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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 70- 891, Amends Chapter 15.04, electrical code. I I I ORDINANCE NO. 891 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A NEW BOZEMAN ELECTRIC CODE; ADOPTING THE NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE ; PROVIDING FOR SUBORDINATION OF BOZEMAN ELECTRIC CODE TO RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE MONTANA STATE ELECTRIC BOARD, AMENDING TITLE 15, CHAPTER 15.04 OF THE BOZEMAN MUNICIPAL CODE AND REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES AND PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA Section 1. ADOPTION. A certain document, three copies of which are on file in the office of the Building Inspector of the City of Bozeman, Montana, being marked and designated as "National Electrical Code, 1968 Edition, published by the National Fire Protective Association", is hereby adopted as the Electrical Code of the City of Bozeman for the regulation of electrical installations, repair and maintenance in the City of Bozeman, being referred to, and made a part hereof as if fully set out in this chapter. Section 2. MONTANA STATE ELECTRICAL BOARD. Should any Chapter, section or paragraph of the Code hereby adopted be in conflict with rules and regulation of the Montana State Electrical Board the rules, regulations and requirements of the Montana State Electrical Board shall prevail. Section 3. That Title 15, Chapter 15.04 of the Official Code of the City of Bozeman, Ordinance No. 805, be amended to read as follows; CHAPTER 15.0lJ ELECTRICAL CODE 15.04.010 SHORT TITLE This Chapter shall be known as the "Electrical Code", may be cited as such, and will be referred to herein as "this code. ~' 15.04.020 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The purpose of this code is to provide minimum standards to safeguard life, health, property and public welfare by regulating and controlling the installation, repair, maintenance and inspection of electric wiring, electric devices, appliances and materials, providing for the licensing of persons, firms, or corporations engaged in the business of installing or repairing, of electrical equipment, wiring or devices, and providing for the issuance of permits for work to be done, the paying of fees therefor, the inspecting of work done, and providing penalties for the violation thereof, and repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance. Section 4. MUNICIPALITY AND CITY DEFINED. Whenever the words ':'Municipality" or "City" are used in the code hereby adopted, they shall mean the City of Bozeman. Section 5. ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR DEFINED. The office of the Electrical Inspector shall be made a part of the Department of Public Safety and the Electrical Inspector shall be appointed by the City Manager. Whenever the term "Electrical Inspector" is used in the code hereby adopted, it shall be construed to mean the Electrical inspector or his authorized representative. Section 6. EXCEPTIONS. The provisions of this ordinance shall not apply to: (a) Buildings owned by the Federal Government. (b) Installations, alterations or repairs to electrical equipment and devices by municipalities for street lighting or traffic control systems, except as noted in the National Electrical Safety Code. (c) Integral parts of communication systems of telephone or telegraph companies, except as noted in the National Electrical Safety Code. (d) Communication systems of railroads or pipeline companies, or oil and gas producers installed wholly on private right of way. (e) The construction, installation, alteration, maintenance or repair of any facility or property owned, operated or occupied by an ORDINANCE NO. 891 I 173 174 electric public utility subject to the public Service Commission of the State of Montana, except as noted in the National Electrical Safety Code, nor to any employee, agent or contractor of such utility company while engaged in performing work on such facilities or property; provided, the installation of new wiring, the main- tenance of existing wiring (excluding specialized utility communications and circuits pertinent onl, to the utilities' operation) in office buildings shall not be excluded from the operation of this ordinance. Section 7. (a) Permit Required. No alteration ahall be made in the existing wiring of any I building, nor shall any building be wired for the placing of any electrical current, nor shall any alterations be made in the wiring in any building after inspection, without first norifying the Electrical Inspector and securing a permit therefor. Where work for which a permit is required by this Ordinance is started or proceeded with prior to obtaining said permit, the fees specified shall be doubled, but the payment of said fee shall not relieve any persons from fully other penalties prescribed herein. complying with the requirements of this Ordinance in the execution of the work, nor from the (b) Fees for Permit. At the time the application for a permit is made, the applicant shall pay to the electrical inspector the following fees: 1. For each permit 2. Wiring for lights and small appliances (per switch, plug or outlet box); 1 to 15, inclusive For additional outlets, each Each 16 foot or fraction thereof of gas tubing or fluorescent strip shall be one outlet., Ten foot or fraction thereof of continuous outlet stripping shall be one outlet. 