Wooden Buildings in Building Limits

Par. 1. - No alteration or repair of a wooden building within the building limits shall be made without a permit from the commissioner, and no permit to increase the height or ground area of such a building shall be granted, unless such building is on the corner of two intersecting ways, in which case the building commissioner shall have authority to grant a permit, nor shall a permit for alterations or repairs be granted if the estimated cost of the proposed alterations or repairs exceeds one half of the cost of a like new building.

[1915, c. 352, sect. 3, Special Act.]

Par. 2. - No wooden building, outside the building limits, shall be moved to any position within the building limits.

Recess in Wall

Par. 3. - No recess or chase shall be made in any external or party wall so as to leave the thickness at the back less than eight inches.

Timbers in Party Wall

Par. 4. - No roof or floor timber entering a party wall shall have less than four inches of solid brickwork between it and the end of any other timber.

Par. 5. - No part of any roof shall be constructed in such a manner as to discharge snow, ice, or other material upon a public street or alley.

Observation Stands

Par. 6. - No elevated staging or stand for observation purposes shall be constructed or occupied upon the roof of any building.

Chimneys

Par. 7. - No chimney shall be corbelled from a wall more than the thickness of the wall.

Par. 8. - No chimney shall be hung from a wall which is less than twelve inches thick.

Par. 9. - No masonry shall rest upon wood, except piles and mud sills.

Par. 10. - No part of any floor timber shall be within two inches of any chimney.

Par. 11. - No studding or furring shall be within one inch of any chimney.

Boilers - Furnaces

Par. 12. - No furnace or boiler for heating shall be placed upon a wooden floor.

Par. 13. - No smoke pipe shall project through any external wall or window.

Par. 14. - No steam, furnace, or other hot air pipes shall be carried within one inch of any wood work unless such pipes are double or otherwise protected by incombustible material.

Par. 15. - No combustible partition shall be within four feet of the sides and back or within six feet of the front of any boiler, carrying a pressure of over ten pounds, unless the partition is covered with incombustible material which extends to the full height of the partition from the end or back of the boiler to at least five feet in front of it. In such case the distance shall be not less than two feet from all the sides and five feet from the front of the boiler, and all lath and plaster and wooden ceiling beams over the boiler and to a distance of not less than four feet in front of all such boilers shall be covered with incombustible material.

[1914, c. 782, sect. 3.]

Observation Stand. Par. 16. - No observation stand shall be constructed or maintained except in accordance with plans approved by the commissioner.

Closet Under Stairs. Par. 17. - No closet of any kind shall be constructed under any staircase leading from the cellar or basement to the first story.

Boiler Under Public Way. Par. 18. - No boiler shall be placed or maintained under any public way.

Projections. Par. 19. - No part of any structure, except cornices, permanent awnings, string courses, window caps and sills, bay windows, under such terms, conditions, regulations and restrictions as may be required by the mayor and board of aldermen, and outside means of egress, as otherwise provided, and signs as provided in chapter three hundred and fifty-two of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, shall project over any public way or square. No cornice or bay window shall so project more than three feet; nor more than twelve inches over a way of a width of thirty feet or less.

Stables

Par. 20. - No building within forty feet of the property of any adjoining owner shall be erected for or converted to use as a stable, unless such use is authorized by the board of health after a public hearing. Written notice of such hearing shall be given to the adjoining owners, and published at least three times in at least two newspapers published in Boston, ten days at least before the hearing-

Roofing Materials

Par. 21. - No material other than brick, tile, slate, metal, asbestos shingles, or slag, shall hereafter be used to cover or roof any building, or the tops, sides and outsides of the frames of any dormer window, or any other projection of the roof of any building, except wooden cornices on wooden frame buildings; but on flat roofs composition of asbestos and asphalt or tar and gravel may be used, or such other composition of fire-resisting roofing as the commissioner may authorize. Asphalt shingles may also be used: provided, that each package of shingles is inspected and labelled and that the shingles are made and laid in conformity with the specifications promulgated by the National Board of Fire Underwriters as modified from time to time by said board; and provided, further, that within the lines at present constituting the building limits of the city of Boston such asphalt shingles may be used only on buildings of third class construction, and that they shall not be used within the building limits of said city as they existed prior to September twenty-second, nineteen hundred and thirteen. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the use of materials approved by the commissioner for repairing any roof now covered with wooden shingles or to prohibit covering with such approved materials the roofs of buildings less than sixteen feet in height: provided, that the building is not altered in height or otherwise generally reconstructed.

(1914, c. 782, sect. 3.) [1915, c. 352, Special Act, sect. 3.] [1916, c. 277, Special Act.] [1918, c. 104, Special Act.]

Lot Line - Distance from First and Second Class Buildings to be Kept.

Par. 22. - No part of any first or second class building hereafter erected, except the eaves and cornices, shall be nearer than five feet to the line of any adjoining lot on any side on which such building has any opening in the outer wall thereof unless all such openings are protected by wire glass set in metal frames and sash.