Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 105 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH › Title 105 CMR 410.000 - Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation, State Sanitary Code, Chapter II › Section 410.020 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
Asbestos
means:
(1) chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite; or
(2) in fibrous form, tremolit-asbestos, anthophyllite-asbestos,
				or actinolite-asbestos.
Asbestos Material
means asbestos or
				any material containing asbestos.
Board of Health
means the appropriate
				and legally designated health authority of the city, town, county, or other
				legally constituted governmental unit within the Commonwealth having the usual
				powers and duties of the board of health of a city or town, or his or its
				authorized agent or representative.
Chronic Dampness
means the regular
				and/or periodic appearance of moisture, water, mold or fungi.
Compliance
means meeting all the
				requirements of
				105 CMR 410.000. It shall
				also mean correcting any violations of
				105 CMR 410.000 in a
				work-personlike fashion and restoring all parts of the dwelling, or unit
				thereof, to the condition they were in before occurrence of any such
				violations. Compliance shall also mean in those cases where licenses or permits
				are required to perform work necessary to correct the violations, such as, but
				not limited to building, plumbing and wiring that the appropriate official
				certifies that the work has been completed in accordance with applicable laws
				and regulations.
Compostable Material
means an organic
				material excluding waste water treatment residuals which has the potential to
				be composted and which is pre-sorted and is not contaminated by significant
				amounts of toxic substances, as those terms are or may be defined by
				310 CMR
				19.00:
Solid Waste Management
.
Composting
means a process of
				accelerated biodegradation and stabilization of organic material under
				controlled conditions yielding a product which can safely be used, as those
				terms are or may be defined by
				310 CMR
				19.00:
Solid Waste Management.
A Condition Making a Unit Unfit for Human
				Habitation
is a condition meeting the standard set forth in the
				Massachusetts General Laws under which a board of health may justify closing
				down, condemning, or demolishing a dwelling or dwelling unit. It shall mean a
				violation which poses such immediate harm or threat of harm to an occupant or
				to the public that other legal remedies cannot be reasonably expected to bring
				about removal of the condition with sufficient speed to prevent the serious
				harm or injury to the occupants or to the public.
A Condition Which May Endanger
or
				materially impair the health or safety and wellbeing of an occupant means the
				existence of a condition, listed in
				105 CMR
				410.750 or any other condition so certified
				by the board of health to be a violation, which may expose or subject to harm,
				the health or safety, and the well-being of an occupant or the public.
Dwelling
means every building or
				shelter including but not limited to rooming houses and temporary housing used
				or intended for human habitation and every other structure or condition located
				within the same lot line whose existence causes or is likely to effect
				noncompliance with the provisions of
				105 CMR 410.000.
Dwelling Unit
means the room or group
				of rooms within a dwelling used or intended for use by one family or household
				for living, sleeping, cooking and eating. Dwelling unit shall also mean a
				condominium unit.
Entry Door of a Dwelling
means any
				door of a dwelling which provides access to the common areas of the dwelling
				from the exterior of the dwelling except that when there are two doors which
				enclose an entryway between the common areas of the dwelling and the exterior
				of the dwelling it shall mean either of the doors.
Entry Door of a Dwelling Unit
means
				any door of a dwelling unit which provides access to the common areas of the
				dwelling or access to the outside of the dwelling.
Exterior Openable Window
means any
				window designed and installed to open which opens to the common interior areas
				of the dwelling or to the outside of the dwelling.
Exterminate
means to eliminate insects
				and rodents.
Garbage
means the animal, vegetable or
				other organic waste resulting from the handling, preparing, cooking,
				consumption or cultivation of food, and containers and cans which have
				contained food unless such containers and cans have been cleaned or prepared
				for recycling.
Habitable Room
means every room or
				enclosed floor space used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking,
				or eating purposes, excluding rooms containing toilets, bathtubs or showers and
				excluding laundries, pantries, foyers, communicating corridors, closets and
				storage spaces.
Historic building
means any building
				covered by
				105 CMR 410.000 which meets
				the definition of historic building as defined in 780 CMR 3409.0.
Infestation
means the recurrent
				presence of insects and/or rodents.
Legal remedy
means any common law and
				other rights guaranteed by judicial decision, or the laws or regulations of the
				Commonwealth of Massachusetts which are intended to protect the rights and
				interests of the occupants affected by violations of
				105 CMR 410.000 whether
				such provision authorizes an affirmative civil action, criminal penalties, a
				defense to an action or claim by another.
Means of Egress
means a continuous and
				unobstructed path of travel from any point in a dwelling to an abutting public
				way (See 780 CMR 1002.0) .
Mobile Dwelling Unit
means a dwelling
				unit built on a chassis and containing electrical, plumbing, and sanitary
				facilities and designed to be installed on a temporary or permanent foundation
				for permanent living quarters.
