§ 156.03 Definitions

As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall apply. Whenever the words “dwelling,” “dwelling unit,” “rooming house,” “rooming unit,” “Type III dwelling unit,” and “premises” are used in this chapter, they shall be construed as though they were followed by the words “or any part thereof.” Whenever the term “dwelling unit” is used in this chapter, it shall include Type III dwelling units.

1. “Accessory structure” means a detached structure not used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants.

2. “Adjoining grade” means the elevation of the ground which extends five feet from the perimeter of the dwelling.

3. “Appurtenance” means that which is directly or indirectly connected or accessory to a thing.

4. “Attic” means any story situated, wholly or partly, within the roof and so designed, arranged, or built to be used for business, storage, or habitation.

5. “Basement” means a portion or story of a building, next below the first or main floor, which may or may not be considered habitable space.

6. “Bath” means a bathtub or shower stall installed in compliance with the Tiffin Plumbing Code.

7. “Cellar” means a space below the first or main floor, used or intended to be used for storage and location for heating equipment and shall not be considered habitable space.

8. “Central heating system” means a single system supplying heat to one or more dwelling units or more than one rooming unit.

9. “Certificate of structure compliance” means a permanent document showing that the structure for which it is issued was in compliance with the provisions of Sections 156.17 and 156.18 of this chapter at the time of issuance.

10. “Chief” means the administrative head of the Fire Department.

11. “Communal” means used or shared by or intended to be used or shared by the occupants of two or more rooming units or two or more dwelling units.

12. “Condominium” means a dwelling unit in compliance or conformance with the requirements of the Code of Iowa, as amended.

13. “Cooperative” means a dwelling unit in compliance or conformance with the requirements the Code of Iowa, as amended.

14. “Court” means an open, unoccupied space, other than a yard, on the same lot with a dwelling. A court not extending to the street or front or rear yard is an inner court. A court extending to the street or front yard or rear yard is an outer court.

15. “Designated agent” means the person designated by the owners of rental property who are not residents of Johnson County, as well as condominium associations, who has authority to act on the owners’ behalf to accept service of legal processes and notices and to authorize repairs as required.

16. “Dining room” means a habitable room used or intended to be used for the purpose of eating but not for cooking or the preparation of meals.

17. “Director” means the Director of the Department of Housing and Inspection Services.

18. “Duplex” means any habitable structure containing two single dwelling units. The classification shall be determined by the existence of two separate dwelling units, as defined herein, and shall not be based upon the identity of the occupants.

19. “Dwelling” means any building, structure or manufactured housing, except temporary housing, wholly or partly, used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants and includes any appurtenances attached thereto.

20. “Dwelling, multiple” – See “multiple dwelling.”

21. “Dwelling, single-family” – See “single-family dwelling.”

22. “Dwelling unit” means any habitable room or group of adjoining habitable rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, and eating of meals.

23. “Egress” means an arrangement of exit routes to provide a means of exit from buildings and/or premises.

24. “Exit” means a continuous and unobstructed means of egress to a public way and shall include intervening doors, doorways, corridors, exterior-exit balconies, ramps, stairways, smoke-proof enclosures, horizontal exit, exit passageway, exit court, walkways, sidewalks, and yards.

25. “Extermination” means the control and elimination of insects, rodents, or other pests by eliminating their harborage places, by removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their food, by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, or trapping, or by any other recognized and legal pest elimination methods approved by the inspector.

26. “Family” means one person or two or more persons related by blood, marriage, adoption, or placement by a governmental or social service agency, occupying a dwelling unit as one housekeeping organization. A family may also be two, but not more than two, persons not related by blood, marriage, or adoption.

27. “Fraternity/sorority house” means a building used as a residence by a chapter of a fraternal or sororal nonprofit organization recognized by the University of Iowa. For purposes of this Code, a fraternity/sorority house shall be considered a rooming house. Occupancy classification for State of Iowa Fire Code is “dormitory.”

28. “Habitable room” means a room or enclosed floor space, having a minimum of 70 square feet of total floor area within a dwelling unit or rooming unit, used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, or eating purposes, excluding bathrooms, toilet rooms, pantries, laundries, foyers, communicating corridors, closets, storage spaces, stairways, and recreation rooms in basements (see “recreation room in basement”).

29. “Infestation” means the presence, within or around a dwelling, of any insects, rodents, or other pests in such quantities as would be considered unsanitary.

30. “Inspector” means the official of the City appointed to administer the provisions of the Housing Code, together with duly authorized representatives and/or agents.

31. “Kitchen” means a habitable room used or intended to be used for cooking or the preparation of meals.

32. “Kitchen sink” means a basin for washing utensils used for cooking, eating, and drinking, located in a kitchen and connected to both hot and cold water lines.

