(a) The owner, for purposes of inspection under rental registration shall provide the Code Official access to all areas of any building containing rental dwelling units and the Code Official shall be accompanied by the owner, property manager or authorized agent of the owner during inspections. Apartment buildings that contain three (3) or more rental units shall also be inspected by a designated City Fire Inspector in accordance with the West Virginia Fire Code(s).
(b) All inspections are performed to determine that each rental unit is in compliance with standards of the current adopted State Building Codes, the City Property Maintenance Standards and the Codified Ordinances of the City of Clarksburg.
(c) Code violation observed during inspections shall be entered on the Application For Certificate Of Use And Occupancy form as contingency for approval, with a reasonable timeline for completion of remediation.
(d) Approval and issuance of a Certificate of Use and Occupancy shall not be granted until the contingencies noted on the application have been completed and shown to be in compliance with the Codes and Ordinances.
(e) Violations considered non-life threatening or non-serious health threatening issues will not prevent continued occupancy of units previously occupied prior to the enactment of the Rental Property Registration Ordinance.
(f) Violations considered to be life threatening or serious health threatening issues require immediate remediation and may require vacating of the premises until such violations are remediated. The premises may be posted as Condemned. Examples of life and health threatening violations may include but not limited to: carbon monoxide from heating sources, absences of water, heat or electrical service, infestation by rats or disease carrying insects, structural collapse, or fire damage.
(g) Failure to comply with any lawful order of the Code Enforcement Office to remediate, or vacate will result in the issuance of a Citation to the owner/agent and/or the occupants of the penalties prescribed in Section 1712.06. Notices and Citations shall be delivered by the Code Enforcement Office in accordance with the City of Clarksburg Property Maintenance Standards.
Exception: The Inspection requirements within the Codified Ordinances of the City of Clarksburg may be satisfied by submitting a Certification of Inspection by a recognized Inspection Agency every Twenty Four (24) months as required for each unit. The Inspection Agency must be registered with the City and copies of the Inspector Certifications submitted to the Code Office to be kept on file.
(Ord. 17-16. Passed 10-19-17.)