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CITY OF STEINBACH
DWELLING SAFETY STANDARDS
By-Law No. 2157
BEING A BY-LAW of the City of Steinbach to establish minimum standards of
building safety for residential dwellings within the City of Steinbach.
WHEREAS subsection 232(1) of the Municipal Act, S.M. 1996, c. 58 (the "Act")
provides, in relevant part, as follows:
Spheres of Jurisdiction
232(1) A council may pass by-laws for municipal purposes respecting the
following matters:
(a) the safety, health, protection and well-being of people and the safety
and protection of property;
(c) subject to Section 233, activities or things in or on private property;
(n) businesses, business activities and persons engaged in business;
(o) the enforcement of by-laws.
AND WHEREAS section 232(2) of the Act provides, in relevant part, as follows;
Exercising by-law-making powers
232(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a Council may in a
by-law passed under this Division;
(a) regulate or prohibit;
(b) adopt by reference in whole or in part, with any changes the Council
considers necessary or advisable, a code or standard made or
recommended by the Government of Canada or a Province or a
recognized technical or professional organization, and require
compliance with the code or standard;
(e) subject to the regulations, provide for a system of licenses, permits or
approvals, including any or all of the following:
(i) establishing fees, and terms for payment of fees, for inspection,
licenses, permits and approvals, including fees related to
recovering the costs of regulations.
AND WHEREAS section 4 of The Buildings and Mobile Homes Act provides as
follows:
Municipal responsibility
4. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other Act of the
Legislature, each municipality unless excluded under clause 2(2)(c) shall
adopt and enforce any building construction code or building construction
standard adopted, established or prescribed under section 3 for the
province or the municipality or the part of the province in which the
municipality is situated, and may make such by-laws as are necessary
for those purposes.
AND WHEREAS subsection 236(1) of the Act provides, in relevant part, as
follows:
Contents of by-laws under clause 232(1)(o)
236(1) Without limiting the generality of clause 232(1) (enforcement of by-
laws), and subject to subsection (3) a by-law passed under that clause
may include provisions:
(a) providing for procedures, including inspections, for determining
whether by-laws are being complied with and;
(b) remedying contravention of by-laws, including
(i)
creating offenses,
(ii)
subject to the regulations, providing for fines and penalties,
including the imposition of a penalty for a an offense that is in
addition to a fine or imprisonment, so long as the penalty
relates to a fee, rate, toll, charge or cost that is associated with
the conduct that gives rise to offense, or related to enforcing
the by-law,
(iii)
providing that an amount owing under sub clause (ii) may be
collected in any manner in which a tax may be collected or
enforced under this Act,
(iv)
seizing, removing, impounding, confiscating and selling of
otherwise disposing of plants, animals, vehicle, or other things
related to a contravention,
(v)
charging and collecting costs incurred in respect of action
under subclause (iv),
(vi)
imposing a sentence of imprisonment for not more than six
months for the commission of offenses or nonpayment of fines.
AND WHEREAS the Council of the City of Steinbach and its delegates have the
authority of jurisdiction to enforce the City of Steinbach Zoning By-Law, and the
City of Steinbach Building By-Law.
AND WHEREAS the Council of the City of Steinbach deems it necessary and
expedient to pass a by-law for the purposes of ensuring that the conditions are
safe for the general welfare and health of persons occupying dwellings within the
City of Steinbach;
NOW THEREFORE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF STEINBACH, DULY
ASSEMBLED, HEREBY ENACTS AS A BY-LAW AS FOLLOWS:
1. Definitions
(a) "Appliance" means a device to convert fuel into energy and includes all
components, controls, wiring and piping required to be part of the
device by the applicable standard.
(b) "Designated Officer" means Fire Chief or any other person or agency
employed by or acting for the City of Steinbach and partially or wholly
responsible for public safety, fire safety, building safety, and property
standards within the City of Steinbach.
(c) "Dwelling Unit" means a suite operated as a housekeeping unit, used
or intended to be used by one or more persons and usually containing
cooking, eating, living, sleeping and sanitary facilities.
(d) "Smoke Alarm" means a combined smoke detector and audible alarm
device designed to sound an alarm within the room or suite in which it
is located upon the detection of smoke within that room or suite.
(e) "Carbon Monoxide Alarm" means a combined carbon monoxide
detector and audible alarm detector that is designed to sound an
audible alarm upon detection of excess concentrations of carbon
monoxide.
(f) "Owner" means a person who is an owner of a freehold estate in the
city and includes a person who is an owner jointly with another person,
and a person who is registered under The Condominium Act as the
Owner, as defined in that Act, of a unity under that Act.
2. All Owners of a Dwelling Unit, at the time of passage of this by-law, are
required to provide for, install, and maintain the following items in
conformance with the Manitoba Building Code, the Manitoba Fire Code,
and as otherwise may herein be provided:
(a) Smoke Alarms
(i)
Smoke Alarms must be installed in each Dwelling Unit and must
be:
a. Hard wired, electrically powered, and installed in
conformance with the manufacturer's instructions; or
b. Ten-year lithium battery powered and installed in
conformance with the manufacturer's instructions.
