Chicopee, MA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Chicopee does not write its own room-by-room housing standards. Instead, § 122-1(A)(2) of the City Code adopts the State Sanitary Code, set forth at 105 CMR 410 et seq., including subsequent modifications, amendments or deletions. The stated purpose is "governing minimum standards of fitness for human habitation." The Code says the State Sanitary Code is adopted and incorporated "as fully as if set out at length herein," so its provisions are controlling within the limits of the City, and a copy is kept on file in the City Clerk's office. The adoption text speaks of habitation generally and does not single out rental units, so it is the citywide floor for dwellings in the City of Chicopee.

Because the adoption tracks later modifications, amendments and deletions, a change to 105 CMR 410 carries into the City Code without a new City Council vote. The subsection was amended 9-1-2009 and 4-19-2016 by Ord. No. 16-14, and Chapter 122 as a whole was adopted 9-3-2002 by Ord. No. 02-50.

The same subsection list adopts related state standards, including the State Minimum Sanitation Standards for Food Establishments at 105 CMR 590.00 et seq. and the State Sanitary Standards for Swimming Pools at 105 CMR 435.00 et seq., each with a copy on file in the City Clerk's office.

Enforcement runs through § 122-1(B). Any person who fails to comply with any order of the Building Inspector or other authorized City employee is liable for a criminal fine of not more than $300. That person is also subject to the rest of the Ordinance of the City of Chicopee, including Chapter 132, the Code Enforcement chapter that the Code cross-references. Each day or part of a day that the violation continues or exists is a separate violation, so an ignored order to fix a habitability defect produces a new offense every day.

The City Code does not restate the specific 105 CMR 410 requirements. A tenant or owner looking for a particular standard has to read the state regulation that the ordinance makes controlling.