Chesapeake, VA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)
Key Facts
- Standard
- VUSBC Chapter 1, Part III maintenance code
- Enforcing office
- Dept. of Development and Permits
- Fire-safety systems
- Enforced by fire chief/fire code official
- First-offense civil penalty
- $100
- Repeat-offense civil penalty
- $150
- Criminal option
- Class 1 misdemeanor
- Appeals go to
- Local board of building code appeals
Summary
Chesapeake enforces Chapter 1, Part III of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code as its property maintenance standard, requiring every existing building, including rental housing, to stay safe, sanitary and fit for occupancy under City Code Sec. 14-86. The Department of Development and Permits enforces it, with the fire chief covering fire-safety systems in hotels, dwellings and rooming houses.
(a)There is adopted and incorporated by reference Chapter 1, Part III of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, and any amendments or supplements thereto... The provisions of Chapter 1, Part III of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code shall control all matters concerning the minimum regulations governing the conditions and maintenance of all property and existing structures and concerning the standards for supplied utilities and facilities and other physical situations and conditions essential to ensure that existing structures are safe, sanitary and fit for occupation and use. Chapter 1, Part III of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code shall apply to all existing buildings and structures in the city.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 1, Part III of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted by City Code Sec. 14-86, sets the minimum conditions every existing structure in Chesapeake, rental or owner-occupied, must meet: safe, sanitary and fit for occupation and use, including standards for supplied utilities and facilities. 2 (2000 edition) from that adoption. The department of development and permits is the general enforcing agency, except that the city fire chief or a designated fire code official enforces the Chapter 7 fire-detection, signaling and sprinkler requirements in hotels, motels, hospitals, colleges, certain juvenile-care and adult-care facilities, nursing homes, buildings with dwelling units, and rooming houses renting overnight accommodations.
Appeals from the building maintenance official go to the local board of building code appeals under Sec. 14-34. Violations are a class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code Section 36-106, or, in lieu of criminal prosecution, a civil penalty of $100 for a first offense and $150 for each subsequent offense, issued as a civil summons and tried in Chesapeake General District Court; a court that finds a violation must still order the owner to abate it, and the department can also seek injunctive relief for continuing or frequent violations.
Violations & Fines
Failing to keep a structure, rental or otherwise, safe and sanitary under the adopted maintenance code is a class 1 misdemeanor, or, in lieu of prosecution, a civil penalty of $100 for a first offense and $150 for each later offense issued by the Department of Development and Permits and tried in Chesapeake General District Court; uncorrected violations still must be abated by court order.
Frequently Asked Questions
What standard governs whether a Chesapeake rental is habitable?
Who enforces Chesapeake's property maintenance code?
What happens if a Chesapeake landlord does not fix a maintenance-code violation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Chesapeake
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