the detriment of the life or health of any human being. (Id., sec. 180.)

NOTES.

Bos

Pleading, Evidence.- The Sanitary Code, like all ordinances, must be pleaded and proved as a matter of fact to be used in evidence. The court will not take judicial notice of ordinances. ton vs. Abraham, 91 App. Div. 417; City of New York vs. Knickerbocker Trust Co., 104 App. Div. 223; Met. Milk Co. vs. City of N. Y., 98 N. Y. Supp. 894; Dept. of Health vs. City R. E. Invest. Co., 86 N. Y. Supp. 18.

Abating Nuisance.- Sec. 1179, L. 1901, ch. 466, gives Board of Health power to abate any building which it deems a nuisance, and sec. 1300 prescribes the procedure. The right to destroy a building summarily is, if granted by statute, valid. Egan vs. Health Dept., 9 App. Div. 431; Van Wormer vs. Mayor Albany, 15 Wend. 262; Cartwright vs. City of Cohoes, 39 App. Div. 69; Smith vs. Irish, 37 App. Div. 220; but the necessity for such an abatement is a question of fact which will be reviewed by the courts. Health Dept. vs. Dassori, 159 N. Y. 245; People ex rel. Copcutt vs. Board of Health Yonkers, 140 N. Y. 1. As to powers of board, see' People ex rel. Savage vs. Board of Health, 33 Barb. 344. An order abating a nuisance must be specific. Rogers vs. Baker, 31 Barb. 447. Such an order is in its nature judicial and prima facie, is deemed just and legal, but are not conclusive. Golden vs. Health Dept. of N. Y., 21 App. Div. 420; Village of Flushing vs. Carraher, 87 Hun, 63. And while a board may abate a nuisance, it cannot erect anything new which is not necessary to abate. Haag vs. City Mt. Vernon, 41 App. Div. 366.

Constitutional. See notes under sec. 1, supra. A law to preserve the public health may be constitutional even though it requires expense of a citizen coming within its provisions without previous notice and a hearing. Eckhardt vs. City Buffalo, 19 App. Div. 1.

Liabilities of Health Officers. As to liabilities of health officers in destroying property for rights and remedies, see Sbarboro vs. Health Dept. N. Y., 26 App. Div. 177; Golden vs. Health Dept. N. Y. 21 App. Div. 420; Underwood vs. Green, 42 N. Y. 140; Egan vs. Health Dept. N. Y., 9 App. Div. 431.

Penalties.-The usual remedy for a violation of a provision in the Sanitary Code is a suit to recover a penalty of fifty dollars under Laws 1897, chapter 378, sec. 1172. The revised charter, L. 1901, ch. 466, sec. 1172, continued this provision in force. By the same sections any violation of the Sanitary Code may be treated and punished as a misdemeanor. The penalty for violating an order of Department of Health is $250, and the wilful refusal is a misdemeanor. L. 1901, ch. 466, sec. 1262. All suits must be brought in name of the Dept. of Health of The City of New York." L. 1901, ch. 466, sec. 1192.

CHAPTER 15.- THE BUILDING CODE.

The following sections re-enact practically without change the Building Code in force at the time of the passage of this Code of Ordinances. It embodies the Building Code approved by the Mayor on Oct. 24, 1899, as amended by a few subsequent ordinances. The power to enact a Building Code is vested in the municipal authorities by section 647 of the Greater New York Charter. (L. 1897, ch. 378.) The commission of experts which was authorized to prepare the Code took as the basis for the work the Laws of 1882, chapter 410, which codified the law under the former City of New York; the Laws of 1888, chapter 583, which codified the building laws of the former City of Brooklyn, and the Laws of 1894, chapter 481. The Revised Charter, L. 1901, ch. 466, sec. 43, explicitly confers ample general powers on the Board of Aldermen to "make, establish, alter, modify, amend and repeal all ordinances, rules and building regulations," etc., and section 407 expressly continues in force the Building Code in force on January 1, 1902.

*

Many of the old laws are now superseded by the Tenement House Act.

The Building Code in force May 1, 1904, made a chapter of the City Ordinances by L. 1904, ch. 628, sec. 2. It can be amended by the Board of Aldermen under sec. 407, L. 1901, ch. 466. Such ordinances so passed have same effect as an act of the Legislature. City of N. Y. vs. Trustees Sailors' Snug Harbor, 85 App. Div. 355.

