[Adopted 7-7-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-02]
Except as specified in § 90-5 in this article, Chapter 5[1] of the East Caln Township Code (the "Code") is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the provisions herein.
[1]
Editor's Note: Refers to numbering from a prior Penns Valley publication.
A. 
The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the Act and the regulations promulgated under the Act which are found at 34 Pa. Code Chapters 401 through 405 (the "Regulations"), as the same are amended from time to time, as the Township's Building Code. The Township shall notify the Department within 30 days of the adoption of this article that the Township has elected to administer and enforce the Act in accordance with this article.
B. 
By electing to adopt, administer and enforce the Act, the Township hereby adopts and incorporates as fully as if set out at length herein Chapters 1-29 and 31-35 of the International Building Code, 2006 Edition ("IBC 2006"), as now and as hereafter supplemented, reissued, amended and revised and its successor building codes, as published by the International Code Council, Inc. as the Township's Building Code. Not fewer than three copies of the International Building Code, 2006 Edition, have been and are now filed in the office of the Township Secretary and may be examined there without charge. If any provision of Chapter 1 of the IBC 2006 which governs administration of the Building Code is inconsistent with the Regulations, the provisions in the Regulations shall govern the administration and enforcement of the Building Code.
[Amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-05]
C. 
The Township hereby adopts and incorporates as fully as if set out at length herein all Appendices of the IBC 2006, as now as hereafter supplemented, reissued, amended and revised and its successor appendices as published by the International Code Council.
[Amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-05]
[Amended 3-16-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-05]
The following revisions/amendments/changes are made in accordance with the direction of Pa Senate Bill #1139 of 2004:
A. 
Section 101.1 is amended by the insertion of "East Caln Township" in the [Name of Jurisdiction] blank.
B. 
Section 103.1 shall be amended to read as follows:
§ 103.1. Creation of enforcement agency. The Office of Life Safety and Code Enforcement shall be responsible for administering and enforcing this code. The Director of the Office of Life Safety and Code Enforcement shall be hired by the Township Manager and shall be certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to serve as the Township's Building Official. For the purpose of this code, the Director of Life Safety and Code Enforcement shall be referred to as the Building Official.
C. 
Section 108.2 is amended to read as follows:
§ 108.2 Schedule of permit fees. A fee schedule shall be adopted by resolution of the Board of Supervisors of East Caln Township, which may be amended from time to time.
D. 
Section 112 "Board of Appeals" shall be deleted and replaced with the following:
§ 112. Board of Appeals.
§ 112.1. General. The Township shall, by agreement with one or more other municipalities, form an intergovernmental Board of Appeals, which Board shall hear and decide appeals of orders, decisions or determinations made by the respective municipalities' building official relative to the application and interpretation of the municipalities' building code. The members of the intergovernmental Board of Appeals shall be appointed by the participating municipalities and shall be governed by rules and regulations adopted by the participating municipalities. The intergovernmental Board of Appeals shall adopt rules of procedures for conducting its business.
E. 
Section 113.4 "Violation Penalties" is amended to read as follows:
§ 113.4. Violation penalties. Any person who violates or permits the violation of any provision of this chapter or who shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof or who shall erect, construct, alter or repair any building or structure in violation of either an approved plan, a directive of the Building Official or of a permit or certificate issued under the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be subject to the payment of a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000, plus court costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the County Prison for a term of not more than 90 days. Each section or provision of this article that is violated shall constitute a separate offense, and each day or portion thereof in which a violation of this article is found to exist shall constitute a separate offense, each of which violations shall be punishable by a separate fine imposed by the Magisterial District Judge of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution, or upon default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the County Prison for a term of not more than 90 days. All fines and penalties collected for the violation of this article shall be paid to the Township Treasurer.
F. 
Section 114.3 shall be amended to read as follows:
§ 114.3. Unlawful continuance. Any person who shall continue any work in or about the structure after having been served with a stop-work order, except such work as that person is directed to perform to remove a violation or unsafe condition, shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be subject to the payment of a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000, plus court costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the County Prison for a term of not more than 90 days. Each section or provision of this article that is violated shall constitute a separate offense, and each day or portion thereof in which a violation of this article is found to exist shall constitute a separate offense, each of which violations shall be punishable by a separate fine imposed by the Magisterial District Judge of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution, or upon default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the County Prison for a term of not more than 90 days. All fines and penalties collected for the violation of this article shall be paid to the Township Treasurer.
