[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of New Canaan 5-11-1977, effective 5-27-1977.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Subdivision and street regulations — See Ch. 55.
Zoning Regulations — See Ch. 60.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed
former Ch. 9, Building Code, adopted 7-11-1957, as amended, and former
Ch. 12, Demolition Code, adopted 7-28-1964.
The State of Connecticut Building Code of 1971
with amendments, effective April 19, 1974, and with subsequent amendments
thereto made to and including December 31, 1976, as provided for in
Chapter 354 of the General Statutes of Connecticut,[1] Revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 1977, shall be
effective in the Town of New Canaan, and the State Demolition Code
prescribed under Chapter 354a of the General Statutes of Connecticut,
Revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 1977, shall also be effective
in the Town of New Canaan.[2] Any amendments to the State of Connecticut Building Code
made after December 31, 1976, by the State Building Code Standards
Committee and the State Building Inspector shall not be effective
in the Town of New Canaan until the Chief Building Official of New
Canaan has received copies thereof duly certified by the State Building
Inspector, and any amendments to the State Demolition Code made by
the State Commission on Demolition after December 31, 1976, shall
not be effective in the Town of New Canaan until the Chief Building
Official of New Canaan has received from the State Commission on Demolition
copies thereof duly certified.
The Board of Selectmen shall appoint a Chief
Building Official to administer the State of Connecticut Building
Code, such Chief Building Official to be duly certified in accordance
with the provisions of § 19-397 of the General Statutes
of Connecticut,[1] Revision of 1958, as now or hereafter amended, who shall
hold office until November 15, 1977, and, commencing on November 15,
1977, the Board of Selectmen shall appoint a Chief Building Official,
who shall hold office for term of four years and until a successor
shall have qualified; and, quadrennially thereafter, the Board of
Selectmen shall so appoint a successor. The Chief Building Official
shall be the officer who shall administer the State Demolition Code.
The Board of Selectmen may appoint Assistant Building Officials, who
shall be certified under § 19-397 as aforesaid, whose terms
of office shall be coincidental with that of the Chief Building Official
and who shall be responsible to the Chief Building Official.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now Connecticut General Statutes, § 29-261.
The Chief Building Official may promulgate rules
for the operation of his department within the limitations set forth
in the State of Connecticut Building Code and is empowered to render
interpretations of the meaning and the intent of the provisions of
said code.
There shall be a Board of Building Appeals consisting
of five members, all of whom shall meet the qualifications set forth
in the State of Connecticut Building Code. The said Board shall be
appointed by the Board of Selectmen, the terms of office to be in
accordance with the State of Connecticut Building Code.
A.
In accordance with the provisions of the State of
Connecticut Building Code as now or hereafter amended, the following
fees shall be paid to the Building Department when work is done requiring
a permit:
[Amended 6-6-1989, effective 7-1-1989; 3-21-2001, effective 5-1-2001; 6-7-2005, effective 7-1-2005; 7-12-2005, effective 8-15-2005]
(1)
For all construction, $50 per first $1,000 of project
value and $10 per additional $1,000 of project value or part thereof.
(2)
For trade permits for electrical, plumbing, heating,
ventilation and cooling work, when the Chief Building Official shall
find that no building permit is required, the same rates as prescribed
above for building permits shall pertain.
(3)
Reinspection fee of $25.
(4)
Additional fee of $200 for work done without a permit.
B.
If the Chief Building Official shall determine, at
the time of the completion of the work for which a building permit
was applied for or was issued, that the additional cost of the completed
work was more than the estimated cost, an additional fee shall be
charged and collected from the owner of the premises at the rate prescribed,
and, in the event that a certificate of occupancy is required, it
shall not be issued until such additional fee is collected.
Field offices, toolhouses and builders' shanties
erected or placed on the site as an aid in the construction of a building
shall be immediately removed upon the completion of the building and
prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
No person shall use or allow to be used a space
heater in any building used in whole or in part as a place of human
habitation. As used in this section, "space heater" means a heating
appliance, with or without flue connection, which uses kerosene, range
oil or similar petroleum fuel and is utilized principally for the
heating of the space in and adjacent to that in which such appliance
is located. Said term includes any room heater known also as a parlor
heater or cabinet heater, oil stove, portable kerosene heater and
any similar oil-burning heater. Said term further includes any heating
appliance which uses gas and which does not provide suitable fresh-air
intakes. All other types of heating, cooling and ventilating equipment
shall be in accordance with provisions of the State of Connecticut
Building Code pertaining to same.
[Added 10-20-2010,[1] effective 11-5-2010]
A.
Purpose
and scope. This section is enacted under the authority of Connecticut
General Statutes § 7-148 for the purpose of protecting the
health and safety of New Canaan residents and visitors by requiring
the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in certain projects
requiring a Building Department permit and by requiring safe distances
between generators and residences. The requirements of this section
shall be triggered by:
(1)
All new residential construction for which a building permit is required;
(2)
All residential alterations or additions for which a building permit
is required;
(3)
Installation or replacement of any fuel-burning appliance, including,
without limitation, oil or gas burners, boilers, or furnaces, for
which any Building Department permit is required;
(4)
The outdoor installation of any fuel-burning generator for which
any Building Department permit is required.
B.
Carbon monoxide detectors required. In all projects triggered by the provisions of Subsection A(1), (2), and (3), above, the property owner shall install carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in accordance with the following minimum provisions:
(1)
At least one CO detector shall be installed in the immediate vicinity
of each sleeping room.
(2)
At least one CO detector shall be installed on each level of the
building, including finished or unfinished basements or cellars.
(3)
A minimum of one CO detector shall be installed per 3,000 square
feet (or portion thereof) of habitable space, and the CO detectors
shall be remote from one another. Remoteness shall be defined as 1/2
of the diagonal cross section of the story in which the CO detector
is installed.
