Code Violation Repairs for Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Properties

Code violation repair in Cincinnati, starting with the notice

A code-enforcement notice tells you three things: what the inspector saw, which section of the code it falls under, and the date it has to be fixed by. Swiss Masonry is a Cincinnati masonry contractor and general contractor that landlords, property managers and owners can call when one of these arrives. We read the order with you, scope only what it lists, put the price in writing, handle the permits and historic-district approvals the work needs, do the repairs, and document them for the re-inspection.

Many orders on older buildings are exterior items: open mortar joints, loose brick on a chimney, broken front steps, a rotted porch, gutters hanging off the fascia, or a garage that is coming apart. That is masonry, concrete, carpentry and demolition, the work we do. We take on code violation repairs across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, Covington included, and through the rest of the 50-mile area around the city.

How City of Cincinnati building code violations are handled

The city’s Department of Buildings and Inspections enforces Chapter 1117 of the Cincinnati Building Code, the housing chapter that covers nearly every part of a dwelling. The city’s own code enforcement guide describes the process roughly like this:

• Enforcement is mainly complaint-driven. A 311 report from a neighbor or tenant sends an inspector out.
• If the inspector finds a violation, a notice is mailed to the owner’s address on the Hamilton County Auditor’s records. If nobody acknowledges it, a copy gets posted on the property.
• The notice carries a compliance date, normally 30 days for building code items. You can ask the inspector to meet you at the property and go over it.
• If the work can’t be done by then, the city tells owners to call the inspector named on the notice right away. Inspectors will help draft an approved workplan and timeline.
• Orders can be appealed to the Board of Housing Appeals or the Office of Administrative Hearings.
• Case status can be looked up online through the city’s ezTrak system.

Current details are on the city’s Property Maintenance Code Enforcement page. We’re contractors, not lawyers, and we don’t argue orders. We hand you a written scope and schedule to bring to that call with the inspector.

What the orders usually list, and the repair behind each

The city’s guide quotes the Housing Code sections behind the most common exterior orders. Here is how they turn into work:

For the masonry items, see tuckpointing, chimney repair, porch and step repair and retaining walls. Gutter and cornice orders are covered under box gutters and soffits. When an order says “repair or take down,” we can price both, so you can weigh a rebuild against demolition.

Historic districts add a step before work starts

In a historic district the repair needs its own approval. In Cincinnati, work on a designated local landmark or a property in a local historic district requires a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Conservation Office, even when the work is exempt from a building permit. Staff generally review minor alterations; major ones go to the Historic Conservation Board.

Covington runs the same idea under its own rules. A Certificate of Appropriateness is required before any exterior alteration in one of the city’s Historic Preservation Overlays, and the certificate and the zoning application are the same form. The Historic Covington Design Guidelines ask that repointing mortar match the old mix and color, stay softer than the brick, go into joints prepared with hand tools, and be tried on a test patch first. There we use Type N or O cement-lime mortar chosen from a sample panel, never Type S or M.

We put together the scope, photos and sample panel the review needs and work through the application with you. We don’t start exterior work in a historic district until the certificate is in hand. More on period mortar and brick on our historic masonry restoration page.

Covington and other Northern Kentucky orders

Across the river, Covington’s Code Enforcement Division enforces the city’s property maintenance, nuisance and zoning codes. Staff inspect properties, answer complaints and issue citations, and a Code Enforcement Hearing Board hears appeals of citations for exterior violations. The city itself warns that cases can take months or longer to work through, which is one more reason to get repairs moving early.

Covington lists separate paperwork rules for landlords on the same page. Newport, Bellevue, Fort Thomas and the other Northern Kentucky cities run their own programs, so read your notice for the issuing office and the date, then send us a copy.

From notice to re-inspection: how we run a code job

1. Send us the notice. A phone photo of every page works. The order number, the inspector’s name and the compliance date all matter.
2. The owner walks the property. He looks at each listed item in person, and at what caused it.
3. Scope only what the order lists. The written price follows the notice line by line. If we see something else coming, we tell you separately and mark it optional.
4. Permits and approvals. Cincinnati requires permits for building repair, retaining walls and demolition, among others. We pull the permits each city requires and file for historic approval where the property needs it.
5. The repairs. Small crews, usually two masons on masonry work. We schedule around tenants with you or your property manager.
6. Document it. Photos of each item before, during and after, tied to its line on the notice, so you have a clean record when you call for the re-inspection.

Every job is priced after the owner sees it. Common masonry ranges are on our pricing page. Insured. Certificate of insurance on request. The repairs carry our one-year workmanship warranty.