3. For alterations and additions, same as new work. 4. For installation of main service only, determined by name plat of main switch, up to 100 amperes For each additional amp. over 100 5. Sign Wiring: Circuits to each sign Connections to each sign 6. Heating appliances: For one heating appliance rated at not more than ten kilowatts, fhe fee shall be Additional heating appliances, 10 Kilowatts or less For each heating appliance rated over 10 Kilowatts the fee shall be 7. Power: One motor, one horespower of less Additional motors of this size More than 1 but less than 10 H.P. Ten horsepower or more Changes to existing motors $ 1.00 \ $ 1.00 $ .10 I $ 2.00 $ .01 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ .50 $ 1.50 $ 1.00 I $ .25 $ 1.50 $ 2.00 $ .25 Generators. For each generator for light and power purposes, in- cluding swithchboard and connections $ 5.00 ORDINANCE NO. 891 I I I 8. Minimum inspection fee $ 2.00 9. A charge of $2.00 may be made for each additional trip occasioned by carelessness or neglect on the part of the contractor in calling for an inspection at an incorrect address or at a time when such inspection could not ae made properly. 10. All work :under $25.00 must be called in but no inspection fee will be charged. (c) Plans Required. Accompanying the application for permit there shall be filed with the inspector plans of the work to be undertaken on all non-residential construction and, if deemed necessary by the Electrical Inspector, plans may be required for residence type work. The above mentioned plans shall show the character and precise location of the premises, all features of the work, and the name of the owner, and shall be signed by the contractor. Such plans shall be filed at least five days in advance of commencement of the work contemplated. The permit shall not be held to allow cutting of any structural features of any building. The permit shall cover the work set forth in the plans only, and if additional work or changes in the location of fixtures is to be undertaken, a new permit to cover such additional work or modification shall be sucured in the usual manner. Section 8. INSPECTION AUTHORITY AND DUTIES. (,a) Right of Access to Buildings. The Electrical Inspector and Assistants carry shalVproper credentials of their respective office, upon exhibition of which they shall have the right of entry, during usual business hours, to inspect any and all buildings and premises in the performance of their duties. However, should the owner or occupant disapprove entry, the inspector shall produce a search warrant sighed by the proper authority. (b) Discontinuance of Service. Authority to order service stopped. The Electrical Inspector shall have supervision over all wires, materials, apparatus and fittings used for the transmission, distribution or consumption of electrical current for light, heat, or power or for any other purpose, whether new or old, the transmission and distribution of Television Signals; and whenever any such wires, materials, apparatus or appurtenances are, or may become dangerous to life or property, or liable to cause fire, accident or injury, he is empowered to order the owner, agent, or user to remove or repair such within forty-eight hours after receipt of the notice. In case the order is not complied with, the Electrical Inspector shall order the current to be disconnected, from the installation or the part of it which is considered hazardous, and all owners, agents, users, light and pvwer companies and others, shall not have the current or curcuit connected again until the Electrical Inspector has given a written permit to do so. All firms, corporations, or individuals, whether operating under a regular franchise granted by the City or not, shall, upon written notice from the Electrical Inspector, disconnect from any building the service on any circuit as designated by the notice, and shall not reconnect the building service or curcuit, except upon written notice from the Electrical Inspector. (c) Inspection. Upon the completion of the wiring or alterations or additions to the wiring of any building, it shall be the duty of the person, firm, or corporation rnstalling the same to notify the Electrical Inspector, who shall inspect the installation ORDINANCE NO. 891 175 (d) Re-inspection. When considered advisable by the Electrical Inspector or upon request by the fire chief, light and power company or the owner or tenant of any building the Electrical Inspector shall make a thorough re-inspection of the installation in any buildings of all electric wiring, electrical devices and electrical material now installed or that may hereafter be installed within the city of Bozeman. When the installation of any such wiring, devices or materials is found to be in a dangerous or unsafe cindition the person, firm or corporation owning, using or operating the same shall be notified and shall make the necessary repairs, or changes required to place such wiring, devices and material in a safe condition and have such work completed within four days, or any longer period specified by the Electrical Inspector in said notice. The Electrical Ihspector is hereby empowered to order the dis- continuance of electrical service to such wiring, devices or material so found to be defectively installed until the installation of such wiring, devices and material has been made safe as directed by the Electrical Inspector. (e) Construction Requirements. No inspection shall be approved unless the electrical light, power and heating installations are in strict conformity with the provisions of this Ordinance, the statutes of the State of Montana, the rules and regulations issued by the Public Service Commission of Montana under the authority of the State statutes, and unless they are in conformity with the approved methods of construction for safety to life and property. The regulations as laid down in the latest issue of the National Electrical Code, as herein adopted, and the Safety Rules for the Installation and Maintenance of Electric Supply and Communication Lines, National Bureau of Standards Association, shall be prima facie evidence of such approved methods. (f) Review. When the Electrical Inspector condemns all or part of any electrical installation, the owner may within five days after receiving written notice from the Electrical Inspector, file a petition in