ENROLLED ORIGINAL
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A RESOLUTION
25-409
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
January 9, 2024
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Construction
Codes Approval and Amendments Act of 1986 to require a property owner, contractor, or
person applying for certain permits for construction work to demonstrate that the person’s
insurance covers adjacent and adjoining property owners for loss or damage that arises
out of the proposed construction work.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Protecting Adjacent and Adjoining Property Owners from
Construction Damage Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2024”.
Sec. 2. (a) The Protecting Adjacent and Adjoining Property Owners from Construction
Damage Amendment Act of 2022, effective March 22, 2023 (D.C. Law 24-339; 70 DCR 1575)
(“2022 Act”), requires property owners, contractors, or persons applying for a permit for
construction work to obtain liability insurance that covers adjacent and adjoining property
owners for loss or damage arising out of the proposed work.
(b) The requirements under the 2022 Act are tied to specific types of construction permits
issued by the Department of Buildings. However, following the enactment of the 2022 Act, the
Department of Buildings determined that one existing permit requirement should be clarified to
include when an applicant will be engaging in underpinning and that 3 additional permit types
should be included because they involve work that has the greatest potential to cause damage or
bodily injury to a neighboring property or property inhabitants.
(c) The additional permits are:
(1) An alteration and repair permit pursuant to which the applicant will be engaged
in underpinning or certain other types of construction activity;
(2) A foundation permit; and
(3) A new building permit.
(d) Not including these permit types from the required insurance coverage creates a
significant gap in the protection that the original legislation was designed to provide and should ENROLLED ORIGINAL
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be remedied immediately to protect District property owners from significant loss or injury as a
result of construction activity occurring at a neighboring property.
Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute
emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Protecting Adjoining and Adjacent Property
Owners from Construction Damage Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a single
reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.