(a) No person shall demolish any building, structure or part thereof without obtaining a permit for the particular demolition undertaking from the building official of the town, city or borough wherein such building or part thereof is located. No person shall be eligible to receive a permit under this section unless such person furnishes to the building official: (1) Written notice of financial responsibility in the form of a certificate of insurance specifying demolition purposes and providing liability coverage for bodily injury of at least one hundred thousand dollars per person with an aggregate of at least three hundred thousand dollars, and for property damage of at least fifty thousand dollars per accident with an aggregate of at least one hundred thousand dollars; (2) written notice in the form of a certificate of notice executed by all public utilities having service connections within the premises proposed to be demolished, stating that such utilities have severed such connections and service; (3) written notice that such person is the holder of a current valid license issued under the provisions of section 29-402, or is exempted from such license requirement as provided in subsection (c) of said section; and (4) a written declaration by such person that the town or city and its agents shall be saved harmless from any claim or claims arising out of the negligence of the applicant or the applicant's agents or employees in the course of the demolition operations. No permit shall be issued under this section unless signed by the owner and the demolition contractor. Each such permit shall contain a printed intention on the part of the signers to comply with the provisions of this part.

(b) Any town, city or borough may impose, by ordinance, a waiting period of not more than one hundred eighty days before granting any permit for the demolition of any building or structure or any part thereof, except when the demolition permit is required for the removal of a structure acquired by the Department of Transportation for a transportation project.

(c) If a waiting period is imposed by a town, city or borough pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the person seeking the permit shall take no action toward demolition of the building, structure or part thereof, including, but not limited to, site remediation and asbestos abatement, during the waiting period. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply in the event that the building official determines that compliance with this subsection would result in a danger to public health.

(February, 1965, P.A. 551, S. 7, 8; P.A. 73-595, S. 2; P.A. 77-177, S. 2; P.A. 78-288, S. 2; P.A. 82-451, S. 5, 9; P.A. 83-187, S. 1; P.A. 87-263, S. 4; P.A. 95-8; P.A. 07-26, S. 1; P.A. 09-35, S. 8; P.A. 11-256, S. 9; P.A. 15-131, S. 2; P.A. 16-9, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 73-595 made provisions applicable to cities and boroughs in addition to towns; P.A. 77-177 added exception in Subdiv. (3) for persons engaged in disassembly, transportation and reassembly of historic buildings for historical purposes; P.A. 78-288 extended exception in Subdiv. (3) to include persons engaged in farm building demolition or in renovation, alteration or reconstruction of single-family residences; P.A. 82-451 changed “license” to “certificate of registration”; Sec. 19-403g transferred to Sec. 29-406 in 1983; P.A. 83-187 added Subsec. (b) allowing municipalities to impose a waiting period of not more than 90 days; P.A. 87-263 amended Subsec. (a), substituting “building official” for “administrative officer”; required in Subdiv. (2), written evidence in the form of a certificate of notice executed by public utilities, and added an exemption in Subpara. (B) for owners engaged in the demolition of single-family residences or outbuildings; P.A. 95-8 amended Subsec. (a)(3)(A) to delete reference to “demolition” of single-family residences; P.A. 07-26 made a technical change in Subsec. (a) and amended Subsec. (b) to increase maximum waiting period from 90 to 180 days; P.A. 09-35 amended Subsec. (a)(3) to replace “certificate of registration” with “license”; P.A. 11-256 amended Subsec. (a) to replace “written evidence” with “written notice”, amended Subsec. (b) to exempt transportation project permits from waiting period, and made technical changes, effective July 13, 2011; P.A. 15-131 amended Subsec. (a) by repositioning from Subdiv. (1) to Subdiv. (4) provision re written notice that town or city and its agents to be saved harmless, deleting former Subparas. (A) and (B) re exceptions and adding “or is exempted from such license requirement” in Subdiv. (3), and making technical changes, effective June 23, 2015; P.A. 16-9 amended Subsec. (b) by deleting provision re powers granted pursuant to part and added Subsec. (c) re person seeking permit not to take action toward demolition during waiting period.

Cited. 18 CA 40.