This is what we received directly from the DCA.
Subject: Rehab CCC for Spr 2023
Rehab Grace Period and the 2021/2020 Codes
I don’t know about you, but anytime I see/hear the word Grace, I immediately think of National
Lampoons Christmas Vacation. For a reminder, here’s how it went:
Aunt Bethany: “Grace? Ohhh… She passed away thirty years ago…”
Uncle Lewis: “They want you to say Grace… The BLESSING!”
Aunt Bethany says, “Oh.”
Anyway, this article has nothing to do with a movie or blessing and serves as an explanation of the
applicability of another Grace, as in Period, found at N.J.A.C. 5:23-1.6) and its relationship to the
changes in the rehabilitation subcode. This question is common when changes to the rehab subcode
are made following the adoption of more recent editions of the model codes. To the extent that
changes to the rehab subcode involve section number changes, with the requirements remaining
the same, there is no real issue. However, if a new requirement is being added to the rehab
subcode, then the grace period would apply. The decision to add – or not to add – a requirement to
the rehab subcode is one that is taken deliberately. It is not automatic upon adoption of the most
recent edition of the national model code.
That all being said, I am happy to say, we made our informal deadline of having the rehab updates
adopted by the end of the new code cycle’s 6-month grace period. We have received notice from
the Office of Administrative Law that the September 6, 2022 proposal has been adopted March 6,
2023. Therefore, for those who wish to use the previous provisions, a complete permit application
would have to be submitted on or before September 5, 2023.
Robert S. Austin
Code Assistance/Development Unit
NJ Dept. of Community Affairs
Division of Codes and Standards
101 S. Broad St.
PO Box 802
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 984-7609 (phone)
(609) 633-6729 (fax)
www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/codes
Please be advised, all responses to inquiries are issued under N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.9, Interpretations and
opinions.