Title of Regulation: 13VAC5-63. Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (amending 13VAC5-63-470, 13VAC5-63-485).

Statutory Authority: § 36-98 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: September 4, 2018.

Agency Contact: Kyle Flanders, Policy Analyst, Department of Housing and Community Development, Main Street Centre, 600 East Main Street, Suite 300, Richmond, VA 23219, telephone (804) 786-6761, FAX (804) 371-7090, TTY (804) 371-7089, or email kyle.flanders@dhcd.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC) governs the construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of new and existing building and structures. The USBC uses nationally recognized model building codes and standards produced by the International Code Council and other standard-writing groups as the basis for the technical provisions of the regulation. Every three years, new editions of the model codes become available. At that time, the Board of Housing and Community Development initiates a regulatory action to incorporate the newest editions of the model codes into the regulation.

Final regulations for the USBC, including 13VAC5-63-470 E and 13VAC5-63-485, were published in Volume 34, Issue 18 of the Virginia Register of Regulations on April 30, 2018 (34:18 VA.R. 1744-1961 April 30, 2018), initiating a 30-day final adoption period. During that period, a number of petitions were received concerning substantive changes made between the proposed and final regulations. The board suspended the regulatory process for 13VAC5-63-470 E and 13VAC5-63-485 (refer to 34:22 VA.R. 2140-2141 June 25, 2018) and established an additional 30-day comment period for these provisions.

On July 30, 2018, the Board of Housing and Community Development considered the public comment on 13VAC5-63-470 E and 13VAC5-63-485. The board readopted 13VAC5-63-470 E as the final regulations were published and readopted 13VAC5-63-485 with the changes from the final regulations shown in brackets below.

13VAC5-63-485 as readopted allows the code official to request legal proceedings when a property owner is served with three or more separate notices of violation for the same property within any five consecutive years for specific types of violations.

13VAC5-63-470 E (Section 103.2.3 Responsibility).

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D. E. 103.2.3 Responsibility. The owner of a structure shall provide and maintain all buildings, structures, systems, facilities and associated equipment in compliance with this code unless it is specifically expressed or implied that it is the responsibility of the tenant or occupant.

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13VAC5-63-485. Section 105 Violations.

105.1 Violation a misdemeanor; civil penalty. In accordance with § 36-106 of the Code of Virginia, it shall be unlawful for any owner or any other person, firm or corporation, on or after the effective date of any code provisions, to violate any such provisions. Any locality may adopt an ordinance that establishes a uniform schedule of civil penalties for violations of specified provisions of the code that are not abated or remedied promptly after receipt of a notice of violation from the local enforcement officer.

Note: See the full text of § 36-106 of the Code of Virginia for additional requirements and criteria pertaining to legal action relative to violations of the code.

105.2 Notices, reports and orders. Upon findings by the code official that violations of this code exist, the code official shall issue a correction notice or notice of violation to the owner or the person responsible for the maintenance of the structure. Work done to correct violations of this code subject to the permit, inspection and approval provisions of the VCC shall not be construed as authorization to extend the time limits established for compliance with this code.

105.3 Correction notice. The correction notice shall be a written notice of the defective conditions. The correction notice shall require correction of the violation within a reasonable time unless an emergency condition exists as provided under the unsafe building provisions of Section 106. Upon request, the correction notice shall reference the code section that serves as the basis for the defects and shall state that such defects shall be corrected and reinspected in a reasonable time designated by the code official.

105.4 Notice of violation. If the code official determines there are violations of this code a written notice of violation may be issued to the owner or the person responsible for the maintenance or use of the building or structure in lieu of a correction notice as provided for in Section 105.3. In addition, the code official shall issue a notice of violation for any uncorrected violation remaining from a correction notice established in Section 105.3. The code official shall provide the section numbers to the owner for any code provisions cited in the notice of violation. The notice shall require correction of the violation within a reasonable time. The owner or person to whom the notice of violation has been issued shall be responsible for contacting the code official within the timeframe established for any reinspections to assure the violations have been corrected. The code official will be responsible for making such inspection and verifying the violations have been corrected. In addition, the notice of violation shall indicate the right of appeal by referencing the appeals section of this code.

Exceptions:

1. Notices issued and legal proceedings or emergency actions taken under Section 106 for unsafe structures, unsafe equipment, or structures unfit for human occupancy.

2. Notices issued for failing to maintain buildings and structures as required by Section 103.2, as evidenced by multiple or repeated violations on the same property are not required to include a compliance deadline for correcting defects.

105.5 Coordination of inspections. The code official shall coordinate inspections and administrative orders with any other state or local agencies having related inspection authority and shall coordinate those inspections required by the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code (13VAC5-51) for maintenance of fire protection devices, equipment, and assemblies so that the owners and occupants will not be subjected to numerous inspections or conflicting orders.

Note: The Fire Prevention Code requires the fire official to coordinate such inspections with the code official.

105.6 Further action when violation not corrected. If the responsible party has not complied with the notice of violation, the code official may request the legal counsel of the locality to institute the appropriate legal proceedings to restrain, correct or abate the violation or to require the removal or termination of the use of the building or structure involved. In cases where the locality or legal counsel so authorizes, the code official may issue or obtain a summons or warrant. [ Compliance with a notice of violation notwithstanding, the code official may request legal proceedings be instituted for prosecution when a person, firm or corporation is served with three or more notices of violation for the same property.

105.6.1 Further action for corrected violations: Compliance with a notice of violation notwithstanding, the code official may request legal proceedings be instituted for prosecution when a responsible party is served with three or more separate notices of violation for the same property within any five consecutive years. Legal proceedings shall not be instituted under this section for violation notices issued pursuant to the initial inspection of the property. Legal proceedings for violations that have been abated in residential rental dwelling units within a multifamily apartment development may only be instituted for such violations that affect safe, decent or sanitary living conditions.

Exception: Legal proceedings shall not be instituted for violations that have been abated on owner-occupied single family dwellings. ]

105.7 Penalties and abatement. Penalties for violations of this code shall be as set out in § 36-106 of the Code of Virginia. The successful prosecution of a violation of the code shall not preclude the institution of appropriate legal action to require correction or abatement of a violation.