GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

S	3 

SENATE BILL 41
House Committee Substitute Favorable 3/11/99
Third Edition Engrossed 3/22/99

Short Title:  Require Rental Property Heat.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:  

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February 4, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THAT EVERY DWELLING UNIT LEASED AS RENTAL PROPERTY IN CERTAIN CITIES BE FURNISHED WITH A SOURCE OF HEAT.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Part 6 of Article 19 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 160A-443A.  Heat source required.
(a)	A city shall, by ordinance, require that by January 1, 2000, every dwelling unit leased as rental property within the city shall have, at a minimum, a central or electric heating system or sufficient chimneys, flues, or gas vents, with heating appliances connected, so as to heat at least one habitable room, excluding the kitchen, to a minimum temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit measured three feet above the floor with an outside temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
(b)	If a dwelling unit contains a heating system or heating appliances that meet the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the owner of the dwelling unit shall not be required to install a new heating system or heating appliances, but the owner shall be required to maintain the existing heating system or heating appliances in a good and safe working condition.  Otherwise, the owner of the dwelling unit shall install a heating system or heating appliances that meet the requirements of subsection (a) of this section and shall maintain the heating system or heating appliances in a good and safe working condition.
(c)	Portable kerosene heaters are not acceptable as a permanent source of heat as required by subsection (a) of this section but may be used as a supplementary source in single family dwellings and duplex units.  An owner who has complied with subsection (a) shall not be held in violation of this section where an occupant of a dwelling unit uses a kerosene heater as a primary source of heat.
(d)	This section applies only to cities with a population of 200,000 or over, according to the most recent decennial federal census.
(e)	Nothing in this section shall be construed as:
(1)	Diminishing the rights of or remedies available to any tenant under a lease agreement, statute, or at common law; or
(2)	Prohibiting a city from adopting an ordinance with more stringent heating requirements than provided for by this section."
Section 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.