Title 6 — Housing and Building Restrictions and Regulations.

The Mayor of the District of Columbia, whenever he deems it desirable in the interest of economy, may permit buildings existing at the time said building lines are established and which project beyond said lines to remain until such time as the owner of said buildings desires to …

The appropriation available for opening alleys and minor streets in the District of Columbia is hereby made available for the purpose of establishing building lines as provided for in this chapter.

The Mayor shall review all building permit applications for new construction or substantial improvements to determine whether proposed building sites will be reasonably safe from flooding. If a proposed building site is in a location that has flood hazard, the proposed new constr…

The Mayor shall review subdivision proposals and other proposed new developments to assure that: (1) All such proposals are consistent with the need to minimize flood damage; (2) All public utilities and facilities, such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems are located, e…

The Mayor shall require new or replacement water systems and sanitary sewage systems to be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems and discharges from the systems into flood waters, and require on-site waste disposal systems to be located s…

The Mayor shall review each permit application for any excavation, grading, fill, or construction to determine whether the proposed site and improvements will be reasonably safe from mudslides. If a proposed site and improvements are in a location that may have mudslide hazards, …

The Mayor shall submit an annual report before April 1st of each year to the Council to advise the public of progress made under the National Flood Control Program.

Violations of any provision of this chapter, including the implementing regulations, are punishable by the following penalties: (1) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be punishable by a fine of not mo…

No combustible or nonfireproof building in the District of Columbia used or occupied or intended to be used or occupied as a dwelling, flat, apartment house, tenement, lodging or boarding house, hospital, dormitory, or for any similar purpose shall be erected, altered, or raised …

No combustible or nonfireproof building in the District of Columbia used or occupied or intended to be used or occupied for business purposes only shall be erected, altered, or raised to a height of more than 60 feet above the sidewalk, and no combustible or nonfireproof building…

(a) All buildings of every kind, class, and description whatsoever, excepting churches only, erected, altered, or raised in any manner after June 1, 1910, as to exceed 60 feet in height shall be fireproof or noncombustible and of such fire-resisting materials, from the foundation…

(a) Additions to existing combustible or nonfireproof structures after June 1, 1910, erected, altered, or raised to exceed the height limited by §§ 6-601.01 to 6-601.08 for such structures shall be of fireproof construction from the foundation up, and no part of any combustible o…

(a) No building shall be erected, altered, or raised in the District of Columbia in any manner so as to exceed in height above the sidewalk the width of the street, avenue, or highway in its front, increased by 20 feet; but where a building or proposed building confronts a public…

No wooden or frame building erected, altered, or converted after June 1, 1910, for use as a human habitation shall exceed 3 stories or exceed 40 feet in height to the roof.

For the purposes of this subchapter the height of buildings shall be measured from the level of the sidewalk opposite the middle of the front of the building to the highest point of the roof. If the building has more than 1 front, the height shall be measured from the elevation o…

Buildings erected, altered, or raised or converted in violation of any of the provisions of this subchapter, are hereby declared to be common nuisances; and the owner or the person in charge of or maintaining any such buildings, upon conviction on information filed in the Superio…

Congress reserves the right to alter, amend, or repeal this subchapter.

In view of the provisions of the Constitution respecting the establishment of the seat of the national government, the duties it imposed upon Congress in connection therewith, and the solicitude shown and the efforts exerted by President Washington in the planning and development…

The Council of the District of Columbia, in consultation with the National Capital Planning Commission, shall prepare plats defining the areas within which application for building permits shall be submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts for its recommendations.

(a) To protect the public health, secure the public safety, and to protect property in the District of Columbia there is created a Zoning Commission for the District of Columbia, which shall consist of the Architect of the Capitol, the Director of the National Park Service, and 3…

There is established as an independent agency of the District of Columbia (“District”) government an Office of Zoning to provide professional, technical, or administrative staff assistance to the Zoning Commission for the District (“Zoning Commission”) and to the Board of Zoning …

(a) The Office of Zoning shall consist of a Director and other staff as the Zoning Commission considers necessary. (b) The Director of the Office of Zoning shall be appointed by the District members of the Zoning Commission and shall serve as an excepted service employee in accor…

In accordance with § 1-204.04(b), the functions of the Zoning Secretariat of the Office of Planning, under the direction of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development pursuant to the Establishment of the Office of Economic Development, effective January 3, 1983 (M.O. 83-18; 30 DCR…

Nothing in this part shall be construed to prevent the Office of Planning from continuing to provide recommendations and reports to the Zoning Commission and the Board of Zoning Adjustment on any zoning case. The Office of Planning shall review and comment upon all zoning cases, …

To promote the health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, or general welfare of the District of Columbia and its planning and orderly development as the national capital, the Zoning Commission created by § 6-621.01, is hereby empowered, in accordance with the conditi…

Zoning maps and regulations, and amendments thereto, shall not be inconsistent with the comprehensive plan for the national capital, and zoning regulations shall be designed to lessen congestion in the street, to secure safety from fire, panic, and other dangers, to promote healt…

The regulations prior to June 20, 1938, adopted by the Zoning Commission under the authority of § 6-621.01 and in force on June 20, 1938, including the maps which at said date accompany and are a part of such regulations, shall be deemed to have been made and adopted and in force…

Any amendment of the regulations or any of them or of the maps or any of them shall require the favorable vote of not less than a full majority of the members of the Commission.

