Howell, NJ Building Safety: Scaffold & Sidewalk Shed (2026)

The scaffold rule sits in Chapter 104 of the Howell Township Code, the Commercial and Industrial Maintenance Code. Section 104-1 explains the reason: unsafe conditions occur at commercial and industrial properties unless proper maintenance procedures are followed, and many people use those properties. Section 104-5(A) sets minimum standards for all commercial and industrial premises, including those occupied before the chapter was adopted, and where a premises has mixed occupancy, every use on it falls under the chapter. A search of the whole Howell Township Code finds no other provision that uses the word scaffold, so § 104-7(D)(5) is the township's scaffold standard.

The clause is one of seven listed under § 104-7(D), which requires the exterior of every structure, including fences and storefronts, to be kept in good repair. Its neighbors cover unsafe exterior facilities such as porches, balconies and fire escapes, signs and billboards, windows exposed to public view, awnings and marquees, storefronts and unoccupied buildings. The scaffold clause fixes no number of days. The test is the period necessary to reasonably complete the purpose for which the equipment was intended, so a painting scaffold left standing after the painting ends is out of compliance.

Responsibility is shared. Under § 104-6, owners and operators carry every duty in the chapter and cannot defend a charge because the occupant is also responsible, and occupants carry the duties assigned to them in § 104-7 and cannot defend a charge because the owner is also responsible. Section 104-10 subjects all premises to inspection by the Code Enforcement Officer, Health Officer, Police Department or any other official charged with enforcing rules on the activity there, during regular business hours unless an immediate threat to health or safety exists. Section 104-11 lets the Construction Code Official, Health Officer, Code Enforcement Official or Police Department order correction of a condition that is an immediate threat to life and limb, and then abate it if the owner, operator or occupant does not.