Pre-Occupancy Inspections of Rental Properties
The Town of Forest City requires that all rental property, such as single-family dwellings, duplexes, and all commercial properties, be inspected prior to renting. This does not, however, include quadplexes or apartments.
Property inspections allow the Town Inspector to document the condition of the rental dwelling before you move in. The inspector checks each room thoroughly for minimum housing code compliance providing you with a form that you can share with the property owner and/or landlord. This form documents the repairs the landlord may need to make or simply establish the problems that existed before you moved in. Using this form protects the landlord as well as the tenant.
Some common items that are looked at during a residential pre-occupancy inspection:
- Structural Standards: Structural Integrity, supports, foundations, steps, egress, interior materials, weatherization, chimneys, floors
- Plumbing Standards: Facilities, maintenance, accessibility
- Heating Standards: Heat source must be provided.
- Electrical Standards: Wiring, hall lights, maintenance
- Ventilation Standards: Generally, habitable rooms, bathroom and water closet room
- Space, Use and Location Standards: Room sizes, ceiling height, cellar.
- Safe and Sanitary Maintenance Standards: Exterior foundation, walls and roofs, interior floors, walls and ceilings, windows and doors, stairs, porches and appurtenances, bathroom and kitchen floors, supplied facilities, drainage.
- Insect, Rodent and Infestation Control Standards: Screens, Rodent Control, Infestation, Rubbish storage and disposal, garbage storage and disposal, smoke detector systems
- Rooming House Standards: Water closet, hand lavatory and bath facilities, minimum floor area for sleeping purposes, sanitary conditions, sanitary facilities.
Note— Full compliance with a standard means that if any part of the stated standard is not complied with by a particular dwelling, then that dwelling has failed to fully comply with the enumerated standard. For example, in regard to standard (10), if all standards are met in a dwelling except that a supply of hot water is not provided then the dwelling fails to fully comply with standard (10).
Any of the below conditions will classify the property as unfit for human habitation:
- (a) Interior walls or vertical studs which seriously list, lean or buckle to such an extent as to render the dwelling unsafe.
- (b) Supporting member or members which show thirty-three (33) percent or more damage or deterioration, or non-supporting, enclosing or outside walls or covering which shows fifty (50) percent or more of damage or deterioration.
- (c) Floors or roofs which have improperly distributed loads, which are overloaded, or which have insufficient strength to be reasonably safe for the purpose used.
- (d) Such damage by fire, wind or other causes as to render the dwelling unsafe.
- (e) Dilapidation, decay, unsanitary conditions or disrepair which is dangerous to the health, safety or welfare of the occupants or other people in the town.
- (f) Inadequate facilities for egress in case of fire or panic.
- (g) Defects significantly increasing the hazards of fire, accident or other calamities.
- (h) Lack of adequate ventilation, light, heating or sanitary facilities to such extent as to endanger the health, safety or general welfare of the occupants or other residents of the town.
- (i) Lack of proper electrical, heating or plumbing facilities required by this chapter which constitutes a definite health or safety hazard.
- (j) Lack of connection to a potable water supply and/or to the public sewer or other approved sewage disposal system, the lack of either one of which renders a dwelling unfit for human habitation. For the purposes of this standard, a dwelling is not connected to a potable water supply if the water supply has been "cut off" because of nonpayment of the water bill or otherwise or if the system for any reason is not receiving a flow of potable water to the tap.
Town of Forest City Code of Ordinances Part II Chapter 10, Section 10-8 Dwellings not in compliance but not unfit for human habitation.
In any case where the housing inspector determines that a dwelling fails to fully comply with one or more but less than five (5) of the above enumerated standards of dwelling fitness, such dwelling shall not be found to be unfit for human habitation and shall not be subject to the procedures and remedies as provided for in this chapter for dwellings unfit for human habitation. Each such failure of noncompliance, however, shall constitute a violation of the terms of this chapter and shall subject the violator to the penalties and enforcement procedures, civil or criminal or both, of section 1-13 of this Code. In making the determination as described in this section, the housing inspector shall not be required to make notice and hold the hearing as called for in section 10-6, but the housing inspector may do so if the determination of the severity and classification of dwelling fitness is not clear to the housing inspector upon preliminary investigation.
Commercial Property Pre-Occupancy Inspections will be subject to the same building and sanitary standards as residential properties and must also have the zoning and permitted use reviewed and approved prior to establishing utility services with the Town of Forest City and opening for business.