BUILDINGS
A structure above the roof of any part of a structure enclosing
a stairway, tank, elevator machinery or ventilating apparatus or such
part of a shaft as extends above the roof.
CELLAR
A story entirely or partly underground and having more than
1/2 of its clear height below the average level of the lawfully established
grade of the street curb. A "cellar" shall not be considered a story
for the purposes of height measurement in determining the permissible
number of stories. A "cellar" may not be used for persons to live
in or sleep or for professional or business purposes.
[Amended 11-28-1966]
CONVERTED DWELLING
A dwelling heretofore erected to be used or occupied by one
family or by two families living independently of each other and heretofore
or hereafter used or occupied as a multiple dwelling. A "converted
dwelling" occupied as a Class A multiple dwelling is a Class A converted
dwelling and every other "converted dwelling" is a Class B converted
dwelling.
COURT
An open, uncovered and unoccupied space within the lot lines
of a lot and includes a yard.
CURB LEVEL
The elevation of a street grade as fixed by the municipal
authorities. In reference to a structure, it means that point of the
street grade that is opposite the center of the wall nearest to and
facing the street line of the street having the highest grade. In
reference to an excavation, it means that point of the street grade
which is nearest to the point of the excavation under consideration.
CURTAIN WALL
A nonbearing wall built between piers of columns for the
enclosure of the structure but not supported at each story.
DEAD LOAD
The weight of walls, partitions, framing, floors, roofs and
all other permanent construction of a structure.
DWELLING
A structure occupied exclusively as a residence for one or
two families or as a boardinghouse or rooming house having not more
than 10 sleeping rooms and not used for any business purposes other
than that necessarily incident to its use.
ELEVATOR
A device within or in connection with a structure used for
carrying persons or things upward or downward and includes escalators
and similar devices.
ENCLOSURE WALL
An exterior nonbearing wall in skeleton construction anchored
to columns, piers or floors but not necessarily built between columns
or piers nor wholly supported at each story.
FAMILY
One or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption
living and cooking or warming food as a single housekeeping unit and,
if consisting of more than one person, shall consist of a husband
and wife, parent and/or parents of husband and/or wife, child and/or
children of husband and/or wife, husband and/or wife of child, grandchild
and/or grandchildren of husband and/or wife, grandparent and/or grandparents
of husband and/or wife. Any person or persons other than those stated
herein are excluded and shall be considered another family or families.
[Amended 4-24-1967]
FIRE LIMITS
That territory or those districts within the Village described
in this code in which, with certain specified exceptions, frame and
unprotected metal construction are prohibited.
FIRE PARTITION
A subdividing partition built for the purpose of protecting
life by providing an area of refuge.
FIRE STAIRS
Fireproof stairs enclosed in fireproof walls within the body
of the structure which they serve to which access may be had only
through self-closing fireproof doors.
FIRE TOWER
A fireproof stair enclosed in fireproof walls without access
to the building from which it affords egress other than by a fireproof
self-closing door opening on a communicating balcony or other outside
platform at each floor level.
FLOOR AREA
A floor space enclosed by exterior walls, fire walls or fire
partitions or by any combination of them. The area covered by an enclosed
stairway or fire tower or the stairwell of an open stair need not
be considered as part of a floor area.
FLOOR FILLING
Floor construction, in fireproof construction only, having
spans not in excess of eight feet placed between or resting on steel
beams or steel beams and girders to serve both as a support of floor
loads and as a protection against the spread of fire.
FOUNDATION WALL
A wall or pier below the curb level serving as support for
a wall, pier, column or other structural part of a structure.
GARAGE
A structure, shed or enclosure or any part thereof in which
a motor vehicle containing volatile inflammable oil in its fuel storage
tank is stored, housed or kept.
HABITABLE ROOM
A room occupied by one or more persons for living, eating
or sleeping and includes kitchens serving individual households, but
does not include bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries,
serving and storage pantries, corridors, cellars and similar spaces
that are not used frequently or during extended periods.
HEAT-DETECTING ALARM SYSTEM
A system comprised of a heat detector and a remote alarm,
which detector, upon detection of abnormally high temperatures, activates
the alarm.
[Added 9-27-1976 by L.L. No. 7-1976]
HEIGHT
The vertical distance measured, in the case of flat roofs,
from the average level of the lawfully established grade of the street
curb to the level of the highest point of the parapet walls and, in
the case of pitched roofs, from said average level to the top. In
all instances, the height shall be measured from the average level
of the street curb grade to the highest point of the building.
HEREAFTER
After the time that the Building Code becomes effective.
HERETOFORE
Before the time that the Building Code becomes effective.
HOLLOW MASONRY
Masonry consisting in whole or in part, of hollow units meeting
the strength requirements of structural clay tile, gypsum block or
tile, inclusive, and in which the units are laid contiguously with
the joints filled with mortar.
