When you hire a contractor to do some work in your condo, co-op or HOA development, whether that work is lobby renovation, installing new windows, repairing elevators or fixing the roof, you and the contractor have two other partners: the state of New Jersey and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

There are all sorts of state laws, codes and procedures that contractors have to follow, most of them under the aegis of New Jersey's Division of Codes and Standards, part of the multi-faceted Department of Community Affairs (DCA). The New Jersey State Uniform Construction Code (UCC) Act, which was signed into law in 1975, authorizes the department's commissioner to adopt and enforce rules.

The UCC itself is comprised of four basic subcodes for construction: building, electrical, fire protection and plumbing. "We were the first state that had a statewide code at a local level," says Michael Ticktin, an attorney and chief of legislative analysis for DCA.

This means, as the state's web­-site dealing with the code (www.nj.gov/dca/codes) says that "The UCC provides one-stop service at the local level. A construction permit is required for a construction project," or at least projects that aren't classified as "ordinary maintenance," or routine repairs.

The needed permits include subcode applications for building, electrical, fire protection, mechanical or plumbing work. Most of the various codes that have been adopted through the UCC have their origins in industry accreditation bodies, such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

During construction, code officials or inspectors conduct regular inspections to ensure that the work conforms with the UCC. Still, as the website informs homeowners and homebuyers, "The plans on file in the building department do not determine what the builder must provide to you." They're basically between the contractor and the inspectors, and are highly technical. "Your contract is the only document which establishes what the builder must provide to you."

OSHA and Safety

Ensuring construction/contractor safety while the job is under way, however, is the province of OSHA, which is part of the federal government's Department of Labor. According to Steve Kaplan, assistant area director of the Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey office of OSHA, "Our role is to ensure that any employers, including the general contractor, construction manager and subcontractors, are complying with OSHA regulations when building condos or making improvements. We have field inspectors who will do scheduled inspections, and will also respond to accidents, complaints and notification of unsafe conditions."

Kaplan says the agency "has an entire book of regulations for the construction industry, from how to safely construct and use a scaffold to how to operate a crane to how to protect employees who have to enter an excavation site." If the regular OSHA website, www.osha.gov, is too complex, readers should look at the part of the site dealing with residential construction, or http: //www.osha.gov/SLTC/residential/.

Here, you will find useful information, such as required anti-fall protection for people working on roofs, dealing with hazardous substances, eye and face protection, and dealing with silicon dust. For example, the federal agency calls for roofers to wear harnesses if they're working more than six feet above the ground, says Matt Samer of KPI 2, Inc. in Morrisville, Pa., a siding contractor that does much of its work in New Jersey.

On the Web, you can also find out about how contractors can implement a job safety program and where they can take training course in OSHA procedure and guidelines, often at various community colleges and state colleges, says Kaplan.

New Home Warranty and Builders' Registration Act

OSHA regulations mainly affect contractors. But one state law that affects both homebuyers and builders is the state's New Home Warranty and Builders Registration Act, which can be found at the following website, (http: //www.state.nj.us/dca/codes/newhome_warranty/nhwpinfo.shtml).

The act, enacted in 1977 and amended in 2001, does two things, according to Ticktin.

First, it requires anyone who is a builder of a new home—and that includes townhouses, condos and co-ops—to be registered with DCA before starting construction and before offering a warranty on any new home bought and sold in the state.

Does an active builder in another state—say, Pennsylvania—have to register? "He does if he wants to build in the state of New Jersey," Ticktin says.

The other thing the law does is to entitle every buyer of a new home to a 10-year warranty. The builder himself is the warrantor of the home and must provide follow-up warranty services.

"The first year, the warranty covers everything, the second year it covers mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and major structural defects, and the third year on, it only covers major construction defects," says Ticktin. The DCA's Bureau of Homeowner Protection administers its own warranty plan, but builders can also use state-approved private plans.

Like most laws, the New Home Warranty and Builders' Registration Act has given rise to litigation. In Ticktin's opinion, the most significant case coming out of the law is DKM Residential Properties vs. The Township of Montgomery, decided by the New Jersey Supreme Court last year. Reversing a previous lower court ruling, the court ruled that municipalities can enforce the UCC against builders, developers and contractors even after a home has been sold.

Although there is a final inspection in the construction process, "What happens if a defect becomes apparently only after sale?" asks Ticktin. "This decision gives the buyers an added protection."

Contractors' Registration Act

As of this year, not only builders but home improvement contractors also have to be certified. In May 2004, the governor signed the Contractors' Registration Act, which establishes a registration program for contractors "who engage in the business of selling or making home improvements" in New Jersey. The certification process for contractors is also overseen by the DCA, and the law's language states that one of its main purposes is to help combat consumer fraud.

There are quite a few exemptions from the Contractors' Registration Act, including people working on their own homes, people working on a property owned by a non-profit or charity, businesses already registered under the aforementioned New Home Warranty and Builders' Registration Act, people already regulated by the state as professional engineers, architects, electricians and several other professions.

Perhaps most important to note in reference to HOAs is that: "any person employed by a community association or cooperative corporation, who is making home improvements within the person's scope of employment at the residential or non-commercial property that is owned or leased by the community association or cooperative corporation" is also excluded.

Even so, the DCA estimates that at least 25,000 contractors are required to be registered under the act.

Insurance Coverage

What type of insurance coverage should builders have? All builders should have liability insurance, but many need more specific types of insurance. Some contractors, unfortunately, only have liability insurance when they really need insurance that is geared to their job, such as roofing, plumbing or window work, says Samer.

As for how much insurance is needed, according to Andrew Amorosi, PE of Falcon Engineering & Architecture in Somerville, "What they're doing would dictate how much insurance coverage you need. Every job is different. You might need $1 million, you might need $5 million. It's dependent on the scope of the work."

Specific Types of Work

Scaffolding safety, for example, is regulated by OSHA. When it comes to elevator repairs, the state has its own program, which can be referenced on a section of the DCA website at (http: //nj.gov/dca/codes/code_services/elevatorsafety.shtml).

As the site points out, there are several choices a municipality can make regarding elevator inspection, which is mandated at least once a year. "Our people can do it, the towns can do it, or they can hire licensed private inspection agencies," says Ticktin.

Windows are also mentioned in the UCC. Under the code, window work, including storm windows, is considered part of "ordinary repairs," for which no permits are required. This also applies to emergency escape windows, providing that the work doesn't alter "the dimensions or framing of the original opening."

Where State and OSHA Overlap

Even in situations where the state's UCC and other codes apply, OSHA regulations apply as well.

Take the aforementioned example of elevators. While contractors are working on your elevators, OSHA says, they must wear safety glasses, wear hardhats in many cases, and maintain their tools in a certain manner.

Kaplan says he would advise condo and co-op board members to be generally familiar with the broad categories that OSHA covers, and to know how to call the local OSHA office or how to access the agency's website.

"A condo manager should know that there are certain requirements that an employee who sends someone up on a scaffold has to comply with," he says. "Some managers take a very proactive approach to what they're required to do—they know they're required to do. Others try to fly by the seat of their pants."

Even though most condo, co-op or townhouse residents never deal directly with OSHA and may be only vaguely aware of what it does, the agency benefits and protects them while construction and renovation work is under way, says Amorosi. "Their measures eventually protect the homeowners as well as the contractors," he says.

Raanan Geberer is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The New Jersey Cooperator.