New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 5 - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS › Chapter 28 - NEW JERSEY STATE HOUSING CODE › Subchapter 1 - STANDARDS OF HABITABILITY › Section 5:28-1.12 - Responsibilities of owners and occupants

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) No owner or occupant
				shall cause any services, facilities, equipment, or utilities which are required
				under this chapter to be removed from, shut off, or discontinued in any occupied
				dwelling let or occupied by him or her, except for such temporary interruption as
				may be necessary while actual repairs or alterations are in process or during
				temporary emergencies when discontinuance of service is authorized by the Public
				Officer. In the event that any service or utility which the owner has agreed to
				supply is discontinued, the owner shall take immediate steps to cause the
				restoration of such service or utility.
(b) The owner of a dwelling located in an area
				found by the Public Officer to be infested by rats, insects, or other vermin shall
				carry out such rat stoppage, vermin proofing, or other means of preventing
				infestations of said dwellings as may be required by the local health
				agency.
(c) No owner shall occupy or let
				to an occupant any vacant dwelling unit or lodging unit unless it is clean and
				sanitary.
(d) Every owner of a dwelling
				containing two or more units or lodging units shall be responsible for maintaining
				in a clean and sanitary condition the common areas of the dwellings and premises
				thereof.
(e) It shall be the
				responsibility of the owner, unless otherwise provided for under lease agreement, to
				provide for the orderly maintenance of the premises. The storage of objects or
				materials not covered in (g) and (h) below, or not otherwise prohibited by municipal
				ordinance shall be done in an orderly manner so as to not constitute a health,
				safety, or fire hazard.
(f) Every
				occupant of a dwelling shall keep in a clean and sanitary condition every part of
				the dwelling which he or she occupies and controls.
(g) Every occupant of a dwelling unit shall
				dispose of all of his or her garbage, and any other organic waste which might
				provide food for rodents, by placing it in the garbage disposal facilities or
				garbage storage receptacles required by
				5:28-1.5(a).
(h) Every occupant of a dwelling unit shall
				dispose of all of his or her rubbish in a clean and sanitary manner, by placing it
				in the rubbish containers required by
				5:28-1.5(b) and
				(c).
(i) In dwellings containing no more than three
				dwelling units, it shall be the responsibility of the occupant of each dwelling unit
				to furnish the receptacles outside the dwelling unit as are needed for the storage
				of garbage and rubbish until removal from the premises. In lodging houses, and in
				dwellings containing four or more dwelling units, it shall be the responsibility of
				the owner to furnish such receptacles outside the lodging units or dwelling units as
				are needed for the storage of garbage and rubbish until removed from the
				premises.
(j) Every occupant of a
				dwelling unit in a dwelling containing no more than three dwelling units shall be
				responsible, unless provided for otherwise under a lease agreement, for the periodic
				removal of all garbage and rubbish from the premises each week in accordance with
				such regulations of this Municipality for the collection of garbage and
				rubbish.
(k) Every occupant of a
				dwelling comprising a single dwelling unit shall be responsible for the
				extermination of any insects, rodents or other pests therein or on the premises; and
				every occupant of a dwelling unit in a dwelling containing more than one dwelling
				unit shall be responsible for such extermination whenever his or her dwelling unit
				is the only one infested. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this
				subsection, whenever infestation is caused by failure of the owner to maintain a
				dwelling in a ratproof or reasonable insect-proof condition, extermination shall be
				the responsibility of the owner. Whenever infestation exists in two or more of the
				dwelling units in any dwelling or in the common parts of any dwelling containing two
				or more dwelling units, extermination thereof shall be the responsibility of the
				owner.
(l) Every occupant of a dwelling
				unit shall keep all plumbing fixtures therein in a clean and sanitary condition and
				shall be responsible for the exercise of reasonable care in the proper use and
				operation thereof.
(m) In dwellings
				containing two or more dwelling units having a common source of heat for domestic
				hot water, it shall be the responsibility of the owner to make provision for the
				proper operation of such facilities at all times.
(n) Every owner of a dwelling, who permits to be
				occupied any dwelling unit or lodging unit therein under any agreement, expressed or
				implied, to supply or furnish heat to the occupants thereof, shall supply heat
				adequate to maintain therein a minimum inside temperature in all habitable rooms,
				bathrooms, and water closet compartments of 68 degrees Fahrenheit between the hours
				of 6:00 A.M. and 11:00 P.M., and 65 degrees Fahrenheit between the hours of 11:00
				P.M. and 6:00 A.M., from October 1 of each year to the next succeeding May
				1.
(o) In the absence of a contract or
				agreement to the contrary, an owner shall be obligated to provide heat whenever
				heating facilities are under the control of the owner or whenever two or more
				dwelling units or lodging units are heated by a common facility.
(p) The owner shall be responsible for compliance
				with all provisions of this chapter not specified as the responsibility of
				occupants.