Berwyn, IL Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Section 1486.11 of the Berwyn Code of Ordinances, Construction and Maintenance, applies to every owner-occupant and every landlord. Foundations, floors, walls, ceilings and roofs must be reasonably weathertight, watertight and rodentproof and kept in good repair. Windows, exterior doors and basement hatchways must be kept in sound working condition. Stairs, porches and appurtenances must be safe and able to carry normal loads, plumbing fixtures and pipes must be free of defects, leaks and obstructions, and division (G) bars an owner, operator or occupant from shutting off a required service except for actual repairs or an emergency approved by the Health, Fire or Building Inspector.

Other sections of Chapter 1486 add numbers. Under § 1486.09 every dwelling unit needs a kitchen sink, a flush water closet and lavatory, a bathtub or shower, hot and cold water lines, water heating able to deliver at least 120ºF, and two safe and unobstructed means of egress. Section 1486.10 requires window area of 8% of the floor area in each habitable room, openable area equal to 40% of that minimum, screens on outdoor doors and windows from May 1 through October 31, and heating able to reach at least 70ºF three feet above the floor under ordinary minimum winter conditions. Section 1486.12 requires 150 square feet of floor space for the first occupant and 100 more for each additional occupant, and bars use of a cellar as a habitable room.

Enforcement runs through the Health Inspector, Fire Inspector and Building Inspector (§ 1486.02). A notice of violation must be in writing and allow not less than ten days to comply (§ 1486.03). A person can petition the Board of Health for a hearing within ten days of service, and the hearing must start within ten days of the petition (§ 1486.04). An unchallenged notice becomes an order after ten days (§ 1486.05), and an aggrieved person can seek relief in a court of competent jurisdiction (§ 1486.06). Pests are split by responsibility in § 1486.13(F): the occupant when only one unit is infested, the owner when two or more units or the shared parts are infested.