§ 44.01. Party walls.

(a)

Whenever any building or other structure is altered, changed, razed or demolished so as to expose any party wall which forms a part of another building or other structure, the owner of the building or other structure upon which any of the aforesaid operations are being performed shall repair and restore all flashing on any adjoining property which has been broken or damaged during any such operation, and shall remove from the exposed side of any such party wall any and all plaster and other material not commonly used for exterior construction and shall also install such new flashing as may be required to protect any building construction joints exposed by the demolition operations. Such repair work as is required by this section shall be done as a continuation of the razing process and completed within thirty (30) days from the date razing is completed.

(b)

A masonry party wall exposed by razing operations shall, as the various sections of such wall become exposed to the weather, have each such section protected from damage by the weather. If the razed building is to be replaced by a building which will entirely protect those portions of the party wall exposed to the weather, with the construction of said replacement building to be commenced within ninety (90) days from the date of such exposure, the exposed portions of the wall may be protected from weather damage by tarpaulins, waterproof paper or such other temporary means as may be approved by the city building official. Such temporary protection shall be maintained in a weatherproof condition. If construction of the replacement building is not scheduled to begin within ninety (90) days from the date of the exposure of the party wall to weather damage, or if such construction has not begun within ninety (90) days from the date of such exposure, the exposed wall shall be cleaned, any holes therein filled, the joints therein pointed, and the portion of such walls exposed to weather damage shall be waterproofed with cement plaster not less than three-fourths inch thick applied in two (2) coats, or be waterproofed in any other manner found to be standard practice in the building construction industry and approved by the city building official. If the exposed portion of a party wall is not covered entirely by a replacement building, or is not to be so covered, then such portions of the exposed wall as will not be covered by the replacement building shall be cleaned, holes filled, joints pointed, and be permanently waterproofed in the manner set forth above.

(c)

Where such party walls are of other than masonry construction, such walls shall be restored and weatherproofed in accordance with the requirements of the state building code for exterior walls of the particular type of construction involved. All such party walls shall be faced with material commonly used for exterior finish identical to, or as closely resembling as practicable, the facing material of the other exterior walls of the building left standing and shall be painted or otherwise finished in a manner similar to other parts of the building.

(d)

Any foundation walls of buildings left standing that are exposed by razing operations shall be waterproofed before any backfill or grading operations may be started or, if foundation of razed building is not filled as allowed in section 44.02, shall be treated as required in paragraph (b).

(e)

In the event that any building or other structure, which is enclosed on one or more sides with a party wall or party walls, is wholly or partially removed, razed or demolished, and any such party wall or party walls left standing and exposed are in the opinion of the city building official unsafe or dangerous for any reason, then and in that event the owner of the building being removed, razed or demolished shall, with respect to such party wall or party walls or any portion thereof that may be deemed by the city building official to be unsafe or dangerous, either remove and reconstruct the same or anchor, brace, or buttress the same, and do all other necessary work to enclose properly the building or other structure left standing. Whenever any party wall, or parts of such walls, are to be left standing, the proposed method of securing all structural elements thereof shall be presented with the application for the razing permit and shall be approved before the work is started. Drawings, sketches and descriptions shall clearly establish the joint use of the wall as a party wall by the adjoining property owners or shall show the location of lot lines in relation to the party walls involved in the demolition work.

(Code 1956, § 58.01)