§ 9-8.306. Terms Defined.

As used in this chapter:

(a)

"Approved" shall mean approved by the Building Official.

(b)

"Anchored" shall mean secured in a manner that provides positive connection.

(c)

"Basement" shall mean that portion of a building which is partly or completely below grade.

(d)

"Bathroom" shall mean a room containing plumbing fixtures including a bathtub or shower.

(e)

"Bedroom" shall mean any room or space used or intended to be used for sleeping purposes in either a dwelling or sleeping unit.

(f)

"Building Official" shall mean the officer or other designated authority charged with the administration and enforcement of this Code, or duly authorized representative. The office and title of Chief Building Official of the City of Modesto shall serve as the officer responsible for administration and enforcement of this Code.

(g)

"Condemn" shall mean to adjudge unfit for occupancy.

(h)

"Detached" shall mean when a structural element is physically disconnected from another and that connection is necessary to provide a positive connection.

(i)

"Deterioration" shall mean to weaken, disintegrate, corrode, rust or decay and lose effectiveness.

(j)

"Dwelling unit" shall mean a single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one (1) or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.

(k)

"Easement" shall mean that portion of land or property reserved for present or future use by a person or agency other than the legal fee owner(s) of the property. The easement shall be permitted to be for use under, on, or above a said lot or lots.

(l)

"Equipment support" shall mean those structural members or assemblies of members or manufactured elements, including braces, frames, lugs, snuggers, hangers or saddles, that transmit gravity load, lateral load and operating load between the equipment and the structure.

(m)

"Exterior property" shall mean the open space on the premises and on adjoining property under the control of owners or operators of such premises.

(n)

"Extermination" shall mean the control and elimination of insects, rats or other pests by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that serve as their food; by poison spraying, fumigating, trapping or by any other approved pest elimination methods.

(o)

"Garbage" shall mean the animal or vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.

(p)

"Guard" shall mean a building component or a system of building components located at or near the open sides of elevated walking surfaces that minimizes the possibility of a fall from the walking surface to a lower level.

(q)

"Habitable space" shall mean space in a structure for living, sleeping, eating or cooking. Bathrooms, toilet rooms, closets, halls, storage or utility spaces, and similar areas are not considered habitable spaces.

(r)

"Housekeeping unit" shall mean a room or group of rooms forming a single habitable space equipped and intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating which does not contain, within such a unit, a toilet, lavatory and bathtub or shower.

(s)

"Imminent danger" shall mean a condition which could cause serious or life-threatening injury or death at any time.

(t)

"Labeled" shall mean devices, equipment, appliances, or materials to which has been affixed a label, seal, symbol or other identifying mark of a nationally recognized testing laboratory, inspection agency or other organization concerned with product evaluation that maintains periodic inspection of the production of the above-labeled items and by whose label the manufacturer attests to compliance with applicable nationally recognized standards.

(u)

"Let for occupancy" or "let" shall mean to permit, provide or offer possession or occupancy of a dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, building, premise or structure by a person who is or is not the legal owner of record thereof, pursuant to a written or unwritten lease, agreement or license, or pursuant to a recorded or unrecorded agreement of contract for the sale of land.

(v)

"Neglect" shall mean the lack of proper maintenance for a building or structure.

(w)

"Nuisances" shall mean the following:

(1)

Any public nuisance known at common law or in equity jurisprudence.

(2)

Any attractive nuisance which may prove detrimental to children whether in a building, on the premises of a building, or on an unoccupied lot. This includes any abandoned wells, abandoned swimming pools or spas, shafts, basements or excavations; abandoned refrigerators and motor vehicles; structurally unsound fences or structures; lumber, trash, fences, debris, or vegetation which may prove a hazard for inquisitive minors.

(3)

Conditions which are dangerous to the life, limb, health or safety of the public or building occupants.

(4)

Overcrowding a room with occupants.

(5)

Insufficient ventilation or illumination.

(6)

Inadequate or unsanitary sewage or plumbing facilities.

(7)

Uncleanliness.

(8)

Whatever renders air, food, or drink unwholesome or detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of human beings.

(9)

Any building or portion thereof which is determined to be substandard under this chapter.

(10)

Any building or structure or condition existing on a property which is defined as a public nuisance under this Code.

(x)

"Occupancy" shall mean the purpose for which a building or portion thereof is utilized or occupied.

(y)

"Occupant" shall mean any individual living or sleeping in a building, or having possession of a space within a building.

(z)

"Openable area" shall mean that part of a window, skylight or door which is available for unobstructed ventilation and which opens directly to the outdoors.

(aa)

"Operator" shall mean any person who has charge, care or control of a structure or premises which is let or offered for occupancy.

(bb)

"Owner" shall mean any person, agent, operator, firm or corporation having a legal or equitable interest in the property; or recorded in the official records of the State, county or municipality as holding title to the property; or otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.

(cc)

"Person" shall mean an individual, corporation, partnership or any other group acting as a unit.

(dd)

"Premises" shall mean a lot, plot or parcel of land, easement or public way, including any structures thereon.

(ee)

"Public way" shall mean any street, alley or similar parcel of land essentially unobstructed from the ground to the sky, which is deeded, dedicated or otherwise permanently appropriated to the public for public use.

(ff)

"Rooming house" shall mean a building arranged or occupied for lodging, with or without meals, for compensation and not occupied as a one-or two-family dwelling.

(gg)

"Rooming unit" shall mean any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit occupied or intended to be occupied for sleeping or living, but not for cooking purposes.

(hh)

"Rubbish" shall mean combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage; the term shall include the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible materials, paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery and dust and other similar materials.

(ii)

"Sleeping unit" shall mean a room or space in which people sleep, which can also include permanent provisions for living, eating and either sanitation or kitchen facilities, but not both. Such rooms and spaces that are also part of a dwelling unit are not sleeping units.

(jj)

"Strict liability offense" shall mean an offense in which the prosecution in a legal proceeding is not required to prove criminal intent as a part of its case. It is enough to prove that the defendant either did an act which was prohibited, or failed to do an act which the defendant was legally required to do.

(kk)

"Structure" shall mean that which is built or constructed or a portion thereof.

(ll)

"Tenant" shall mean a person, corporation, partnership or group, whether or not the legal owner of record, occupying a building or portion thereof as a unit.

(mm)

"Toilet room" shall mean a room containing a water closet or urinal but not a bathtub or shower.

(nn)

"Ultimate deformation" shall mean the deformation at which failure occurs and which shall be deemed to occur if the sustainable load reduces to eighty (80) percent or less of the maximum strength.

(oo)

"Ventilation" shall mean the natural or mechanical process of supplying conditioned or unconditioned air to, or removing such air from, any space.

(pp)

"Workmanlike" shall mean executed in a skilled manner; e.g., generally plumb, level, square, in line, undamaged and without marring adjacent work.

(qq)

"Yard" shall mean an open space on the same lot with a structure.

(Ord. 3513-C.S., § 2, effective 6-12-09)