Dangerous Building Regulations
Dangerous Building Regulations define the criteria for identifying structures that pose a threat to public health, safety, or welfare, and establish the legal procedures for their remediation. These regulations are primarily detailed in ordinance-no-3963, which was adopted as an emergency measure to address dilapidated and unsafe buildings in the city-of-miami (p. 352).
Definition of Dangerous Buildings
A building is deemed “dangerous” if it exhibits specific structural, sanitary, or safety deficiencies. Key criteria include:
- Structural Integrity: Walls or vertical members that list or buckle such that the center of gravity falls outside the middle third of the base (p. 352). Significant damage or deterioration, defined as 33% or more of supporting members or 50% of non-supporting walls (p. 352).
- Safety Hazards: Structures damaged by fire, wind, or other causes, making them dangerous to life or safety (p. 352). Inadequate egress facilities, such as insufficient stairways or fire escapes (p. 352).
- Sanitation and Habitability: Lack of essential amenities for decent living, including inadequate toilet, bath, water, or electricity facilities (p. 353). Overcrowding, defined as more than 1.5 persons per room or specific ratios of persons to sleeping rooms (p. 353).
- Fire Menace: Any structure that constitutes a fire hazard (p. 352).
The appraisal technique developed by the Committee on the Hygiene of Housing of the American Public Health Association is used to measure housing quality deficiencies (p. 353).
Standards for Remediation
The building-inspector or the building-board-of-appeals determines the appropriate action based on the building’s condition:
- Repair: Ordered if the building can reasonably be repaired to comply with the ordinance (p. 354).
- Vacation: Ordered if the building is dangerous to the health, morals, safety, or general welfare of its occupants (p. 354).
- Demolition: Ordered if the building is 50% damaged or decayed, cannot be repaired to comply with the ordinance, or constitutes an unmitigated fire hazard (p. 354).
Enforcement and Appeals
The building-inspector is responsible for semi-annual inspections of public buildings and annual inspections of all buildings in the city (p. 354). Upon finding a dangerous building, the inspector issues a written notice to the owner and interested parties, detailing the violations and required actions (p. 355).
Owners may appeal the inspector’s decision to the building-board-of-appeals, a five-member board comprising master builders, structural engineers, and architects (p. 356). The board holds hearings, makes findings of fact, and issues final orders for repair, vacation, or demolition (p. 357). Failure to comply with these orders can result in the city performing the work and placing a lien on the property, or prosecuting the owner for fines up to $500 and imprisonment up to 60 days (p. 357, p. 359).