(4)
In new construction, CO detectors must receive power from the primary
building power supply and have a battery backup in case the primary
power supply is interrupted and must be hard-wired and interconnected
in such a manner that the activation of one alarm will activate all
of the CO alarms in the dwelling unit.
(5)
In the case of any residential alterations or additions for which
a building permit is required, and also in the case of any installation
or replacement of any fuel-burning appliance, including, without limitation,
oil or gas burners, boilers, or furnaces, for which any Building Department
permit is required, CO detectors shall be installed throughout the
dwelling unit as required above for new construction, but portions
of the dwelling unit not affected by construction shall be permitted
to be individual CO detectors powered by battery alone and without
interconnection. When, in the course of renovations, additions or
alterations, the necessary sheetrock has been removed to facilitate
interconnection, CO detectors shall be interconnected and hard-wired.
(6)
In all cases, the CO detectors shall be installed in strict compliance
with the manufacturer's installation instructions as well as
the Connecticut State Building Code.
(7)
All CO detectors must provide some form of visual or audible signal
and must have been UL (Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.) listed. A
CO detector is deemed approved for this section if it bears the label
of a nationally recognized standard testing laboratory and meets the
revised standards of at least ANSI/UL 2034, Single and Multiple Station
Carbon Monoxide Alarms, or ANSI/UL 2075, Gas and Vapor Detectors and
Sensors, and subsequent revision or its equivalent. The CO detector
may be a combination smoke/gas/CO device.
C.
Generator
location. In the case of any installation of any fuel-burning generator
for which any Building Department permit is required, the property
owner shall locate the generator at least five feet from any building
(or portion thereof) containing residential habitable space and at
least 10 feet from any building opening.
D.
Enforcement and penalties. The Building Official is authorized to enforce the provisions of this section by withholding building permits, certificates of occupancy, and certificates of compliance and by issuing municipal citations up to $250 per day or the maximum allowed by Connecticut General Statutes § 7-148. The issuance, payment, and procedure to contest a citation shall be in accordance with Connecticut General Statutes § 7-152c and the citation hearing procedure in Chapter 11 of the Code of the Town of New Canaan. The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other remedies available to the Town of New Canaan under the Connecticut General Statutes, Connecticut State Building Code, Fire Code, Public Health Code, Zoning Regulations, other sections of the Town Code, or the common law. The issuance of citations under this section shall not preclude the exercise of such other remedies or an action at law or equity.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former § 9-8,
Fire limits.
A.
In accordance with the requirements of Section 1910.3(d)
of the National Flood Insurance Program Regulations, all building
construction undertaken in the Town of New Canaan for which a building
permit is issued subsequent to the effective date of this ordinance
and which is located in a designated floodplain (as delineated on
Flood Insurance Rate Maps) shall comply with the federal regulations
pertaining to floodplain management in such a manner as to ensure
that all structures, including their utilities and drainage, are located
and designed so as to prevent or minimize flood damage, as follows:
(1)
The lowest floor, including basement, of new residential
structures and additions to existing residential structures shall
be elevated to or above the height of the one-hundred-year-flood level.
(2)
The lowest floor, including basement, of new nonresidential
structures and additions to existing nonresidential structures shall
be elevated to or above the recorded height of the one-hundred-year-flood
level or be floodproofed, watertight and designed and so certified
by a registered professional engineer or architect to withstand hydrostatic
and hydrodynamic loads below the height of the one-hundred-year-flood
level.
(3)
The sills of all structures henceforth erected within
a designated floodplain shall be bolted to their foundations so as
to prevent flotation and lateral movement.
(4)
Private water supplies and sewage disposal systems
shall be located and designed to avoid contamination or impairment
of operation by flooding.
(5)
No encroachment shall be made in the floodway (as
portrayed in the Flood Insurance Rate Map) which would restrict the
passage of floodwaters and cause an increase above the one-hundred-year-flood
level. This prohibition applies but is not limited to filling and
regrading, as well as to new construction.
B.
Applicable federal regulations shall take precedence
over all conflicting laws and ordinances.
A.
No building permits or occupancy permits shall be
issued by the Chief Building Official except for a building or structure
on a lot which:
(1)
Abuts on an easement or right-of-way laid out prior
to February 11, 1946.
(2)
Abuts on an easement or right-of-way laid out subsequent
to February 11, 1946, and prior to January 1, 1956, in accordance
with the then existing Subdivision Regulations or Zoning Regulations.
(3)
Abuts on an accepted public road.
(4)
Abuts on a private road not less than 50 feet in width
which was laid out prior to December 1, 1952, in accordance with the
then existing Subdivision Regulations or Zoning Regulations.
(5)
Abuts on a road not less than 50 feet in width laid
out subsequent to December 1, 1952, or abuts on an accessway leading
therefrom laid out subsequent to January 1, 1956, in conformance with
the Subdivision Regulations or Zoning Regulations in effect when the
same was laid out, provided that the Town Engineer has advised the
Chief Building Official, in writing, that such road or accessway has
been sufficiently completed in accordance with the following provisions:
(b)
Installation under the traveled way of the graveled
base as required by the Town Subdivision Regulations.
(c)
Installation of all bridges, culverts, headwalls,
drainage ditches, stormwater drains and drainage appurtenances as
specified in the subdivision plan approved by the Town Planning and
Zoning Commission.
B.
Any building or structure erected in a subdivision
and for which no building permit was issued shall be deemed an unapproved
structure, and the Chief Building Official may bring action to enjoin
the erection of such building or structure or cause it to be removed
or to cause to be vacated any such building or structure.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall prevent
the issuance of a building permit for the construction of farm or
accessory buildings which are not in violation of any zoning or building
regulation of the Town.
