Grand Forks, ND Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

Section 10-0401 is the definitional backbone of the City of Grand Forks's substandard building program, listing nine specific defects that any of which is enough to classify a building or structure as substandard. The list reaches structural leaning where a plumb line through the center of gravity falls outside the middle third of the base, thirty-three percent or more damage or deterioration of a supporting member (or fifty percent damage to nonsupporting walls), improperly distributed or overloaded floor and roof loads, and damage from fire, wind or other causes that makes the building dangerous to life, safety, morals or general health.

It also covers buildings so dilapidated, decayed, unsafe or unsanitary that they are unfit for human habitation or likely to cause sickness, inadequate fire egress or insufficient stairways and fire escapes, loose parts that could fall and injure the public, and a catch-all for buildings that are unsafe, unsanitary or dangerous to health, morals, safety or general welfare. The final defect, subsection (9), sweeps in any building that exists in violation of the building code, fire prevention code, or other city ordinances, meaning a building code violation alone can support a substandard-building finding without needing independent structural failure.

This defect list feeds directly into the abatement machinery in the rest of Article 4: it is the standard the code enforcement officer applies under section 10-0402 and the standard the city council must find under section 10-0405 before ordering repair, vacation or demolition.