The provisions of this Code shall apply to all existing buildings or portions thereof used, designed or intended for residential use, except that said provisions shall apply to homeless shelters only to the extent provided by subsection (7) below. Buildings in existence at the time of the passage of this Code may have their existing use or occupancy continued, if such use or occupancy was legal at the time of the passage of this Code, provided the building construction met the code requirements in effect at the time of construction and alteration, and such continued use is not dangerous to life and is not substandard, or that such use or occupancy does not now need additional Code requirements applied by adoption of a retroactive provision such as those referenced in Section 206 of this Code. All buildings and structures, both existing and new, and all parts thereof, shall be maintained in a safe and sanitary condition. All devices or safeguards which are required by this Code shall be maintained in conformance with the Code edition under which installed, unless otherwise required by the Building Code or other adopted ordinance applied retroactively. The owner or the owner's designated agent shall be responsible for the maintenance of the buildings and structures.
Wherever used in this Code, the terms "residential use," "dwelling," "hotel" and "apartment house" shall be considered to include the additional terms as follows:
"Dwelling" shall include lodging houses, nursing homes for not more than five persons, and the other occupancies referred to in Section
of the Building Code.
"Apartment house" or "hotel" shall include dormitories designed for more than five persons and occupancies referred to in Section
of the Building Code. Such occupancies in existing buildings may be continued except when such structures are found to be substandard as defined in this Code.
(1) Any building or structure not erected as an apartment house, hotel or dwelling, which is converted to or altered for such use, shall conform to all the provisions of the Building Code for such use.
(2) In any building erected as a combined apartment house and hotel, or any building altered or converted into a combined apartment house and hotel, every portion thereof used for apartment house purposes, including each apartment, shall comply with all apartment house requirements of the Building Code or this Code; and every portion thereof used for hotel purposes, including each guest room, guest room suite, and dormitory shall comply with all the hotel requirements of the Building Code or this Code.
(3) It is unlawful to increase the percentage of the lot occupied or in any manner, whether by sale, conveyance or otherwise, to diminish the required size of yards, courts, passageways, shafts, windows or skylights, or to remove any required sanitary facility, fire protection equipment, device, safeguard, installation, stairway or fire escape, or to obstruct the egress from any building or from the hallways, passageways or stairways.
(4) If it is reconstructed, any building which has been damaged by fire or the elements shall conform to all applicable provisions of the Building Code.
(5) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Code, all applicable provisions of the San Francisco Municipal Code shall be complied with in the construction, alteration or repair of residential buildings.
(6) It is further provided that the Director of the Department of Building Inspection may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations supplemental to this Code and not in conflict therewith, provided they are the most generally accepted or approved methods and practices for public welfare and safety of life and property. Such rules and regulations shall be subject to reexamination and change if at any time such rules and regulations are found by any enforcement agency not to be in conformance with the intent or requirements of the Municipal Code.
(7) Notwithstanding Section 206 or any other provision of this Code, use of any building or portion thereof by an organization exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Sections 501(c)(3) or 501(d), as approved by an authorized government agency, to shelter otherwise homeless persons, or construction, alteration or repair of any building to initiate, expand or continue such a shelter, shall be subject to only those provisions of this Code which are determined by the Director of the Department of Building Inspection pursuant to an administrative bulletin to be published by him, after consultation with the Building Inspection Commission and the Fire Department, to be necessary or appropriate to prevent the building from being or becoming a nuisance as defined in this Code. Any provision waived by said bulletin shall be applied when homeless shelter use ceases, and may be applied when homeless shelter use is reduced.
(8) Rooming houses, congregate residences or lodging houses shall comply with all requirements of this Code for dwellings.
(Added by Ord. 399-89, App. 11/6/89; amended by Ord. 161-92, App. 6/4/92; Ord. 350-95, App. 11/3/95; Ord. 256-07, App. 11/6/2007)