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S4365
SENATE, No. 4365
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 28, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� RAJ MUKHERJI
District 32 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
���� Permits municipality to exclude duplexes, and certain
townhouses, in planned real estate development, from certain structural
inspections.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning structural inspections in planned real
estate developments, and supplementing and amending P.L.2023, c.214.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� (New section)� A
municipality may, by ordinance of the governing body, exclude duplexes or
small-row townhouses, or both, within the municipality�s boundaries from the
structural inspection requirements established pursuant to section 3 of
P.L.2023, c.214 (C.52:27D-132.4).
���� 2.� Section 2 of P.L.2023,
c.214 (C.52:27D-132.3) is amended to read as follows:
���� 2.� As used in P.L.2023, c.214
(C.52:27D-132.2 et al.):
���� "Adequate" or
"adequacy" means a sum of money, however invested or held by an
association of a planned real estate development, that, in accordance with the
professional standards applied by the reserve specialist, architect, or engineer
performing or overseeing the study, is sufficient so that the balance in the
association�s reserve fund, required pursuant to section 7 of P.L.2023, c.214
(C.45:22A-44.3), will not fall below zero dollars as set forth in the
association�s 30-year funding plan, prepared as part of a reserve study,
regardless of whether the reserve study was conducted within five years of the
effective date of P.L.2023, c.214 (C.52:27D-132.2 et al.), or conducted
pursuant to section 6 of P.L.2023, c.214 (C.45:22A-44.2).
���� "Balcony" means an
extension of the interior living space of the building that extends outwards
from the facade of a covered building and is exposed to the elements.
���� "Bureau" means the
Bureau of Housing Inspection in the Department of Community Affairs.
���� "Corrective
maintenance" means maintenance to be undertaken following the detection of
deterioration of the primary load bearing system with the goal of remediating
the condition reported by the structural inspector.
���� "Covered building"
means a residential condominium or cooperative building that has a primary load
bearing system that is comprised of a concrete, masonry, steel, or hybrid
structure including, without limitation, heavy timber and a building with
podium decks, but not including an excluded structure.
���� "Covered building
owner" means the owner of a covered building, whose name appears of record
with the county clerk or register, or the association of a common interest
community.
����
"Duplex" means a
building or structure of one or more stories and any land appurtenant thereto,
and any portion thereof, in which exactly two units of residential dwelling
space are occupied, or are intended to be occupied by two households who live independently
of each other.
���� "Excluded structure"
means:
���� International Standardization
Organization ISO Type 1 construction or frame-built construction with
combustible walls or roofs, but not including a podium deck on which the
frame-built construction is situated;
���� a building with ancillary
elements that are not part of the primary load bearing system such as, but not
limited to, elevator shafts or concrete, masonry, steel, or heavy timber that
the primary load bearing system does not deliver a building's load to the
foundation;
���� a building that is not a
condominium or cooperative, and consists primarily of rental dwellings;
[
or
]
���� a single-family dwelling
;
or
����
a duplex, or small-row
townhouse, that has been excluded from the structural inspection requirements
of section 3 of P.L.2023, c.214 (C.52:27D-132.4) due to the adoption of a
municipal ordinance pursuant to section 1 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill)
.
���� "Podium deck" means
a structural slab or deck that transfers applied loads from the structure above
to the structure below.
���� "Primary load bearing
system" means the assemblage of structural components within a building
comprised of columns, beams, or bracing that by contiguous interconnection form
a path by which external and internal forces applied to the building are
delivered to the foundation.� The foundation as well as any connected or
attached balconies shall be included as part of the primary load bearing system
evaluation.
����
"Single-family
home" means a building or structure of one or more stories and any land
appurtenant thereto, and any portion thereof, in which exactly one unit of
residential dwelling space is occupied, or intended to be occupied by one
household.
����
"Small-row
townhouse" means a dwelling unit intended for occupancy by one household,
and constructed in a group of exactly three attached units in which each unit
extends from foundation to roof and with a yard or public way on not less than
two sides.
����
"Structural
inspector" means:
���� a construction official, as
that term is used in section 8 of P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-126), who is also
an engineer licensed by the State;
���� an employee of the bureau who
is also an engineer licensed by the State; or
���� an engineer licensed by the
State who has the same qualifications required of an engineer under contract
with the enforcing agency with whom the covered building owner contracts to
perform inspections of covered buildings under section 3 of P.L.2023, c.214
(C.52:27D-132.4).
(cf: P.L.2025, c.132, s.1)
���� 3. �This act shall take effect
immediately.�
STATEMENT
���� This bill permits a
municipality to exclude duplexes, and townhouses within rows of three
townhouses, in planned real estate developments, from certain structural
inspections.
���� The bill supplements and amends
a recent enactment, P.L.2023, c.214, (C.52:27D-132.2 et al.), commonly known as
the "structural integrity law," which imposed various requirements
upon the associations of planned real estate developments, including
requirements to ensure that "covered buildings" are provided with
structural inspections at certain times.�
���� The bill adjusts the
definition of an "excluded structure" within the structural integrity
law such that a duplex, or a townhouse within a row of three townhouses, may be
excluded from the structural inspections ordinarily required by the law.� The
exclusion is to apply if the governing body of a municipality adopts an
ordinance to establish the exclusion within its boundaries.� The structural
integrity law already excludes single-family homes from the law�s structural
inspection requirements, without requiring municipal action.� �