Part 1.- Short Title of this Ordinance.

A REMEDIAL ORDINANCE.

§ 1. This ordinance to be known and cited as the Building Code, and presumptively contains the Building Law, except so far as such provisions are contained in the Charter. The following provisions shall constitute and be known as the Building Code and may be cited as such, and presumptively provides for all matters concerning, affecting or relating to the construction, alteration or removal of buildings or structures erected or to be erected in The City of New York, as constituted by the Greater New York Charter, except so far as such provisions are contained in said Charter. (Ord. app. Oct. 24, 1899, sec. 1.)

§ 2. Building Code to be Construed Liberally. This ordinance is hereby declared to be remedial, and is to be construed liberally to secure the beneficial interests and purposes thereof. (Id., sec. 2. See L. 1892, ch. 275, sec. 45.)

Part 2.- Preliminary Requirements.

§ 3. New Buildings and Buildings to be Altered.- No wall, structure, building or part thereof shall hereafter be built or constructed, nor shall the plumbing or drainage of any building, structure or premises be constructed or altered in The City of New York, except in conformity with the provisions of this Code. No building already erected, or hereafter to be built, in said city, shall be raised, altered, moved or built upon in any manner that would be in violation of any of the provisions of this Code, or the approval issued thereunder. (Id., sec. 3, rev. from L. 1882, ch. 410, sec. 471, as amend.)

§ 4. Filing Plans and Statements.- Before the erection, construction or alteration of any building or part of any building, structure or part of any structure or wall, or any platform, staging or flooring to be used for standing or seating purposes, and before the construction or alteration of the plumbing or drainage of any building, structure or premises is commenced, the owner or lessee, or agent of either, or the architect or builder employed by such owner or lessee in connection with the proposed erection or alteration, shall submit to the Commissioner of Buildings for the borough in which the premises are situated, a detailed statement in triplicate of the specifications, on appropriate blanks to be furnished to applicants by the Department of Buildings, and a full and complete copy of the plans of such

proposed work, and such structural detail drawings of said proposed work as the Commissioner of Buildings having jurisdiction may require, all of which shall be accompanied with a statement in writing, sworn to before a Notary Public or Commissioner of Deeds, giving the full name and residence, street and number, of the owner, or of each of the owners of said building, or proposed building, structure or proposed structure, premises, wall, platform, staging or flooring. If such erection, construction or alteration, plumbing or drainage or the alteration thereof, is proposed to be made or executed by any other person than the owner or owners of the land in fee, the person or persons intending to make such erection or alteration, or to construct such plumbing or drainage, shall accompany said detailed statement of the specifications and copy of the plans with a statement in writing, sworn to as aforesaid, giving the full name and residence, street and number, of the owner or owners of the land, or proposed building, structure or proposed structure, premises, wall, platform, staging or flooring either as owner, lessee or in any representative capacity, and that he or they are duly authorized to perform said work. Such statement may be made by the agent or architect of the person or persons herein before required to make the same. Any false swearing in a material point in any statement submitted in pursuance of the provisions of this section shall be deemed perjury, and shall be punishable as such. Said sworn statement and detailed statement of specifications and copy of the plans shall be kept on file in the office of the Commissioner of Buildings for the borough where the premises to which they relate are situated, and the erection, construction or alteration of said building, structure, wall, platform, staging or flooring, or any part thereof, and the construction or alteration of the said plumbing or drainage, shall not be commenced or proceeded with until said statements and plans shall have been so filed and approved by the said Commissioner of Buildings, and the erection, construction or alteration of such building, structure, platform, staging or flooring, and the construction or alteration of such plumbing or drainage when proceeded with shall be constructed in accordance with such approved detailed statement of specifications and copy of plans. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a Commissioner of Buildings from granting his approval for the erection of any part of a building, or any part of a structure, where plans and detailed statements have been presented for the same before the entire plans and detailed statements of said building or structure have been submitted. Any approval which may be issued by a Commissioner of Buildings, pursuant to the provisions of this section, but under which no work is commenced within one year from the time of issuance, shall expire by limitation. Ordinary repairs of buildings or structures, or of the plumbing and drainage

thereof, may be made without notice to the Department of Buildings, but such repairs shall not be construed to include the cutting away of any stone or brick wall, or any portion thereof, the removal or cutting of any beams or supports, or the removal, change or closing of any staircase, or the alteration of any house sewer or private sewer or drainage system, or the construction of any soil or waste pipe. The foregoing provisions and all the provisions of this Code shall apply with equal force to buildings, both municipal and. private. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Buildings having jurisdiction, to approve or reject any plan filed with him pursuant to the provisions of this section within a reasonable time. (Id., sec. 4, rev. from L. 1882, ch. 410, § 503, as amend.)

