Residents and homeowners in St. John’s are being urged to familiarize themselves with updated property by-laws approved by council yesterday.

The new standards are meant to make it easier for the public to understand and follow, reflect more modern property conditions, and ensure the minimum standards in the bylaw are enforceable.

They cover the usual duties of owners and occupants, and everything from cleanliness to structural soundness, and for the first time requirements for carbon monoxide alarms.

Councillor Sandy Hickman sang the praises of the updated bylaws and the staff that did the work.

“The key thing is it allows us to better enforce the bylaws that mostly existed before but are now better enunciated, they’re cleaned up, they’re easier to understand, they’re clearer so that residents and property owners in the city will know where things stand, and they’ll know they can do these things, they can’t do these things, and make it much easier to take action.”

The changes come as the courts have seen a significant spike in charges for breaching various property bylaws under the City of St. John’s Act.

A link to the new Residential Property Standards Bylaw can be found here.