Many of you might have read about the recent plight of a Western New Jersey homeowner. The homeowner lives in a small bungalow and has an outhouse. The bungalow is only 30 feet by 32 feet and does not have enough room for indoor plumbing.

For decades, this set up has worked rather well for this homeowner and she has not been terribly interested in changing. But, her outhouse hating neighbors want her to change. And the law seems to require that she change. It appears as if she has saved enough money and has been given enough grant money that finally this homeowner will be able to install a septic system and indoor plumbing. This will make her neighbors happy and her outdated outhouse will be out. She will not be out, she will be allowed to stay. Most people are familiar with the concept of a grandfather clause.

Grandfather clauses usually provide that although zoning changes and other legal requirements change with time, uses that predate the changes can often remain in place. Thus, hotels that are built before certain newer safety requirements often do not have to make the upgrades. While new apartment buildings might require certain safety equiptment, older buildings are often grandfathered and do not have to make the improvements. Older housing is typically not up to code. Often, lead paint can be found, as can asbestos and bathroom outlets without ground fault interrupters. All, a no no in many communities. But homes built before these modern laws were passed usually do not have to upgrade. They are considered to be grandfathered.

Changed uses or abandoned uses can destroy the grandfathered protection. Thus, individuals who seek to rely on a grandfather provision usually must maintain the use continuously or risk a determination that the use was abandoned and therefore no longer permitted.

Also, uses that are no longer legal but are grandfathered cannot be expanded. An expansion of a non conforming use is usually determined to be prohibited. The key of course depends on your particular municipality, its particular regulations, and how courts have interpreted all of this. So then one might ask why wasn't this old outhouse grandfathered? While grandfathering applies in many instances, it does not always apply. Often, health and safety requirements are not grandfathered. And while there might be a phase in period that applies for older non conforming buildings, often in the case of a health and safety requirement even older buildings will at some point have to comply. Often, owners are given a period of years to comply with new requirements so that they can save enough money to come into compliance.

Requirements such as the installation of indoor plumbing and the mandatory hook up to public water supplies are the kinds of requirements that often apply even to owners of homes that previously operated with well water or an outhouse. These are considered to be public health and safety requirements of such significance that individuals that previously did not comply are usually required to comply at some point .

What is a homeowner to do if he or she is faced with a situation such as this West Jersey resident? Initially, look for public assistance. Often, government bodies will create small pools of grant money or low interest loan money to accommodate these new costly requirements. I would contact my local clerks office or my local code enforcement office to determine if they are aware of any free money or low income loan money.

If that did not work, I would contact the county health department or county construction code office.

By hook or crook, you simple may have to make newly required expensive improvements. While some new requirements are grandfathered, all new requirements are not. If you are in doubt, contact your local code enforcement official for guidance.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.