(a)(1) No zoning regulation or map, or any amendment thereto, may be adopted by the Zoning Commission until the Zoning Commission: (A) Has held a public hearing, after notice, on such proposed regulation, map, or amendment; and (B) After such public hearing, submitted such propos…

The permissible height of buildings in any district shall not exceed the maximum height of buildings now authorized upon any street in any part of the District of Columbia by subchapter I of this chapter, regulating the height of buildings in the District of Columbia.

The lawful use of a building or premises as existing and lawful at the time of the original adoption of any regulation heretofore adopted under the authority of § 6-621.01, or, in the case of any regulation adopted after June 20, 1938, under this subchapter, at the time of such a…

(a) A Board of Zoning Adjustment is hereby created which shall be composed of 1 member of the National Capital Planning Commission or a member of the staff thereof to be designated in either case by such Commission and appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia; 1 member …

A copy of any map established by said Zoning Commission and of its zoning regulations shall be filed in the Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia. A copy of any regulation or any amendment adopted after June 20, 1938, shall be published once in 1 or more daily newspaper…

(a) It shall be unlawful to erect, construct, reconstruct, convert, or alter any building or structure or part thereof within the District of Columbia without obtaining a building permit from the Inspector of Buildings, and said Inspector shall not issue any permit for the erecti…

(a) The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall enforce the regulations adopted under the authority of this subchapter. Nothing contained in this subchapter shall be construed to limit the authority of the Mayor or Council of the District of Columbia to make municipal regulations…

Wherever the regulations made under the authority of this subchapter require a greater width or size of yards, courts, or other open spaces, or require a lower height of buildings or smaller number of stories, or require a greater percentage of lot to be left unoccupied, or impos…

The word “amend,” “amendment,” “amendments,” or “amended,” when used in this subchapter in relation to the zoning regulations, shall be deemed to include any modification of the text or phraseology of the regulations or of any provision of the regulations or any regulations or an…

Appropriations are hereby authorized to carry out the provisions of this subchapter for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1938, and thereafter the Mayor of the District of Columbia is authorized and directed to include in his annual estimates such amounts as may be required for sal…

The Act of March 1, 1920 (41 Stat. 500, ch. 92), excepting the provisions of § 6-621.01 creating the Zoning Commission, providing for its membership and service without additional compensation, are hereby repealed. All laws or parts of other laws in conflict with the provisions o…

The provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to federal public buildings; provided, however, that, in order to ensure the orderly development of the national capital, the location, height, bulk, number of stories, and size of federal public buildings in the District of Colum…

After October 13, 1964, no building or chancery being used by a foreign government in the District of Columbia shall be transferred to or used by another foreign government unless such use is in accordance with § 6-641.06, as amended, or unless such use was in accordance with app…

Sections 6-651.01 and 6-651.02 shall not be administered in such a way as to discriminate against any foreign government on the basis of the race, color, or creed of any of its citizens.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the Mayor of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized and directed, from time to time, to prescribe a schedule of fees to be paid for permits, certificates, and transcripts of records issued by the Inspector of Buildi…

In any case where building permits have been issued and no work has been begun thereunder, the person who has paid the fee for said permit may return said permit for cancellation, and upon the cancellation thereof there shall be refunded to him, in the manner prescribed by law fo…

It shall be the duty of the owner entitled to the beneficial use, rental, or control of any building 3 or more stories in height, constructed or used or intended to be used as an apartment house, tenement house, flat, rooming house, lodging house, hotel, hospital, seminary, acade…

It shall be the duty of the owner entitled to the beneficial use, rental, or control of any building already erected, or which may hereafter be erected, in which 10 or more persons are employed at the same time in any of the stories above the 2nd story, except 3-story buildings u…

It shall be the duty of the owner entitled to the beneficial use, rental, or control of any building used or intended to be used as set forth in § 6-701.01 where fire escapes are required, or any building in which 10 or more persons are employed, as set forth in § 6-701.02, where…

(a) The owner of a high-rise building shall: (1) Prepare and maintain a fire safety and evacuation plan for the building; and (2) Conduct fire drills at least once every 12 months. (b) A violation of this section shall be subject to civil penalties as established by the Mayor pur…

The Mayor of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized and directed to issue such orders and the Council of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized and directed to adopt, and the Mayor to enforce, such regulations not inconsistent with law as may be necessary to accompl…

(a) Each elevator shaft and stairway extending to the basement of the buildings heretofore mentioned shall terminate in a fireproof compartment or enclosure separating the elevator shaft and stairs from other parts of the basement, and no opening shall be made or maintained in su…