<div class="chunk-title">Sec. 10-155. - Definitions.</div>
<div class="chunk-content">
            <p class="p0">
               [For the purposes of this article, certain terms shall have the meanings ascribed
               to them in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:]
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Administrative liability.</span> Except as may otherwise be provided by statute or local law or ordinance, no officer,
               agent, or employee of the county charged with the enforcement of this article shall
               be personally liable for any damage that may accrue to persons or property as a result
               of any act required or permitted in the ordinance.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Apartment house</span> means any dwelling which is designed, built, rented, leased, let, or hired out to
               be occupied, or which is occupied as the home or residence of three or more families
               living independently of each other in dwelling units.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Approved</span> means performed in a manner and/or with materials consistent with the North Carolina
               State Building Code in effect at the time of construction or substantial renovation
               unless otherwise provided herein.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Area:</span>
               
               <p class="p1">
                  Area as applied to the dimensions of a dwelling shall mean the maximum horizontal
                  projected area of the dwelling at grade.
                  </p>
               
               <p class="p1">
                  Area as applied to the dimensions of a room, shall mean the total square footage of
                  floor area between finished walls.
                  </p>
               
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Basement</span> means a story having a clear height of at least seven feet from finished floor to
               finished ceiling, the floor level of which is below finished grade but not less than
               four feet below the average finished grade, having floor and walls of approved construction.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Boarding house (or rooming house)</span> means any dwelling unit or that part of any dwelling unit containing one or more
               rooms in which space is let by the resident owner or operator to three or more tenants.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Building</span> means that which is built or constructed, an edifice or building of any kind, or
               any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some
               definite manner. The term "building" shall be construed as if followed by the words
               "or part thereof."
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Ceiling height</span> means the clear vertical distance from the finished floor to the finished ceiling.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">County</span> means County of Buncombe, North Carolina.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Enforcement officer</span> means any employee of the county whose assigned duties include the enforcement of
               one or more of the provisions of this article.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Demolish</span> means the tearing down and disposal of the entire dwelling in a lawful manner, leaving
               the property free and clear of any debris and without holes or pockets.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Deteriorated</span> means a dwelling that is unfit for human habitation or unsafe and can be repaired,
               altered, or improved to comply with all of the standards established by this article
               at a cost not in excess of 50 percent of its value, as determined by findings of the
               director.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Director</span> means the director of emergency services or his/her designee.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Dwelling</span> means any rental building or structure, or part thereof, used and occupied for human
               habitation or intended to be so used, apartment houses, boarding or rooming houses,
               hotels, motels and other transient places of habitation and dwelling unit.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Dwelling unit</span> means any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and forming a habitation
               unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking,
               and eating.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Exit</span> means a clear and unobstructed way of departure from the interior of a dwelling to
               the exterior at a street or grade level.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Extermination</span> means the control and elimination of insects, rodents, and other pests by eliminating
               their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that serve as
               their food; by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping, or by other recognized and
               lawful pest elimination method.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Family</span> means one or more persons living together and having common housekeeping facilities.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Garbage</span> means the waste produced by the handling, processing, preparation, cooking and consumption
               of animal or vegetable products used for human consumption. This definition shall
               include any other matter that is also subject to decomposition, decay, putrefaction
               or the generation of noxious or offensive gases or odors or which before, during or
               after decay may serve as feeding or breeding material for animals or flies or other
               insects.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Habitable space</span> or <span class="ital">habitable room</span> means any room or enclosed floor space in a dwelling used or intended for use in
               living, sleeping, cooking, or eating, including kitchens, but excluding bathrooms,
               toilets, halls, corridors, pantries, storage space, closets, laundries, and other
               spaces not used frequently or during extended periods.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Inspect</span> means the act of examining areas and parts of a dwelling to determine its compliance
               with the standards set out in this article.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">North Carolina State Building Code</span> or <span class="ital">North Carolina Building Code</span> means any or all volumes of the North Carolina State Building Code as promulgated
               by the North Carolina State Building Code Council.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Occupant</span> means any person over one year of age living, sleeping, cooking or eating in or having
               actual possession of a dwelling.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Owner</span> means the holder of the title in fee simple.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Parties</span> in interest means all individuals, associations and corporations who have interests
               of record in a dwelling and any who are in possession thereof.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Pier</span> means a post, pole or column of masonry, concrete, steel or pressure-treated wood
               extending from a concrete or masonry footing to and supporting the building or portion
               thereof.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Plumbing</span> means the water supply system, sanitary drainage system, vent system, fixtures, and
               traps and shall include their respective connections, devices, appliances, and appurtenances
               within the property lines of the premises.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Public space</span> or <span class="ital">common space</span> means that space within any dwelling which is open to use by the general public or
               to occupants of more than one dwelling.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Rubbish</span> means combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage; including,
               but not limited to ashes, wood, coal, coke, and other combustible materials, paper,
               rags, cartons, boxes, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, leaves,
               tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery, dust, and dirt.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Story</span> means that part of the dwelling comprised between a floor and the floor or roof next
               above having the required amount of ceiling height.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Tenant</span> means any person who alone or jointly or severally with others occupies a dwelling
               under an oral or written lease or holds a legal tenancy in a dwelling.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Unfit</span> means not fit for human habitation.
               </p>
            <p class="p0">
               <span class="ital">Unsafe</span> means especially dangerous to life because of a dwelling's liability to fire or because
               of bad condition of walls, overloaded floors, defective construction, decay, dangerous
               wiring or heating system, inadequate means of egress, or other causes or conditions
               enumerated in<a href="" data-chunk-id="COOR_CH10BUBURE_ARTVREHOOR_S10-158UNCO" class="section-link" data-product-id="12776"> section 10-158</a> of this article.
               </p>
            <p class="historynote0">
               (Ord. No. 98-1-6, Â§ 5, 1-20-98)
               </p></div>