Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms, for the purpose of this Building and Housing Code, shall have the meanings and usage indicated in this section. Words used in the present tense include the future; words in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter; the singular number includes the plural and the plural the singular. Where terms are not defined in this Building and Housing Code, they shall have their ordinarily accepted meanings or such as the context may imply. Definitions as contained in OAC Chapter 4101:2-2 and other provisions of the Ohio Building Code shall be applicable to all types of construction within the City, except that when they conflict with definitions contained in this Building and Housing Code, the definitions used in this Building and Housing Code shall prevail.
(1) ADDITION means any extension or enlargement.
(2) ALLEY means any public space or thoroughfare less than thirty feet in width which has been dedicated or deeded for public use.
(3) ALTERATION, as applied to a building or structure, means a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in window or exit facilities or a change of class of occupancy. The term "alter", in its various modes and tenses and its participle forms, refers to the making of an alteration.
(4) APARTMENT means a household unit in a multiple dwelling, which unit is arranged, intended or designed to be occupied as the residence of a single family, individual or a group of not more than five individuals not related by blood or marriage.
(5) APPROVED, as applied to a material, device or mode of construction, means approved by the board designated under the provisions of this Building and Housing Code, or by other authority designated by law, to give approval in the matter in question.
(6) APPROVED MASONRY means masonry constructed of brick, stone, concrete, hollow block or other material approved after testing, or a construction of these materials.
(7) AREA, as applied to the dimensions of a building, means the maximum horizontal projected area of the building at grade.
(8) AREA OF A FLOOR, or the "floor area of a story", means the area of a horizontal plane bounded by the finished interior surface of the exterior walls, and includes interior columns, partitions, stairs, corridors and elevators, unless otherwise provided.
(9) AREA OF A STORY means the area of a horizontal plane taken at the floor level of a given story and bounded by the outside lines of the enclosing walls of a building. When one or more party walls are a part of the enclosing walls, the lot line of the party wall is used as the boundary.
(10) BASE COURSE means the course or courses of masonry next above the grade line.
(11) BASEMENT means a story partly underground, but having not more than half its ceiling height below the average adjoining grade. For the purpose of this definition, each separate room or compartment of a story partly underground shall be considered separately.
(12) BAY means one of the intervals or spaces into which a building front or plan is divided by columns or division walls.
(13) BAY WINDOW means a rectangular, curved or polygonal window which projects from the balance of the enclosing wall.
(14) BEAM means structural members ordinarily subject to bending stresses, usually horizontal and carrying vertical loads, and other than joists, girders or trusses. In floor framing, other than "flat slab" construction, "beam" means the members which directly support the floor plank, deck slab or arches where joists are not used.
(15) BRICK means a solid masonry unit having a shape approximately that of a rectangular prism, not larger than twelve inches by four inches by four inches. A brick may be made of burned clay or shale, of lime and sand, of cement and suitable aggregates, or of fire clay or other approved materials.
(16) BUILDING means any construction built or used for the shelter, enclosure or support of persons, animals or chattels, and any part of such construction divided by required fire separations. The term "building" shall be construed as if followed by the words "or part thereof."
(17) BUILDING LINE means the building line established by the Zoning Code.
(18) BUILDING OFFICIAL means the person charged with the administration and enforcement of this Building and Housing Code or his or her duly authorized representative.
(19) CEILING HEIGHT means the height from the finished floor to the finished ceiling.
(20) CLEAR HEIGHT means, with reference to a ceiling, the least height from a finished floor to the underside of the lowest beam, floor or roof member over such floor.
(21) CODE means any and all ordinances or laws set forth in this Building and Housing Code.
(22) CONCRETE means a mixture of Portland cement, aggregate and water, of such materials, proportions and manipulations as to give specified results:
A. "Average concrete" means a mixture of one part of Portland cement and not more than six parts, by volume, of fine and coarse aggregate, measured separately, and the necessary water.
B. "Controlled concrete" means concrete where the materials are scientifically selected, graded and proportioned to give specified results.
C. "Reinforced concrete" means Portland cement concrete in which steel is embedded in such a manner that the two materials act together in resisting forces.
(23) COST, as applied to the cost of construction, building operation or building equipment, means the cost, in money, of the material, the cost of the use of equipment, rentals, fees, the cost or value of the labor and all other costs entering into the construction, building operation or building equipment, including the planning in connection therewith.