This section must be complied with, even where a building is being erected for the State. City of N. Y. vs. Burleson Hardware Co., 89 App. Div. 222.

§ 5. Demolishing Buildings.- When plans and detailed statements are filed in the Department of Buildings for the erection of a new building, if an existing building or part of an existing building is to be demolished, such fact shall be stated in the statement so filed.

In demolishing any building, story after story shall be completely removed. No material shall be placed upon the floor of any such building in the course of demolition, but the brick, timbers and other structural parts of each story shall be lowered to the ground immediately upon displacement. The owner, architect, builder or contractor for any building, structure, premises, wall, platform, staging or flooring to be demolished shall give not less than twentyfour hours' notice to the Department of Buildings of such intended demolition. (Id., sec. 5.)

Part 3.- Definitions.

§ 6. Measurement of Height for Buildings and Walls.The height of buildings shall be measured from the curb level at the centre of the front of the building to the top of the highest point of the roof beams in the case of flat roofs, and for high-pitched roofs the average of the height of the gable shall be taken as the highest point of the building.

In case a wall is carried on iron or steel girders or iron or steel girders and columns, or piers of masonry, the measurements, as to height for the wall, may be taken from the top of such girder.

When the walls of a structure do not adjoin the street, then the average level for the ground adjoining the walls may be taken instead of the street curb level for the height of such structure. (Id., sec. 6, rev. from L. 1882, ch. 41, § 482, as amend.)

§ 7. Measurement for Width of Buildings. For the pu poses of this Code, the greatest linear dimension of y

building shall be considered its length and the next greatest linear dimension its width. (Id., sec. 7, rev. from L. 1882, ch. 410, § 482.)

§ 8. Private Dwellings, Definition of.- A private dwelling shall be taken to mean and include every building which shall be intended or designed for, or used as, the home or residence of not more than two separate and distinct families or households, and in which not more than fifteen rooms shall be used for the accommodation of boarders, and no part of which structure is used as a store or for any business purpose. Two or more such dwellings may be connected on each story when used for boarding purposes, provided the halls and stairs of each house shall be left unaltered. Any such building hereafter erected shall not cover more than ninety per cent of the lot area. (Id, sec. 8.)

§ 9. Apartment Houses, Definition of.- An apartment house shall be taken to mean and include every building which shall be intended or designed for, or used as, the home or residence of three or more families or households, living independently of each other, and in which every such family or household shall have provided for it a kitchen, set bathtub and water closet, separate and apart from any other. Any such building hereafter erected shall not cover any greater percentage of a lot than is lawful to be covered by a tenement house, and the requirements for light and ventilation for a tenement house shall also apply to an apartment house. (Id., sec. 9.)

See Dept. Bldg. vs. Fuld, 12 App. Div. 258.

§ 10. Hotel, Definition of.-A hotel shall be taken to mean and include every building, or part thereof, intended, designed or used for supplying food and shelter to residents or guests, and having a general public dining-room or a cafe, or both, and containing also more than fifteen sleeping rooms above the first story. Whenever any such building hereafter erected shall be located on any other than a corner lot or plot, it shall not cover in the aggregate more than ninety per cent. of the area of such lot or plot at and above the second story level, if not more than five stories in height, and two and one-half per cent. less for every additional story in height; and on a corner lot, when covering an area of not more than 3,000 square feet, it shall not occupy more than ninety-five per cent. of the area of such lot at and above the second story level. In case any such building is to occupy a number of lots, the Commissioner of Buildings having jurisdiction may allow the free air space, proportioned as herein stated, to be distributed in such manner as, in his opinion, will equally as well secure light and ventilation. (Id., sec. 10.)

§ 11. Office Buildings, Definition of.- An office building shall be taken to mean and include every building which shall be divided into rooms above the first story, and be