R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-29.1-1: Legislative findings and purpose.

The general assembly finds and declares:

(1) That there are throughout Rhode Island existing buildings and structures that are vacant or partially vacant and/or underutilized because rehabilitation of such buildings and structures to conform to the requirements for new structures under building and fire safety codes, is prohibitively expensive or impractical;

(2) That buildings and structures that are vacant or partially vacant constitute a public safety threat because of a lack of occupancy and a lack of investment in modernization and maintenance;

(3) That the presence of vacant and or partially vacant buildings and structures contributes to blight and or to the loss of economic viability of traditional city, town or village centers;

(4) That reinvestment in existing buildings and structures will strengthen local tax bases and provide employment opportunities in construction and building trades;

(5) That it is the purpose of this chapter to provide a code and regulations for repairing, rehabilitating, altering, improving, adding to and changing the use of existing buildings and structures in a manner that assures the health, welfare and safety of occupants and that facilitates designing improvements to existing buildings and structures to the code in an optimum manner with a minimum need to for variances; and

(6) That it is further the purpose of this chapter to provide a single uniform, statewide, harmonious rehabilitation building code with building code and fire safety code elements applicable to existing buildings and structures.