Building + Code Enforcement

Municipal Construction Codes and Development

Cherokee rehabilitates and improves virtually every property we acquire, and we consequently work closely with building and code enforcement officials in every municipality where we having holdings. See what your peers are saying about Cherokee.

You can see examples of what happens to a property after Cherokee becomes the owner of a:

• Individual Home
• Commercial Property
• Boarded Up Building

Cherokee frequently renovates existing properties that were vacant and in great disrepair. New Jersey laws permit such repairs, without extensive planning and zoning board applications, even if the restored use does not conform to current zoning or land use laws, because the property is grandfathered under the laws in effect as of the date the property was built. These pre-existing but (now) non-conforming uses are grand-fathered, subject to planning review limited to health and safety issues. To learn more about this topic, please see Grandfathered existing uses can be repaired and continued.

To learn the advantages of renovating existing properties, as opposed to tearing them down and building new, please see Advantages of Renovations versus New Construction.

Smart Codes in your Community: A Guide to Building Rehabilitation Codes. Published by HUD in 2001, this PDF download provides a broad overview of the general regulatory environment governing the use and reuse of existing buildings, and provides examples of state and local efforts to reduce regulatory complexity to help spur reinvestment in the existing building infrastructure.

Building Code Resources

• Building Officials Association of New Jersey
• Municipal Construction Officials Association of New Jersey (MUNCO)

New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Resources:

• Most current building codes
• The International Code Council offers downloadable versions of the New Jersey Construction Codes.
• New Jersey Uniform Construction Code:
  • Full Version can be purchased (N.J.A.C. 5:23) for $40.00 from the Publications Unit of the Department of Community Affairs. Order online, call (609) 984-0040, or email UCCpublications@dca.state.nj.us.
  • Most current update (March 2008)
  • Code Summary Document (PDF download)
  • Rehabilitation Subcode effective as of May 2007 (N.J.A.C. 5:23-6) is available as a 158 page PDF download.