HOLLOW WALL
Built of solid masonry units so arranged as to provide an
airspace within the wall. When hollow walls are built in two or more
vertically separated withes, these withes shall be bonded together
with the similar units as are used in construction of the wall so
that the parts of the wall will exert common action under load.
HORIZONTAL EXIT
The connection of any two floor areas, whether in the same
structure or not, by means of a vestibule or by an open-air balcony
or bridge or through a fire partition or fire wall.
HOTEL
An inn having at least 15 sleeping rooms.
INCOMBUSTIBLE MATERIAL
Any material which will not ignite or actively support combustion
in a surrounding temperature of 1,200° F. during an exposure of
five minutes.
LIVE LOADS
Movable loads on floors, loads due to machinery or other
appliances, all exterior loads due to snow and wind and all other
loads except dead loads.
LOT
A portion or parcel of land considered as a unit, devoted
to a certain use or occupied by a structure or group of structures
that are united by a common interest or use and the customary accessories
and open spaces belonging to the same.
LOT, CORNER
A lot that does not exceed 10,000 square feet in area, of
which any two adjacent street lines or, in the case of a curved street
line, the tangents at the ends of the arc forming the street line
of the lot form an angle of divergence from a straight line of more
than 45°.
LOT LINE
Any line dividing one lot from another or from a street or
other public space.
OPEN RECREATION SPACE
That portion of the lot, excluding front yards and parking
areas, in a single contiguous parcel, the width of which shall be
at least 40% of the length and must not be located within 10 feet
of any wall containing a window either on the came lot or an adjacent
lot.
[Added 11-28-1966]
OPEN SPACE
That portion of the lot area that is unoccupied, including
front, side and rear yards; parking areas and sidewalks; and the open
recreation space which is clear, open and unobstructed from the lawfully
established grade to the sky on the same lot with the building.
[Added 11-28-1966]
OWNER
Includes his duly authorized agent or attorney, a purchaser,
devisee, fiduciary and any person having a vested or contingent interest
in the property in question.
PARAPET WALL
That portion of a wall extending above the roof.
PARTITION
A nonbearing interior wall of one story or less in height.
PASSAGEWAY
An enclosed hallway or corridor connecting a required exit
to a street or other open space communicating with a street when such
required exit does not lead directly to a street.
PENTHOUSE
An enclosed structure, other than a bulkhead, extending not
more than 12 feet above a roof.
PUBLIC HALL
A hall, corridor or passageway not within an apartment. A
public room or public part of a dwelling is a portion of said dwelling
used or designed or intended to be used in common by the occupants
of two or more apartments in such dwelling or by persons who are not
tenants of said dwelling or exclusively for mechanical equipment of
such dwelling or for storage purposes.
REINFORCED CONCRETE
A special portland cement concrete in which steel is embodied
in such a manner that the two materials act together in resisting
forces.
REQUIRED
Required by some provision of the Building Code.
SHAFT
An enclosed shaftway or space, extending through one or more
stories of a structure and connecting a series of two or more openings
in successive floors or floors and roof.
SMOKE-DETECTING ALARM DEVICE, SINGLE-STATION
An assembly comprised of a photoelectric or ionization-type
smoke detector with control equipment and audible alarm in one unit,
which detector, upon detection of smoke activates the alarm.
[Added 9-27-1976 by L.L. No. 7-1976]
SPANDRELL WALL
That part of a panel wall above the window and below the
apron wall.
STAIR
Includes the stair landings and those portions of a public
hall through which it is necessary to pass in going between the entrance
floor and the roof.
STORY
That part of a structure comprised between a floor and the
floor or roof next above.
STREET
A thoroughfare dedicated or devoted to public use and includes
avenue, road, alley, lane, highway, boulevard, terrace, concourse,
driveway and sidewalk, but not a parkway.
STRUCTURE
A building or construction of any kind by means of a combination
of materials to form a construction that is safe and stable and shall
include, among other things, gospel and circus tents, reviewing stands,
platforms, stagings, poles, stacks, observation towers, radio towers,
sheds, coal bins, walls, fences over three feet in height, signs,
bulkheads and waterfront structures and parking fields. The term "structure"
shall be construed as though it were followed by the words "or part
thereof."
WATERFRONT STRUCTURES
Any structure used for wharfage or the retaining and protection
of embankments and filling, such as bulkheads, piers, docks, wharves,
etc.
WIDTH (as applied to a court)
The minimum average width taken along all sides, including
lot lines of the court, the widths along each side being measured
at right angles or normal to and from each side to the opposite side
at the point of measurement.
YARD
A court that extends along the entire length of a lot line.
A "street yard" is a yard extending along a street, a "side yard"
is a yard extending from a rear yard or a rear lot line to a street,
a court not extending to the street or yard is an inner court and
a court extending to the street or yard is an outer court.