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

(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.