writing for review of said action, of the Electrical Inspector with I 176 within twenty-four hours of the time such notice is given, Sundays and holidays excepted, and if it is found to be fully in compliance with this Ordinance and does not constitute a hazard to life and property, he shall sign the inspection card posted for that job which signing will authorize connection to the electrical service and the turning on of the current. Provided, however, that the Inspector may give temporary permission to furnish electric current to or the use of the electric current. Provided, however, that the Inspector may give temporary permis- sion to furnish electric current to or the use of the electric current, through any wires, or other equipment for a length of time not exceeding thirty days, if it appears that such wires, etc. may be used safely, and that there exists an urgent necessity for such use and special permission. All wires which are to be hidden from view shall be inspected before concealment and any person, firm or corporation installing such wires shall notify the Electrical Inspector, giving him twenty-four hours in which to make the required inspection before such wires are concealed. Providing that on large installations where concealment of parts of the wiring proceeds continuously, the person, firm or corporation installing the wiring shall give the Electrical Inspector due notice and inspection shall be made periodically during the progress of the work. A notice in the form of a tag or label shall be attached to the service switch, clearly stating that the work has been passed by the Electrical Inspector and is approved for covering. I I ORDINANCE NO. 891 I I I the City Clerk who shall refer the petition to a board of three competent parties to be appointed by the Mayor, with the approval of the City Commissi6n, upon receipt of which the Board shall at once proceed to determine whether said electrical installation complies with this Ordinance, and within three days shall make a decision in accordance with its findings, which shall be returned to the City Clerk for action. Section 9. CONNECTIONS. It shall be unlawful for any electric utility to make any electrical connections to any building or premises until the wiring has been approved by the Electrical Inspector, provided, however, special permission may be given by him to make a temporary connection and use portions of the wiring in a building during construction, if it appears that this can be safely done, and there exists an urgent necessity for such use and for such special permission. Section 10. LICENSE, BOND AND OWNER'S RIGHTS. No person, firm or corporation shall engage in installing, repairing or altering electrical wiring or conductors within the corporate limits of the City of Bozeman, Montana, for the purpose of transmitting electrical energy for light, heat or power, excluding any public electric utility, without first obtaining a license therefore from the Electrical Inspector and furnishing a liability bond as hereinafter required. The Electrical Inspector, before issuing a license, shall determine that the applicant is familiar with the Ordinances of the City of Bozeman regulating the installations, repair, and maintenance of electrical wiring and that such applicant is qualified to engage in such work, for the protection of life and property. This section is not designed to cover persons, firms or corporations whose only elecrical work is the sale or repair of electrical appliances. There shall be two classes of licenses: (a) Contractors' licenses for any person, firm, or corporations doing electrical contracting. The fee for a Contractor's license shall be $25.00 annually. The bond for the Contractor's license shall be $5,000.00 and no license shall be issued until a bond has been filed as herein required. The bond herein required shall be approved as to form and sufficiency by the City Commission and conditioned that he or they will in good faith perform all of the things required by the Ordinances of the City of Bozeman, and that, if any injury to any person or damage to any property results by reason of his or their failure or neglect to conform with any ordinance relating to the instal- lation of electric wiring and equipment, he or they shall save harmless and indemnify such person injured or the owner of such property damaged. (b) Individual electrician's licenses. The fee for an individual electrician's license shall be $10.00 the first time the license is issued and $5.QO for each consecutive year thereafter. All licenses shall be issued for one year and obtained on or before January 30th of each year and will expire on the 3lst day of December of the current year. Any individual electrician's license not renewed on or before January 30th shall revert to $10.00. A license of any person, firm or corporation engaged in doing electrical work may by the City Commission be revoked if it is proven to the satisfaction of said City Commission that such person, firm or corporation wilfully or through carelessness or ignorance, violates or permits its employees to violate any of the provisions of this Ordinance. ORDINANCE NO. 891 177 178 If an owner disires to do wiring in his own home, he may do so without a license, but he must first obtain a permit required by this Ordinance, provided, however, the Electrical Inspector may refuse to issue a permit to any person who, in his estimation, is not competent to install the electrical r work in accordance with the re@ulation of this Ordinance, tpl'!.lll.., iuu~, AI, ~i.~ Bla~tr 1J!.a1 Iall,'9"-- _nr --4"11"9 t9 hll"l1t n F1tRlit t9 t1~1 p~-r~~ "h~. 4~ 1::1411 lllti.