If a building fails to meet the following minimum standards for continued use and occupancy, it is considered an UNSAFE BUILDING, and whenever the term is used in this subchapter, it means:
(A) The building is dilapidated, substandard or unfit for human habitation and a hazard to the public health, safety and welfare, more specifically defined as follows:
(1) The foundation or the vertical or horizontal supporting members are damaged or deteriorated to the extent that the building may collapse from its own weight or from the effects of wind, rain or other natural forces;
(2) The exterior roof, walls or flooring is damaged, dilapidated or decayed to the extent that the elements and vermin are not sealed out from the building’s occupants or contents;
(3) The means of egress are manifestly unsafe or unusable;
(4) Any part of the building is so attached that, from its own weight or from the effects of wind, rain or other natural forces, it may fall and injure occupants of the building, other persons or other property;
(5) The condition of the electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system serving the building poses a manifest hazard to the building’s occupants, other persons or other property; or
(6) The building has been damaged by fire, wind, water, vandalism or other causes to the extent that it poses a hazard to the occupants of the building, other persons or other property.
(B) (1) Regardless of its structural condition, if the building is unoccupied by its owner, lessee or other invitees and is unsecured from unauthorized entry to the extent that it could be entered or used by vagrants or other uninvited persons as a place of harborage or could be entered or used by children; or
(2) If the building is boarded up, fenced or otherwise secured in any manner, but:
(a) The building constitutes a danger to the public even though secured from entry; or
(b) The means used to secure the building are inadequate to prevent unauthorized entry or use of the building in the manner described by this division (B)(2).
(2012 Code, § 18-225)
Statutory reference:
Substandard buildings, see Tex. Local Government Code § 214.001