Occupant
means every person living or
				sleeping in a dwelling.
Owner
means every person who alone or
				severally with others:
(1) has legal title to any dwelling, dwelling unit, mobile
				dwelling unit, or parcel of land,vacant or otherwise, including a mobile home
				park; or
(2) has care, charge or control of any dwelling, dwelling unit,
				mobile dwelling unit or parcel of land, vacant or otherwise, including a mobile
				home park, in any capacity including but not limited to agent, executor,
				executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee or guardian of the estate of
				the holder of legal title; or
(3) is a mortgagee in possession of any such property;
				or
(4) is an agent, trustee or other person appointed by the
				courts and vested with possession or control of any such property; or
(5) is an officer or trustee of the association of unit owners
				of a condominium. Each such person is bound to comply with the provisions of
				these minimum standards as if he were the owner. Owner also means every person
				who operates a rooming house.
Person
means every individual,
				partnership, corporation, firm, association, or group, including a city, town,
				county or other governmental unit, owning property or carrying on an activity
				regulated by
				105 CMR 410.000.
Provide
means to supply and pay
				for.
Representative or Occupant's
				Representative
means any adult person designated and duly
				authorized to act on the occupant's behalf, including, but not limited to, any
				person or group designee from a tenant's organization or other community
				group.
Rooming House
means every dwelling or
				part thereof which contains one or more rooming units in which space is let or
				sublet for compensation by the owner or operator to four or more persons not
				within the second degree of kindred to the person compensated. Boarding houses,
				hotels, inns, lodging houses, dormitories and other similar dwelling places are
				included, except to the extent that they are governed by stricter standards
				elsewhere created; provided that the provisions of
				105 CMR 410.000 shall not
				apply to any hospital, sanitorium, convalescent or nursing home, infirmary or
				boarding home for the aged licensed by the Department of Public Health in
				accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 111, § 51 or 71.
Rooming Unit
means the room or group
				of rooms let to an individual or household for use as living and sleeping
				quarters but not for cooking, whether or not common facilities for cooking are
				made available; provided, that cooking facilities shall not be deemed common if
				they can be reached only by passing through any part of the dwelling unit or
				rooming unit of another.
Rubbish
means combustible and
				noncombustible waste materials, except garbage, and includes but is not limited
				to such material as paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber,
				leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, grass clippings, tin cans, metals,
				mineral matter, glass, crockery, dust, and the residue from the burning of
				wood, coal, coke and other combustible materials.
Stairway
means any group of stairs
				consisting of three or more risers.
Temporary Housing
means any tent,
				mobile dwelling unit, or other structure used for human shelter which is
				designed to be transportable and which is not attached to the ground, to
				another structure, or to any utility system on the same premises for more than
				30 days.
Use Group R-3
means all buildings
				arranged for occupancy as one or two family dwelling units, including not more
				than five lodgers per family and multiple single family dwellings where each
				unit has an independent means of egress and is separated by a two-hour fire
				separation assembly.
Exceptions:
(1) In multiple single-family dwellings that are equipped
				throughout with an approved sprinkler system installed in accordance with 780
				CMR 906.2.1 or 906.2.2, the fire resistance rating of the dwelling unit
				separation shall not be less than one hour. Dwelling unit separation wall shall
				be constructed as fire partitions.
(2) In multiple single-family dwellings that are equipped
				throughout with an approved automatic sprinkler system installed in accordance
				with 780 CMR 906.2.3, a two hour fire separation assembly shall be provided
				between each pair of dwelling units. The fire resistance rating between each
				dwelling unit shall not be less than one hour and shall be constructed as a
				fire partition (780 CMR 310.5) .
Use Group R-4
means all detached one
				and two family dwellings not more than three stories in height and all
				accessory structures (780 CMR 310.6) .
Violation
means any condition in a
				dwelling, dwelling unit, mobile dwelling unit, or rooming house or upon a
				parcel of land which fails to meet any requirement of
				105 CMR 410.000.
Water Conservation Device
means for
				all showers, shower stalls, shower compartments or shower baths, a low-flow
				showerhead which shall have a maximum flow rate not exceeding 2½ gallons
				of water per minute, for all faucets a maximum flow rate not exceeding two and
				2/10 gallons of water per minute and for all water closets, ultra-low-flush
				water closets not exceeding one and 6/10 gallons of water per flush, contained
				within a dwelling unit.
Water Submetering
means the use of a
				meter by an owner who receives water from a water company, as defined in M.G.L.
				c. 186, § 22, which meter measures water supplied to a dwelling unit to
				enable the owner to charge the tenant of the dwelling unit separately for water
				usage, or which meter measures water supplied to a common
				area.