(a)  No owner or operator or other person shall occupy, or let to another person, any vacant dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure unless it and the premises are clean, sanitary, fit for human occupancy, and comply with this chapter and all applicable legal requirements of the state and the corporate unit.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-6

  • 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
  • Dwelling units: means any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, and eating. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Extermination: means the control and elimination of insects, rodents, or other pests by eliminating their harborages; by removing, or making inaccessible, materials that may serve as their food; and by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping, or by any other recognized and legal pest elimination methods approved by the health officer. 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
  • Garbage: means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, serving, and nonconsumption of food. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Infestation: means the presence within or around a dwelling or other structure in large numbers of insects, rodents, or other pests. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Multiple dwelling: means any dwelling containing four (4) or more dwelling units. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • 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

  • Person: means and includes any individual, firm, corporation, association, or partnership. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Plumbing: means and includes all of the following supplied facilities and equipment: gas pipes, gas burning equipment, waste pipes, garbage disposal units, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes washing machines, catch basins, drains, vents, and any other similar supplied fixtures, together with all connections to water, sewer, septic tank, or gas lines. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Premises: means a platted lot or part of a platted lot or unplatted lot or parcel of land, or plot of land, either occupied or unoccupied by any dwelling or non dwelling structure, and includes any building, accessory structure, or other structure on that land. 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
  • Refuse: means all putrescible and non-putrescible solids (except body wastes) including garbage, rubbish, ashes, and dead animals. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Rubbish: means non-putrescible solid wastes (excluding ashes) consisting of both:

    (i )  Combustible wastes such as paper, cardboard, plastic containers, yard clippings, and wood, and

    (ii )  Noncombustible wastes such as tin cans, glass, and crockery. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5

  • Structure: means all structures used or intended to be used for commercial, business, or industrial use or occupancy. 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
  • town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9

(b)  Every owner of a multiple dwelling is responsible for maintaining, in a clean and sanitary condition, the shared or public areas of the dwelling and premises. Occupants of two (2) and three (3) family dwellings shall share the maintenance of clean and sanitary conditions within the shared or public areas of the dwelling and premises.

(c)  Every occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure shall maintain in a clean sanitary condition that part or those parts of the dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure and premises that the occupant occupies and controls.

(d)  Every occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure shall dispose of all his or her rubbish in a clean, sanitary, and safe manner.

(e)  Every occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure shall dispose of all his or her garbage and any other organic waste which might provide food for insects and/or rodents in a clean, sanitary, and safe manner, and if a container is used for storage pending collection it shall be rodent proof, insect proof, and watertight.

(f)  Every owner or operator of a dwelling containing four (4) or more dwelling units shall supply facilities or containers for the sanitary and safe storage and/or disposal of rubbish and garbage. In the case of single, two (2) or three (3) family dwellings and structures it is the responsibility of the occupant to furnish those facilities or refuse containers.

(g)  The owner of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure is responsible for providing and hanging all screens and double or storm doors and windows where used for ventilation whenever they are required under the provisions of this chapter or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter, except where there is a written agreement between the owner and occupant. In the absence of an agreement, maintenance or replacement of screens, and storm doors and windows, once installed in any one season, become the responsibility of the occupant.

(h)  The owner of a dwelling or dwelling unit is responsible for the providing and hanging of shades or other devices on every window of every room used for sleeping and for every room equipped with a flush water closet or bathtub, affording privacy to persons within those rooms. Once installed in any one rental by the owner, replacements become the responsibility of the occupant.

(i)  Every occupant of a dwelling containing a single dwelling unit and every occupant of a structure is responsible for the extermination of any insects, rodents, or other pests therein or on the premises. Every occupant of a dwelling unit, in a dwelling containing more than one dwelling unit, is responsible for this extermination whenever his or her dwelling is the only one infected. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection, whenever infestation is caused by a failure of the owner to maintain a dwelling in a rodent-proof or reasonably insect-proof condition, extermination is the responsibility of the owner. Whenever infestation exists in two (2) or more of the dwelling units in any dwelling, or in the shared or public parts of any dwelling containing two (2) or more dwelling units, extermination is the responsibility of the owner.

(j)  Every occupant of a dwelling unit or structure shall keep all supplied plumbing fixtures and facilities in a clean and sanitary condition, and is responsible for the exercise of reasonable care in their proper use and operation.

(k)  No owner or occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure shall accumulate or permit the accumulation of rubbish, boxes, lumber, scrap metal, or any other materials in a manner that may provide a rodent harborage in or about any dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure. Stored materials shall be stacked neatly in piles elevated at least eighteen inches (18″) above the ground or floor. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to firewood or kindling wood stored in or about any dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure by the owner or occupant of that property; provided, that the wood is stored for use within the dwelling, dwelling unit or structure, unless prohibited by town or city ordinance.

History of Section.
P.L. 1970, ch. 325, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 243, § 1.