[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Lewisburg 7-21-1982
by Ord. No. 82-2. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following words shall be defined as follows:
Within 15 linear feet.
A structure, building, area, room, or combination of rooms occupied
by persons for sleeping or living.
A combination of rooms occupied as a single unit.
A building or part thereof used for the lodging, boarding and nursing
care, on a twenty-four-hour basis, of persons who, because of mental or physical
incapacity, may be unable to provide for their own needs and safety without
the assistance of another person. This includes nursing and convalescent homes,
skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and infirmaries
or homes for the aged.
Any person who, alone, or jointly or severally with other persons,
has legal title to any premises. This includes any person who has charge,
care or control over any premises as (a) an agent, officer, fiduciary, or
employee of the owner; (b) the committed, conservator, or legal guardian of
an owner who is incompetent, a minor, or otherwise under a disability; (c)
a trustee, elected or appointed, or a person required by law to execute a
trust, other than a trustee under a deed of trust to secure the payment of
money; or (d) an executor, administrator, receiver, fiduciary, officer appointed
by any court, or other similar representative of the owner or his estate.
This does not include a lessee, a sublessee or other person who merely has
the right to occupy or possess a premises.
A building, or part thereof, used for the lodging or boarding of
persons who are incapable of self-preservation because of age or physical
or mental limitation, or who are detained for correctional purposes. This
includes homes for the aged, nurseries (custodial care for children under
six years of age), institutions for the mentally retarded (care institutions)
and halfway houses. This does not include day care facilities that do not
provide lodging or boarding for institutional occupants.
A bedroom or room intended for sleeping or combination of bedrooms
or rooms intended for sleeping within a dwelling unit, which are located on
the same floor and are not separated by another habitable room, such as a
living room, dining room or kitchen but not a bathroom, hallway or closet.
A dwelling unit may have more than one sleeping area. This does not include
common usage areas and structures with more than one dwelling unit, such as
corridors, lobbies and basements.
A device which detects visible or invisible particles of combustion,
and be capable of providing a suitable audible alarm of at least 85 decibels
at 10 feet, either ionization or photo-electric type.
The owner of each new or existing multifamily residential structure
or dwelling unit, hotel, motel, nursing home, jail, and residential-custodial
care facility shall install smoke detectors in such structures as hereinafter
provided.
Smoke detectors shall be installed in the following locations:
A.Â
The owner of each multifamily residential structure or
dwelling unit shall install at least one smoke detector to protect each sleeping
area or at least one detector at the top of each stairway leading to a sleeping
area or if no stairway leads to a sleeping area, the hallway leading to the
area. In an efficiency, the owner shall install the smoke detector in the
room used for sleeping. Smoke detectors installed in or near a stairway or
hallway leading to a sleeping area shall be installed in such a manner as
to assure that rising smoke is not obstructed in reaching the detector.
B.Â
The owner of each multifamily residential structure or
dwelling unit shall install at least one smoke detector adjacent to each kitchen
area.
C.Â
The owner of each hotel and motel shall install at least
one smoke detector to protect each guest room or guest suite. The owner of
each hotel and motel shall install smoke detectors in accordance with the
Building Code of the Borough of Lewisburg and this chapter and as directed
and approved by the Borough Code Enforcement Officer in conjunction with the
Borough Fire Chief.
D.Â
The owner of each nursing home, jail, and residential-custodial
care facility shall install smoke detectors in each corridor that is adjacent
to a room used for sleeping but in no case may the detectors be placed further
apart than 30 feet or more than 15 feet from any wall, or in each room used
for sleeping. Locations shall be approved by the Borough Code Enforcement
Officer in conjunction with the Borough Fire Chief.
E.Â
An owner subject to this chapter shall install each smoke
detector on the ceiling at a minimum of six inches from the wall or on a wall
at a minimum of six inches from the ceiling, but shall not install smoke detectors
in a dead air space, such as where the ceiling meets the wall.
As an alternative to self-contained smoke detectors, an approved fire
detection system may be installed. Each such system must be approved, and
a permit issued therefor, by the Borough Code Enforcement Officer in conjunction
with the Borough Fire Chief.
All devices, combination of devices, and equipment required by this
chapter are to be installed in accordance with the Building Code of the Borough
of Lewisburg and this chapter as directed and approved by the Borough Code
Enforcement Officer in conjunction with the Borough Fire Chief. Such approval
shall be permanent, unless the Borough Code Enforcement Officer or the Borough
Fire Chief subsequently finds the equipment to be hazardous or unreliable,
in which case the said Borough officials may revoke their approval. The Borough
Code Enforcement Officer or the Borough Fire Chief may in any such case determine
whether replacement of existing installation shall be required.
In existing multifamily residential structures or dwelling units, hotels,
motels, nursing homes, jails, and residential-custodial care facilities, smoke
detectors shall be powered by self-monitored batteries or wired directly to
the building's power supply, or shall be operated in a plug-in outlet
which is fitted with a plug restrainer device, provided the outlet is not
controlled by any switch other than the main power supply. In all such new
structures, smoke detectors shall be wired directly (hard wired) to the building's
power supply.
Any owner subject to this chapter shall maintain each smoke detector
in a reliable operating condition and shall make periodic inspections and
tests to insure that each smoke detector is in proper working condition.
[Amended 10-20-1987 by Ord. No. 833]
All applications for building permits for new multifamily residential
structures or dwelling units to be constructed shall contain a drawing showing
the proposed locations of smoke detectors as required by this chapter and
the type of detector to be installed before a permit is issued. No owner may
permanently wire a smoke detector to the electrical system of a structure
without first obtaining an electrical permit from the Code Enforcement Officer.
[Amended 10-20-1987 by Ord. No. 833]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this
chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
more than $300, and/or to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 90 days.
[Amended 12-20-1994 by Ord. No. 895]
