West Hartford, CT Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Chapter 105, the Housing and Property Maintenance Code adopted by the West Hartford Town Council on September 26, 1985, sets the Town's minimum habitability floor for every dwelling unit, rooming house and apartment. Section 105-41A requires functioning water-heating facilities that can deliver water of at least 110 degrees F at every required kitchen sink, lavatory basin, bathtub or shower, and those facilities must work even when the space-heating system is shut off. Section 105-41B requires heating facilities capable of safely and adequately heating every habitable room, bathroom and water closet to at least 68 degrees F, measured two feet above the floor and one foot from an exterior wall.

The code does not treat a heating failure as a routine defect: § 105-41B expressly declares a violation of the 68 degree standard an immediate hazard to the health, safety and welfare of occupants and the public, tying it directly to the emergency powers in § 105-56A (declaring a dwelling unfit) and § 105-59 (emergencies). That means the Director of Health can move straight to placarding a unit as unfit for human habitation, ordering it vacated within 24 hours to 10 days, rather than issuing only a routine notice of violation.

Landlords remain responsible under § 105-4C for complying with this code and with C.G.S. § 47a-7, Connecticut's parallel state landlord duty. The Director of Health enforces Chapter 105 town-wide, inspecting on a systematic plan, on complaint, or on the Director's own belief a violation exists, and can grant variances or extensions only through the process in § 105-58 before the Zoning Board of Appeals, sitting as the Housing Code Appeals Board.