(24) CUBIC CONTENT, as applied to a building, means the geometric volume contained between the lowermost basement floor level or levels, the top surface of the roof and the outside surface of the exterior walls, or in the absence of an exterior wall or walls, the vertical planes at the outside edge or edges of the roof of said building. Cubic content includes the volume contained in dormers, roofed porches and enclosed appendages. It does not include the volume contained in courts and light shafts which have no roof, or the volume contained in outside steps, cornices or parapets.
(25) CURB LEVEL means the elevation of the street grade as fixed by the Municipal authorities.
A. Referring to a building, it means the elevation at the point of the street grade that is opposite the center with respect to length of the wall nearest to and facing the street line. NOTE: Compare with the definition of "grade" and "established grade".
B. Referring to an excavation, it means the elevation at that point of the street grade which is nearest to the point of the excavation under construction.
(26) DEAD LOAD means the weight of walls, permanent partitions, framing, floors, roofs and other permanent and stationary construction of a building.
(27) DWELLING means a building occupied or arranged, intended or designed to be occupied for residential purposes by not more than three families.
(28) ESTABLISHED GRADE means the elevation of a street or alley grade as established by Municipal authorities.
A. Referring to a building, it means the elevation at the point of the street grade that is opposite the center with respect to length of the wall of the building nearest to and facing the street line.
B. Referring to an excavation, it means the elevation at that point of the street grade which is nearest to the point of the excavation under construction.
(29) EXISTING BUILDING OR STRUCTURE means a building or structure constructed, being constructed or to be constructed under a proper building permit issued prior to the effective date of this Building and Housing Code; or a building situated, at the time of annexation, on land annexed to the City; or a condition that existed prior to the effective date of this Building and Housing Code.
(30) FACTOR OF SAFETY means the quotient obtained by dividing the breaking load or ultimate strength of a material by the safe drop of design load.
(31) FAMILY means a group of not more than five individuals, not related by blood or marriage, living and cooking together on the premises as a single housekeeping unit, or a group related by blood or marriage living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit with, in addition thereto, not more than four roomers.
(32) FIRE CHIEF means the Chief of the Fire Division or his or her authorized representative.
(33) FIRE DOOR means a door and its assembly, so constructed and assembled in place as to give the specified protection against the passage of fire.
(34) FIRE PARTITION means a partition which subdivides a building to restrict the spread of fire or to provide areas of refuge, but is not necessarily continuous through all stories, nor extended through the roof, and which has a fire-resistance rating of at least two hours.
(35) FIRE WALL means a wall, as provided for in this Building and Housing Code, which subdivides a building or separates buildings to restrict the spread of fire and which starts at the footings and extends continuously through all stories to and above the roof, except where the roof is fireproof or semifireproof, and which is carried up tightly against the underside of the roof slab.
(36) FIRST STORY means a story having its floor line less than eight feet above the grade line at any entrance to or exit from such story. Where the main floor line is eight feet or more above the grade line at any entrance to or exist from the next story above the basement, the basement shall be rated as the first story, except as provided otherwise in this Building and Housing Code.
(37) FLIGHT OF STAIRS means a continuous series of steps from one landing to another.
(38) FLOOR AREA means a floor space enclosed by exterior walls, firewalls or fire partitions, or by a combination of them.
(39) FOOTING means the bottom bearing course or courses of a foundation wall, pier or column.
(40) FOUNDATION means the portion of the supporting walls, piers, etc., below the first or ground floor framing, including the footings.
(41) GARAGE means a building, shed or enclosure, or a part thereof, in which a motor vehicle is stored, housed, repaired or kept. Within the meaning of this definition, that part of a building which harbors a motor vehicle of any kind, having gasoline or other volatile flammable oil, no matter how little or for what purpose, in its fuel storage tank, is a garage, irrespective of the occupancy of other parts of the building. A motor vehicle repair shop shall be included in this term, as well as an automobile sales room, if there is gasoline in the tank of any vehicle housed therein.
(42) GASOLINE SERVICE STATION means a structure, building or premises, or any portion thereof, where volatile flammable liquid for retail supply to motor vehicles is stored, housed or sold.
(43) GIRDER means a structural member ordinarily subject to bending stresses, usually horizontal and usually carrying concentrated loads. "Girder" also means a large, heavy beam or a large built up section commonly referred to by professional structural engineers as a girder and carrying heavy loads or loads from more than one story of a building. In floor and roof framing, "girder" means a structural member, usually horizontal in floor construction, supporting one or more cross beams, joists, purlins, columns or other girders.