~til.1ta. h alii ".,IUali tI, ialtall tl~1t 1tlg1ttl'hAl Ht.It ia lilll\U..1iIlIlI"1l8 uUh thl "1811118"""1 Ii 'Ria gl'll'llat1.I.;J Sign companies shall be permitted to do wiring in signs and outline lighting on the secondary side of the transformers only. Sec tion ll. 1. WIRING RULES. All service entrance conductors serving family dwellings shall be three~wire and not less than 100 ampere in capacity. Wherever in this Ordinance the term dwelling occupancy is used, it shall be held to mean a building having not more than four families or a building containing not more than ten rooms for the use of guests. No building shall be classed as a dwelling if any part of the building is used for any other purpose than a dwelling. 2. Where additions are made to existing circuits, which circuits contain old style plugged fuses, shall be changed to type "s" of the proper size for wires to which they are attached. 3. All service entrance conductors shall be provided with overload protection and main disconnect at their outer end, and be in conduit not smaller than It inch. 4. All branch circuit overload protection shall be of the enclosed automatic, therma1~magnetic fuseless type or enclosed fused cabinet equipped with the type "s" fuses, designed to trip or openon a predetermined overload of current and shall be of the dead front type. 5. Spare circuit breaker spaces or approved fuse spaces shall be provided in residential and apartment panels, in the ratio of one space for each five breakers used in the panel. 6. Joists may be notched 1/2 of the depth of the joist but no further than one foot from its bearing and may be notched 1/8 of the depth of the joists but not further than two feet from their bearing. 7. In every building designed for occupancy as a residence by two or mo~e families, the branch circuit protection for each apartment shall be installed in the apartment served, or such branch circuit protection shall be grouped in one or more cabinets opening into a public hallway so as to be readily accessible to the occupants of the building. 8. No wire smaller than 112 AWG copper or its current carrying equivalent, may be used for light, heat and power wiring. 9. All furnace and air-conditioned rooms or areas, must have a light, with a switch at the entrance. 10. Where installation of stationary motors 1/6 h.p. and over are made, the so- I called non-tamperable fuse, or other approved device shall be used where built-in protection is not provided. This protection and disconnect shall be within sight of the motor. Section 12. CLASSIFICATIONS. All buildings coming under the following classifications must be wired in approved metallic conduit and be so installed throughout and in accordance with the requirements of conduit construction provided, however, that service metal raceways, electrical metallic tubing and under f~oor raceways may be used under conditions designed in the ORDINANCE NO. 891 I I I I I I latest issue of the National Electrical Code. 1. All buildings within Fire Zone I, except private dwellings and their accessory building used for non~commercial use. 2. All public, commercial and industrial buildings. 3. All apartment houses, tenement houses and flats. 4. All alterations or additions to any buildings coming under the above classifi- cation where the alteration or addition is equal to 50% of the installation, the whole building must be brought up to the requirements of this code. The inspector may allow alterations or smaller additions to be made with metal molding to the electrical installation in buildings coming under the above classification that have been wired previous to the passage of this code, contrary to the above requirements, but if he deems it necessary, the entire building must conform with the present requirements. 5. All power wiring except in private dwellings. 6. All hazardous locations as set forth in the National Electric Code. Section 13. RESPONSIBILITY. This Ordinance shall not be construed to relieve from, or lessen the responsibility or liability of .ny party owning, operating, controlling, or installing any electric wiring, electric devices or electrical material for damages to persons or property caused by any defect therein, nor shall the City or the Inspector be held as assuming any such liability by reason of the inspection authorized herein, or certificate of inspection issued as herein provided. Section 14. Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and each such person shall be deemed guilty of a saparate offense for each and every day or portion thereof, during which any violation of any provision of this Ordinance is committed, continued or permitted, and upon conviction of any such violation, such person shall be punished by a fine of not, ,more than Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00), or by imprisonment in the City jail for not more than twenty-five (25) days or by both such fine and imprisonment. Section 15. VALIDITY OF REGULATIONS. If any section, paragraph, subdivision, clause, phrase or provision of this Ordinance shall be adjudged invalid or held unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of this Ordinance as a whole, or any part, or provision thereof, other than the part so decided to be invalid or unconstitutional. Section 16. All Ordinances and parts of Ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. Se~tion 17. This Ordinance shall be in full force and (30) days from its final adoption. Finally adopted and approved at a regular session of th. 0 held on the 6th day of May, 1970. State of Montana ) County of Gallatin City of Bozeman ) I, Erna V. Harding, Clerk of the Commission of the City of Bozeman do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 891 was published by title and number in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, a newspaper of general circulation printed and published in said City in the issue of the lIth day of May, 1970, and due proof of such publication is on file in my office. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand and affix the corporate seal of my office this 12th day of May, 1970. (;;~ {~~ C erk of the ity Co ion ORDINANCE NO. 891 179