New Jersey § 52:27d-123

§ 52:27d-123.

a. The Commissioner of Community Affairs is hereby directed to develop a building

code specifically designed to foster cost-effective housing rehabilitation, while

ensuring through its provisions that necessary health and safety requirements are

met. The code shall be designed for use throughout the State but shall have particular

application to the older cities of the State, and the housing types characteristic

of those cities. The code shall supplement the State Uniform Construction Code, adopted pursuant

to P.L.1975, c. 217 ( C.52:27D-119 et seq. ). The commissioner may promulgate this code as a separate document from the State

Uniform Construction Code, or may, if he finds it feasible and useful, incorporate

its provisions directly into, and make them an integral part of, that code. b. In developing the code, the commissioner is directed to investigate any model codes,

such as Chapter 34, “Existing Structures,” of the “BOCA National Building Code/1993”

and experiences of other code enforcement jurisdictions, to consult with individuals

and organizations experienced in the rehabilitation of low and moderate income housing

in New Jersey's urban areas, and conduct research as may be relevant to the purposes

of this act. c. The commissioner is further directed to undertake a study of the desirability of

authorizing a procedure under which, in adopting the provisions of the standard or

model codes upon which the State Uniform Construction Code is based, discretion may

be accorded to the commissioner to modify, amplify or otherwise depart from any such

provisions, without exceeding any of them in stringency, for the purpose of accommodating

this State's construction code to the needs of the State and its various regions,

particularly with respect to encouraging the provision of housing affordable to persons

and families of low and moderate income. d. The commissioner shall, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968,

c. 410 ( C.52:14B-1 et seq. ), promulgate the code prescribed in subsection a. of this section within six months

of the effective date of this act; or, if he finds it impracticable to do so, shall

make a written report to the Legislature setting forth the grounds of the impracticability

and making such recommendations for further legislative action as he may deem likely

to remove those grounds. Within the same period of time the commissioner shall also make his report and recommendations

to the Legislature on the study directed by subsection c. of this section.