(44) GRADE means:
A. With reference to a building or structure, when not otherwise qualified and when the curb level has been established, the mean elevation of the curb level opposite those walls that are located on, or substantially parallel with and within fifteen feet of, street lines; or when not otherwise qualified and when the curb level has not been established, or the structure or all the walls of the building are more than fifteen feet from the street line, the mean elevation of the ground adjoining the building or structure on all sides.
B. With reference to a material, an established size, quality or value, or a size, quality or value with respect to an established size, quality or value of said material.
C. With reference to an incline, the degree of inclination as compared to the horizontal.
(45) HABITABLE ROOM means a room or space within a building, occupied or to be occupied by one or more persons, for working, entertaining, worshiping, living, eating, sleeping or for other purposes of human occupancy. It includes kitchens, serving apartments and individual households, but does not include bathrooms, water closet compartments, private laundries, serving and storage pantries, corridors, cellars and spaces that are not used frequently or during extended periods.
(46) HEIGHT, as applied to a building, means the vertical distance from grade to the highest finished roof surface in the case of flat roofs, or to a point at the average height of roofs having a pitch of more than one foot in four and one-half feet. The height of a building in stories does not include basements or cellars.
A. "Height", as applied to a story, means the vertical distance from top to top of two successive tiers, floor beams or finished floor surfaces.
B. "Height", as applied to a wall, means the vertical distance to the top measured from the top of the foundation wall, or from a supporting girder or other immediate support of such wall.
(47) HOLLOW MASONRY means a cellular building unit of burnt clay or concrete, or other approved noncombustible material, the gross cubic content of which is not less than fifty percent greater than the standard size of brick and the cellular spaces of which are in excess of twenty-five percent of the gross cubic content of the unit.
(48) HOUSEHOLD UNIT means a room or suite of rooms equipped with or containing one or more facilities for cooking food, and which room or suite of rooms is occupied, or arranged, intended or designed to be occupied, as the residence of a single family, individual or group of not more than five individuals not related by blood or marriage. A household unit located in a business building shall be treated as an apartment.
(49) IDENTIFICATION INDEX means a set of numbers used in the marking of sheathing grades of plywood. The left hand number refers to the spacing of roof framing in inches and the right hand number refers to the spacing of floor framing in inches. The identification index takes into account the panel thickness and wood species used in the manufacture of the panel.
(50) INCOMBUSTIBLE means articles, goods, wares, merchandise or materials of construction which will not burn or support combustion.
(51) JOIST means a structural member, ordinarily subject to bending, usually horizontal in floor framing and horizontal or slightly inclined in roof framing, and which directly supports the floor or roof plank, deck or slab, and is limited in its spacing because of its classification by this Building and Housing Code.
(52) LANDING means a required platform at the end of a flight of stairs, and any platform in a flight of stairs between two stories.
(53) LENGTH OF A BUILDING means its greatest horizontal dimension.
(54) LINTEL means the beam or girder placed over a door, window or other wall opening.
(55) LIVE LOAD means all loads except dead loads.
(56) LOT means a portion or parcel of land considered as a unit, devoted to a certain use or occupied by a building or a group of buildings that are united by a common interest and use, and the customary accessories and open spaces belonging to the same.
(57) LOT LINE means a line dividing one lot from another, or from a street or another public space. A lot line which is a thoroughfare right-of-way line shall be known as a street line.
(58) MAJOR ALTERATION means an alteration in any of the structural parts, exits, entrances, window openings or stairways, or any alteration in connection with a change of occupancy of a building or structure.
(59) MASONRY. See APPROVED MASONRY.
(60) MEZZANINE means an intermediate floor placed in any story of a building. When the total area of a mezzanine floor in any one-story building exceeds thirty-three and one-third percent of the total area of the floor of the room or building in which such mezzanine is placed, the mezzanine shall, for the purpose of this Building and Housing Code, be considered an additional story.
(61) MINOR REPAIRS means the renewal or replacement of any existing part or parts of a building or structure, in keeping with its existing type of construction, arrangement of parts and occupancy, for maintenance purposes, when the structural parts of the building or structure are not affected.