33. “Kitchenette” means a food preparation area not less than 40 square feet in area.

34. “Lavatory” means a hand-washing basin connected to both hot and cold water lines and separate and distinct from a kitchen sink.

35. “Living room” means a habitable room within a dwelling unit used or intended to be used primarily for general living purposes.

36. “Manufactured housing” means any vehicle without motive power used or so manufactured or constructed as to permit its being used as a conveyance upon the public streets and highways and so designed, constructed, or reconstructed as will permit the vehicle to be used as a place for human habitation by one or more persons.

37. “Multiple dwelling” means any dwelling containing three or more dwelling units.

38. “Occupant” means any person, including owner or operator, living in, sleeping in, and/or cooking in or having actual possession of a dwelling unit or a rooming unit.

39. “Operator” means any person who rents to another or who has custody or control of a building or parts thereof in which dwelling units or rooming units are let or who has custody or control of the premises.

40. “Owner” means any person who has custody and/or control of any dwelling, dwelling unit, or rooming unit by virtue of a contractual interest in or legal or equitable title to said dwelling, dwelling unit, or rooming unit as guardian or conservator.

41. “Permit” – See “rental permit.”

42. “Placard” means a display document showing that the unit for which it is issued has been determined to be unfit for human habitation.

43. “Plumbing” means and includes any or all of the following supplied facilities and equipment: gas pipes, gas-burning equipment, water pipes, solid waste disposal units, waste pipes, toilets, sinks, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, water-heating devices, catch basins, drains, vents, and any other similar supplied fixture, together with all connections to water, sanitary sewer, or gas services.

44. “Premises” means a lot, plot, or parcel of land, including a buildings and/or accessory structures thereon.

45. “Privacy” means the existence of conditions which will permit a person to carry out an activity commenced without interruption or interference by unwanted persons.

46. “Public way” means any parcel of land, unobstructed from the ground to the sky, more than ten feet in width, dedicated to the free passage of the general public.

47. “Recreation room in basement” means a room located in a basement used for general recreation purposes and not used or intended to be used for sleeping. This room shall be in addition to the minimum space and facility requirements for a dwelling unit or rooming unit.

48. “Regulations” – See “rules and regulations.”

49. “Rental permit” means a document, issued periodically, which grants the owner or operator the option of letting a unit for rental purposes and showing that the unit for which it is issued was in compliance with the applicable provisions of this chapter at the time of issuance.

50. “Rental property” means any dwelling not owner occupied, regardless whether rent is paid.

51. “Reside” means the place where a person physically resides not less than ten months of any applicable calendar year.

52. “Roomer” means an occupant of a rooming house or rooming unit and also means an occupant of a dwelling who is not a member of the family occupying the dwelling.

53. “Rooming house” means any dwelling or that part of any dwelling containing one or more rooming units or Type III dwelling units, in which space is let by the owner or operator to four or more roomers. Occupants of units specifically designated as Type III dwelling units within a rooming house shall be included in the roomer count.

54. “Rooming unit” means any habitable room or group of adjoining habitable rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used primarily for living and sleeping. A rooming unit shall have bath and toilet facilities available for the exclusive use of the occupants or for communal use in accordance with Section 156.18 of this chapter; and in addition, rooming units may be let with or without communal kitchen and/or communal dining room privileges in accordance with said Section 156.18.

55. “Rubbish” means inorganic waste material consisting of combustible and/or noncombustible materials.

56. “Rules and regulations” means those administrative procedures adopted by the Director for the efficient internal management of the Department of Housing and Inspection Services. All rules and regulations shall be limited to departmental administrative and procedural matters, rather than substantive matters and shall not be inconsistent with this chapter.

57. “Single-family dwelling” means a structure containing one dwelling unit.

58. “Solid waste” means animal or vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, or consumption of food and also means combustible waste material. The term also includes paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, and other combustible materials.

59. “Solid waste container” means a watertight container that is constructed of metal or other durable material impervious to rodents and that is capable of being serviced without creating unsanitary conditions.

60. “Supplied” means paid for, furnished by, provided by, or under the control of the owner or operator.

61. “Temporary housing” means any tent, trailer, motor home, or other structure used for human shelter and designed to be transportable and not attached to the ground, to another structure or to any utilities system on the same premises for more than thirty (30) calendar days.

62. “Toilet” means a water closet, with a bowl and trap made in one piece, of such shape and form and holding a sufficient quantity of water so that no fecal matter will collect on the surface of the bowl, and which is equipped with a flushing rim or flushing rims.

63. “Type III dwelling unit” means any habitable room or group of adjoining habitable rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, and eating of meals but does not have a toilet or bath available for the exclusive use of the occupants thereof.