New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 5 - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Chapter 27 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING ROOMING AND BOARDING HOUSES
Subchapter 4 - GENERAL BUILDING REQUIREMENTS
Section 5:27-4.7 - Maintenance

(a) Every foundation, floor, wall, ceiling, door, window, roof, or other part of a rooming or boarding house shall be kept in good repair and capable of the use intended by its design, and any exterior part or parts thereof subject to corrosion or deterioration shall be kept well painted.

(b) Every inside and outside stairway, every porch, and every appurtenance thereto shall be so constructed as to be safe to use and capable of supporting the load that normal use may cause to be placed thereon, and shall be kept in sound condition and good repair. Every stairway having three or more steps shall be properly banistered and safely balustraded.

(c) Every porch, balcony, roof, and/or similar place higher than 30 inches above the ground, used for egress or for use by occupants, shall be provided with adequate railings or parapets. Such protective railings or parapets shall be properly balustraded and be not less than three feet in height.

(d) Every roof, wall, window, exterior door, and hatchway shall be free from holes or leaks that would permit the entrance of water within a rooming or boarding house or be a cause of dampness.

(e) Every foundation, floor, and wall of a rooming or boarding house shall be free from chronic dampness.

(f) Every rooming and boarding house shall be free from rodents, vermin and insects. Rodent or vermin extermination and rodent proofing and vermin proofing may be required by the Bureau. Every openable window, exterior door, skylight, and other opening to the outdoors shall be supplied with properly fitting screens in good repair from May 1 until October 1 of each year. Such screens shall have a mesh of not less than No. 16.

(g) Every rooming and boarding house, including all exterior areas of the premises, shall be clean and free from garbage or rubbish and hazards to safety. Lawns, hedges and bushes shall be kept trimmed and shall not be permitted to become overgrown and unsightly. Fences shall be kept in good repair.

(h) The Bureau may order the licensee to clean, repair, paint, whitewash, or paper such walls or ceilings, when a wall or ceiling within a dwelling has deteriorated so as to provide a harborage for rodents or vermin, or when such a wall or ceiling has become stained or soiled, or the plaster, wallboard, or other covering has become loose or badly cracked or missing.

(i) Every water closet compartment floor and bathroom floor shall be so constructed and maintained as to be reasonably impervious to water so as to permit such floor to be kept in a clean condition.

(j) No licensee shall cause or permit any services, facilities, equipment, or utilities which are required under this subsection to be removed from, shut off, or discontinued in any rooming or boarding house or part thereof, 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 Bureau. In the event that any service or utility is discontinued, the licensee shall take immediate steps to cause the restoration of such service or utility.

(k) A licensee of a rooming or boarding house located in an area found by the Bureau 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 Bureau.

(l) No licensee shall allow to be occupied or let to a prospective resident any vacant rooming unit unless it is clean and sanitary.

(m) Every licensee shall be responsible for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition all areas of the rooming or boarding house.

(n) It shall be the responsibility of the licensee to provide for the orderly maintenance of the premises. The storage of objects or materials shall be done in an orderly manner so as to not constitute a health, safety, or fire hazard.