(62) MULTIPLE DWELLING means an apartment house, hotel, lodging house, tenement house, flat, dormitory, convent, monastery or rooming house for over four roomers, in each unit of a two-family dwelling or three-family dwelling, and similar residential occupancies. A multiple dwelling does not include one or two-family houses.
(63) MULTIFAMILY HOUSE means a building or portion of a building occupied, or arranged, intended or designed to be occupied, as the home or residence of individuals, families or households living independently of each other, of which three or more are equipped for cooking within their apartments, including, but not limited to, a tenement house, an apartment house, a flat or a town house/row house.
(64) NEW means constructed, being constructed or to be constructed under a permit issued after the effective date of this Building and Housing Code, or constructed or being constructed without a proper permit after the effective date of this Building and Housing Code.
(65) NOSING, as applied to a stair tread, means the projection of the tread in front of the riser.
(66) OCCUPANCY means the purpose for which a building or structure is used or intended to be used, as such occupancies are defined in the Ohio Basic Building Code, this Building and Housing Code or other ordinances of the City.
(67) OCCUPIED, as applied to a building, shall be construed as though followed by the words "or intended, arranged or designed to be occupied".
(68) OWNER includes a duly authorized agent or attorney, a purchase, a devisee, a fiduciary and a person having a vested or contingent interest in the property in question.
(69) PANELING means plywood paneling or any type of wood applied directly over wood studs after achieving three-fourths hour fire rating.
(70) PARTITION means an interior subdividing wall.
(71) PASSAGEWAY means an enclosed hallway or corridor connecting a required exit to a street or other open space communicating with a street when such required exit does not lead directly to a street.
(72) PERSON shall be construed as if followed by the words "or persons, firm, corporation or organization, agents, heirs or assigns".
(73) PIER means isolated masses of masonry forming supports for structural members.
(74) PILASTER means masonry projecting from the general line of a masonry wall, as a pier flat against the wall and bonded thereto, to support concentrated loads, to strengthen the wall, to cover a column or for architectural effect, the projection from the wall being not more than one-fourth of the breadth of the pilaster.
(75) PLYWOOD means all plywood, which, when used structurally, including, among other uses, use for siding, roof and wall sheathing, subflooring, diaphragms and built-up members, shall comply with the U.S. Product Standard PSI-66 for Softwood Plywood/Construction and Industrial. Each panel shall be identified for grade and glue type by the grade trademarks of a recognized association or testing agency.
(76) PORCH means a roofed structure against and projecting from the exterior walls of a residential building.
A. "Open porch" means a porch having at least forty percent of each side and front, above the floor level, open and without enclosing features, except fly screening.
B. "Enclosed porch" means a porch having at least forty percent of each side and front, above the floor level, devoted to clear glass.
(77) POST means a wooden column.
(78) PURLIN means a structural member in the roof framing, usually horizontal, which directly supports the roof plank, deck, slab or rafters between trusses, arches or inclined girders.
(79) RAFTER means an inclined structural member in the roof framing, the length of which usually follows the slope of the roof and which directly supports the roof plank, deck or slab.
(80) REPAIR means the renewal or replacement of any existing part or parts of a building or structure, in keeping with its existing type of construction, arrangement of parts and occupancy, for maintenance purposes, including repairs because of fire damage caused by the force of objects and the elements against a building or structure.
(81) REQUIRED means required by some provision of this Building and Housing Code, other ordinances of the City or the Ohio Building Code.
(82) RETAINING WALL means a wall used to resist a lateral load from a mass of earth, coal or other material.
(83) RISER means the vertical part of a step.
(84) ROOF STRUCTURE means the structure above the roof of any part of a building enclosing a stairway, tank elevator machinery or ventilating apparatus, or such part of a shaft as extends above the roof.
(85) SECONDARY MEMBERS means wind bracing, members for erection purposes only, sag rods, bridging and ordinary bracing used only for reduction of the unbraced length of compression members.
(86) SHED means a roofed one-story structure, open on one or more sides, and not a porch, as defined herein.
(87) SIDEWALK means the part of a public street or alley provided or set apart as a walk for pedestrians, including a planting strip when the same exists, as distinguished from the roadway of such street or alley.
(88) SOLID MASONRY UNIT means a masonry unit whose net cross-sectional area in every plane parallel to the bearing surface is seventy-five percent or more of its gross cross-sectional area, measured in the same plane.