(ii)
Smoke Alarms within a Dwelling Unit must be installed between
each sleeping area and the remainder of the Dwelling Unit, and
where a sleeping area is served by a hallway, they must be
installed in that hallway.
(iii)
Smoke Alarms must be inspected and tested at least once a
year to ensure their proper operation.
(iv)
Smoke Alarms must be re-tested each time a new tenant moves
into a Dwelling Unit to ensure that the Smoke Alarms are
operating properly.
(v)
The Owner must demonstrate the proper operation and testing
of each Smoke Alarm within a rental unit to each tenant each
time a new tenant moves into a Dwelling Unit.
(vi)
The Owner must ensure that records of testing and inspection
under subclause (iii), (iv), and (v) are maintained.
(vii) The Owner must provide each tenant with contact information
for the tenant to provide the Owner notice if a Smoke Alarm is
not working properly.
viii) The Owner must replace a Smoke Alarm that is not working
properly within 24 hours of notification.
(b) Carbon Monoxide Alarms
(i)
Carbon Monoxide Alarms are required in Dwelling Unit
occupancies that contain;
a. An installed fuel burning Appliance; or
b. An attached storage garage
(ii)
Carbon Monoxide Alarms must be installed:
a. Inside each bedroom, or outside each bedroom, within 5
meters of each bedroom door; and
b. In any room containing a solid fuel-burning Appliance.
(iii)
Carbon Monoxide Alarms shall be installed in conformance with
manufacturer's instructions.
(c) Egress
(i)
Every building shall have access to a safe, continuous and
unobstructed exit from the interior of the building to the exterior.
(ii)
Means of egress shall not be sealed shut and all egress shall
be:
a. Maintained in good repair; and
b. Free of objects or any other conditions which could cause an
accident or fire hazard.
(iii)
Except where a Dwelling Unit is sprinklered, each bedroom shall
have at least one outside window or exterior door that;
a. Is operable from the inside without the use of keys, tools or
special knowledge and without the removal of sashes or
hardware; and
b. Provides an unobstructed opening installed to the standards
of the Manitoba Building Code; and
c. Will maintain the required opening during an emergency
without the need for additional support.
(iv)
Where a bedroom window opens into a window well, the
required clearance shall be provided in front of the window.
3. Upon investigation of a complaint, or an inspection of a Dwelling Unit, if
the Designated Officer determines that a person has contravened, or does
not comply, or improperly complies, or only partly complies, with any
provision of this by-law, or an Act of the Legislature, a by-law of the city, or
a regulation, the Designated Officer shall issue a Notice of Violation and
Order to Comply. The Designated Officer shall provide a copy of the
notice to the Owner and the occupier of the premises, giving the Owner a
minimum of 7 days to comply with the order, or an additional amount of
time, as may be determined by the Designated Officer.
4. The City shall serve the notice indicated above in one of the following
manners:
(a)
Personal service on the Owner(s); or
(b)
Certified mail service on the Owner(s); or
(c)
Registered mail service on the Owner(s)
If for any reason written notice cannot be served, notice may instead be
given by posting it at Steinbach City Hall and at the property being in non-
compliance, for a time period to be at the discretion of the Designated
Officer.
Offences and Penalties
5. Subject to the Administrative Penalty By-Law or a by-law implemented
under the authority of the Provincial Offenses Act, any person who, after
being issued a notice and order to comply continues to contravene or
does not comply or improperly complies or partially complies by the date
of required compliance as provided in the notice with
(a)
any provision of the code or this by-law or any provision of any
other by-law that, by this by-law is made applicable to the City or made
applicable to proceedings taken or things done under this by-law; or
(b)
any provision of any by-law, regulations, or order enacted or made
by the City,
is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of $1,000.00 in the case of an
individual or a corporation.
6. Where a corporation commits an offense against this by-law each person
who is authorized, consented to, connived at, or knowingly permitted or
acquiesced in the offense is likewise guilty of the offense and liable to the
penalty for which provision is made in Section 5.
7. Where the contravention, refusal, neglect, omission, or failure continues
for more than one day the person is guilty of a separate offense for each
day it continues.
8. Wherever the provisions of any City by-law or any Act pertaining to the
same subject matter contained herein impose overlapping or contradictory
regulations over the regulation of dwelling safety standards, or contain any
restrictions covering any of the same subject matter contained herein, the
most restrictive standard shall apply.
9. In addition to all other rights of collection, which the City may have at law,
such amounts may be collected by the City in the same manner as a tax
may be collected or enforced under the Municipal Act and added to the
Owner's taxes.
10.This by-law shall become effective immediately upon its passage by City
Council.
DONE AND PASSED by the Council of The City of Steinbach duly assembled
this 5th day of January, 2021.
Read a first time this 1st day of September, 2020.
Read a second time this 5th day of January, 2021.
Read a third time this 5th day of January, 2021.
--
City Manager