18. What is the Building and Maintenance Code?

Most municipalities in the United States have adopted standards known as the International Building Code.  As such, it addresses both health and safety concerns for buildings based upon prescriptive and performance related requirements. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Building_Code.

A municipal building and maintenance code is the first line of correction in addressing property deterioration. Repeated refusal of a property owner to comply with a code citation can lead to criminal prosecution. Code enforcement is dependent upon being able to serve code citations upon known owners. Owners living beyond The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania may be in noncompliance with code enforcement with little motivation to comply. Out of state owners subject to criminal prosecution will if arrested and in the Commonwealth, say a traffic stop, potentially will be subject to action based upon the criminal database available to law enforcement.