(89) STAIR HALL means any public hall or corridor containing or leading to the stairs or other means of egress from a building and not separated from the stairs by fire doors.
(90) STAIRWAY means one or more flights of stairs and the necessary landings and platforms connecting them, to form a continuous and uninterrupted passage from one story to another in a building or structure.
(91) STEP means a combination of a tread and a riser.
(92) STREET means any public thoroughfare, street, avenue, boulevard, park or space thirty feet or more in width, which has been dedicated or deeded to the public use.
(93) STRUCTURE means a combination of materials to form a construction, and includes, among other structures, buildings, stadiums, gospel and circus tents, reviewing stands, platforms, stagings, observation towers, radio towers, water tanks, trestles, piers, wharves, open sheds, coal bins, shelters, fences, outdoor advertising displays, tunnels, retaining walls, bridges between buildings, grain elevators, material storage bins, underground and overhead storage tanks, and private bridges and dams on private property. The term "structure" is construed as if followed by the words "or part thereof". "Structure" is the broad term; "building" is a restrictive form of structure.
(94) SUPERINTENDENT OF BUILDING AND ZONING INSPECTION means the person charged with the administration and enforcement of this Building and Zoning Code and other ordinances in compliance herewith, or his or her duly authorized representative.
(95) TREAD means the horizontal part of a step.
(96) TRUSS means a complete or redundant framed structure composed of structural members connected at their intersection, and in which, if loads are applied at the intersections, the stress in each member is in the direction of its length.
(97) UNSAFE BUILDING OR STRUCTURE includes buildings or structures structurally unsafe, unstable or unsanitary; inadequately provided with exit facilities; constituting a fire hazard; otherwise dangerous to life or property; unsuitable or improper for the use or occupancy to which they are put; constituting a hazard of safety because of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, damage by fire or other cause, obsolescence or abandonment; provided with inadequate or unsafe equipment; or otherwise dangerous to life and property.
(98) VALUE OF A BUILDING OR STRUCTURE, unless otherwise expressly stated, means the entire cost connected with the erection, construction, alteration, repair or addition to a building or structure, and includes the cost of all materials and the cost or value of all labor entering into the construction and of the planning in connection therewith, as well as all related costs.
(99) WALLS means the following:
A. "Bearing wall" means a wall which supports any vertical load in addition to its own weight.
B. "Cavity wall" means a wall built of masonry units or of plain concrete, or a combination of these materials, so arranged as to provide an air space within the wall, and in which the inner and outer parts of the wall are tied together with metal ties.
C. "Curtain wall" means a nonbearing wall between columns, piers or other walls and which is not supported by girders or beams.
D. "Faced wall" means a wall in which the masonry facing and backing are so bonded as to exert common action under load.
E. "Fire partition" means a partition which subdivides a building to restrict the spread of fire or to provide areas of refuge, but which is not necessarily continuous through all stories, nor extended through the roof, and which has a fire-resistance rating of at least two hours.
F. "Fire wall". See FIRE WALL.
G. "Foundation wall" means a wall below the first or ground floor framing extending below the adjacent ground level and serving as support for a wall, pier, column or other structural part of a building.
H. "Hollow wall of masonry" means a wall built of masonry units so arranged as to provide an air space within the wall, and in which the inner and outer parts of the wall are bonded together with masonry units.
I. "Nonbearing wall" means a wall which supports no load other than its own weight.
J. "Panel wall" means a nonbearing wall in skeleton construction, built between columns or piers and wholly supported at each story.
K. "Party wall" means a wall used or adapted for joint service between two buildings.
L. "Veneered wall" means a wall having a facing which is not attached and bonded to the backing so as to form an integral part of the wall for purposes of load bearing and stability.
(100) WELLS means open spaces, other than shafts, passing through at least one floor.
(101) WRITTEN NOTICE shall be considered to have been served if delivered in person to the person intended, or if delivered at or sent by certified mail to the last business or residence address known to the person giving notice.
(102) YARD means any space on a lot or land, open and unobstructed from the ground upward to the sky, on the same lot with a building. Front, side, rear and special yards have the same meanings as given in the Zoning Code.
(103) ZONING means the reservation of certain specified areas within the City for buildings and structures for certain purposes with other limitations, such as height, lot coverage and other stipulated requirements.
(104) ZONING CODE means the Zoning Code of the City, as amended from time to time.
(Ord. 42-1981. Passed 2-23-81.)