Frequent Housing Quality Standard Deficiencies

Housing quality standards inspection checklist

• All ceilings, walls, and floors must be free of defects and secure.

• The entire unit (interior, exterior, and common areas) must be free of cracking, scaling, peeling, chipping, and loose paint. This is especially important for units built before 1978 that are or will be, occupied by a family with a child under six years of age.

• For any set of stairs (interior or exterior) with four or more consecutive risers, there must be a handrail that is securely attached.

• The unit must be free of roaches, rodents, and any other infestation.

• The unit must be free of electrical hazards, including loose or exposed wiring, loose or damaged outlets, switches and fixtures, over-fused circuits, etc.

• All light switches and outlets must have securely-attached covers.

• For gas stoves, the oven and all stove-top burners must light from the pilot.

• Every room used for living must have either two working outlets or one working outlet and a permanently-installed light fixture.

• Every room used for living must have at least one screened window, free of defects, for ventilation purposes.

• All windows and doors must be secure when closed and must be weather tight.

• All windows and doors that are accessible from the outside must have secure, working locks.

• All openable windows must have a mechanism to secure them in place when opened.

• All bathrooms must have an openable, screened window or a working exhaust fan for ventilation.

• All drains must be free from leaks.

• If an apartment is entirely on a second floor, there must be two safe methods of egress from the unit.

• Third floor or attic occupancy must be accompanied by a Certificate of Occupancy from the governing jurisdiction.

• Every room used for living must have an adequate heat source.

• All hot water tanks must have a pressure relief valve and an overflow pipe which extends down to 2”-6” from the floor.

• All flue pipes from the furnace and hot water tank must be properly installed (e.g., angle) and properly sealed at the chimney.

• All gutters and downspouts must be properly connected and secured.

• The unit must be free from any accumulation of garbage or debris, both interior, and exterior.

• Owners of multi-family units must provide adequate refuse-disposal facilities (i.e., trash cans with covers, garbage chutes, or dumpsters with lids).

• A working smoke detector - either hard-wired or battery-operated -must be installed on every level of the unit and outside of sleeping rooms. If any member of the family is hearing-impaired, a hearing-impaired smoke detector must be installed.