(a)  No person shall operate a rooming house, or occupy, or let to another for occupancy, any rooming house except in compliance with the provisions of §§ 45-24.3-6, 45-24.3-7, and 45-24.3-11. No owner or other person shall occupy, or let to another person, any vacant rooming unit unless it is clean, sanitary, and fit for human occupancy, and in compliance with all applicable requirements of this state and of the corporate unit.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-12

  • Appropriate authority: means the official department, or agency, designated by a local community to administer and enforce these regulations pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Approved: means approved by the local or state authority having administrative authority. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Basement: means a portion of the building partly underground, but having less than half its clear height below the average grade of the adjoining ground. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Corporate unit: means a city or town, as the case may be, delegated with the powers to provide for the enforcement of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Dwelling: means any enclosed space which is wholly or partly used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants; provided, that "temporary housing" as defined in this section, shall not be regarded as a dwelling. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Enforcing officer: means the official charged with the administration and enforcement of this chapter, or the officer's authorized representative. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Family: means one adult person plus one or more persons who are legally related to the adult person and residing in the same dwelling unit with that person. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Habitable room: means a room or enclosed floor space used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, or eating purposes, excluding bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries, furnace rooms, pantries, kitchenettes and utility rooms of less than fifty (50) square feet, foyers or communicating corridors, stairways, closets, storage spaces and workshops, and hobby and recreation areas in unsealed or uninsulated parts of a structure below ground level or in attics. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Health officer: means the legally designated director of health of this state, or the director's authorized representative. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Occupant: means any person, over one year of age, living, sleeping, cooking, or eating in, or actually having possession of, a dwelling unit or a rooming unit, and/or structure, except that in dwelling units a guest will not be considered an occupant. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Operator: means any person who has charge, care, or control of a building, or part thereof, in which dwelling units or rooming units are let. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Owner: means any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others:

    (a)  Has legal title to any dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or

    (b)  Has charge, care, or control of any dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure as owner or agent of the owner, or an executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian of the estate of the owner. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5

  • Permissible occupancy: means the maximum number of persons permitted as a family or household to reside in a dwelling or rooming unit based on the square foot per person in habitable rooms. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Person: means and includes any individual, firm, corporation, association, or partnership. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Privacy: means the ability of a person or persons to carry out an activity commenced without interruption or interference, either by sight or sound, by unwanted persons. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Rooming house: means any dwelling or that part of any dwelling containing three (3) or more rooming units in which space is occupied by three (3) or more persons who are not members of a single family. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Rooming unit: means any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living and sleeping, but not for cooking or eating purposes. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Safety: means the condition of being free from danger and hazards which may cause accidents or disease. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Septic tank: means a receptacle, usually underground, to which sewage is drained and retained to effect disintegration of the organic matter by bacteria. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Supplied: means paid for, furnished, provided by, or under the control of the owner or operator. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5

(b)  No person shall operate a rooming house unless he or she holds a valid rooming house permit issued by the appropriate authority in the name of the operator and for the specific dwelling or dwelling unit specified therein. The operator shall apply to the appropriate authority for the permit, which shall be issued only after it has been determined that the rooming house is in compliance with the applicable provisions of this chapter and with any rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. This permit must be displayed in a conspicuous place within the rooming house at all times. No permit is transferable. Every person holding a permit shall give notice in writing to the appropriate authority within twenty-four (24) hours after having sold, transferred, given away, or otherwise disposed of ownership of, interest in, or control of any rooming house. The notice shall include the name and address of the person succeeding to the ownership, or control, of the rooming house. Every rooming house permit expires at the end of the year of license following its date of issuance, unless sooner suspended or revoked as provided in this chapter.

(c)  At least one flush water closet, lavatory basin, and bathtub or shower, properly connected to a water and sewer system or septic tank, approved by the health officer and in good working condition, must be supplied for each six (6) persons, or fraction thereof, residing within a rooming house, including members of the operator’s family wherever they share the use of these facilities, provided:

(1)  That in a rooming house where rooms are let only to males, flush urinals may be substituted for not more than one-half (½) the required number of water closets;

(2)  That all these facilities are so located within the dwelling to be reasonably accessible for a common hall or passageway to all persons sharing these facilities;

(3)  That every lavatory basin and bathtub or shower is supplied with heated and unheated water under pressure at all times;

(4)  That no facilities are located in a basement, except by written approval of the appropriate authority;

(5)  That cooking in a rooming unit is prohibited unless utilities are installed in accordance with applicable local and state law;

(6)  That communal cooking and dining facilities in a rooming house prohibited, except as approved by the enforcing officer in writing; and

(7)  That rooming unit doors have operating locks to insure privacy.

(d)  Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one person contain at least eighty (80) square feet of floor space, and every room occupied for sleeping by more than one person contains at least sixty (60) square feet of floor space for each occupant, and every room must also contain at least four (4) square feet of closet space per occupant with at least an unobstructed height of five feet (5?). If the room is lacking, in whole or in part, an amount of space, equal in square footage to the deficiency, be subtracted from the area of habitable room space used in determining permissible occupancy.

(e)  Every rooming unit about the first floor must have immediate access to two (2) or more safe, unobstructed means of egress, appropriately marked, one of which will have a minimum head room of six feet (6?) six inches (6″), leading to a safe and open space at ground level, as required by the appropriate statutes, ordinances, and regulations of this state and of the corporate unit.

(f)  Every provision of this chapter, which applies to rooming houses, also applies to hotels and motels, except to the extent that any provision may be found in conflict with the laws of this state or the corporate unit.

(g)  Structurally sound handrails must be provided on any steps containing five (5) risers or more. If steps are not enclosed, handrails and balusters spaced no more than six inches (6″) apart must be provided. Porches and/or balconies located more than three feet (3?) higher than the adjacent areas have structurally sound protective handrails thirty inches (30″) to thirty-six inches (36″) high, and, if unenclosed, balusters spaced no more than six inches (6″) apart must also be provided. Alternate systems providing at least the same degree of safety, if approved by the appropriate authority, will be accepted.

(h)  Access to or egress from each rooming unit must be provided without passing through any other rooming unit, dwelling unit, or bathroom.

History of Section.
P.L. 1970, ch. 325, § 1.