G. 
Section 1612.3 is amended by the insertion of "East Caln Township" in the [Name of Jurisdiction] blank and "November 20, 1996" in the [Date of Issuance] blank.
H. 
Section 3410.2 is amended by the insertion of "April 23, 1964" in the [Date to be inserted by Jurisdiction] blank. [Ordinance 1964-08 is the first recorded adoption of the Building Code, since 1955.]
I. 
P.L. 491, No. 45, Section 1.
(1) 
Section 103, Definitions, is amended as follows:
The definitions of "Agricultural Building" and "Utility and Miscellaneous Use Structure" in Section 103 of the Act of November 10, 1999 [P.L. 491, No. 45], known as the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act.
§ 103. DEFINITIONS:
ADDITION — An extension or increase in floor area or height of a building or structure.
AGRICULTURAL BUILDING — A structure utilized to store farm implements, hay, feed, grain or other agricultural or horticultural products or to house poultry, livestock, other farm animals, or milk house. The term includes a carriage house owned and used by members of a recognized religious sect for the purposes of housing horses and storing buggies. The term shall not include habitable space or spaces in which agricultural products are processed, treated or packaged and shall not be construed to mean a place of occupancy by the general public.
ALTERATION — Any construction or renovation to an existing structure other than repair or addition.
RECREATIONAL CABIN — A structure which is: (1) utilized principally for recreational activity; (2) not utilized as a domicile or residence for any individual for any period; (3) not utilized for commercial purposes; (4) not greater than two stories in height, excluding basement; (5) not utilized by the owner or any other person as a place of employment; (6) not a mailing address for bills and correspondence; (7) not listed as an individual's place of residence on a tax return, driver's license, car registration or voter's registration.
REPAIR — The reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing building for the purpose of its maintenance.
RESIDENTIAL BUILDING — Detached one-family and two-family dwellings and multiple single-family dwellings which are not more than three stories in height with a separate means of egress which includes accessory structures.
UTILITY AND MISCELLANEOUS USE STRUCTURES — Buildings or structures of any accessory character and miscellaneous structures not classified by the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc., in any specific use group. The term includes carports, detached private garages, greenhouses and sheds having a building area less than [500] 1,000 square feet. The term does not include swimming pools or spas.
(2) 
Section 104(B) of the Act is amended and the section is amended by adding a subsection to read:
B.
Exclusions. This Act shall not apply to:
(1)
New buildings or renovations to existing buildings for which an application for a building permit has been made to the municipality prior to the effective date of the regulations promulgated under this Act;
(2)
New buildings or renovations to existing buildings on which a contract for design or construction has been signed prior to the effective date of the regulations promulgated under this act on projects requiring department approval;
(3)
Utility and miscellaneous use structures that are accessory to detached one-family dwellings; [or]
(4)
Any agricultural building;
(5)
Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress, except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to Section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to Section 503. For purposes of this paragraph, a structural change does not include a minor framing change needed to replace existing windows or doors;
(6)
Repairs to residential buildings, except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to Section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to Section 503;
(7)
Any recreational cabin if: (1) The cabin is equipped with at least one smoke detector, one fire extinguisher and one carbon monoxide detector in both the kitchen and sleeping quarters; and the municipality either: (a) An affidavit on a form prescribed by the department attesting to the fact that the cabin meets the definition of a "recreational cabin" in Section 103; or (b) A valid proof of insurance for the recreational cabin, written and issued by an insurer authorized to do business in this Commonwealth, stating that the structure meets the definition of a "recreational cabin" as defined in Section 103.
B.1.
Continuity of exclusion. (1) If a recreational cabin is subject to exclusion under Subsection (B)(7), upon transfer of ownership of the recreational cabin, written notice must be provided in the sales agreement and the deed that the recreational cabin: (i) is exempt from this act; (ii) may not be in conformance with the uniform construction code; and (iii) is not subject to municipal regulation. (2) Failure to comply with the notice requirement under paragraph (1) shall render the sale voidable at the option of the purchaser.
(3) 
Section 301(A) of the Act is amended by adding a paragraph to read:
A.
Regulations.
(8)
The regulations shall exclude Section R313.1.1 of the 2006 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings or its successor code from applying to existing one-family and two-family unit dwellings undergoing alterations, repairs or additions but shall include provisions requiring noninterconnected battery-operated smoke alarms in one-family and two-family dwellings in accordance with Section R313.1.1 of the 2006 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings.
[Amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-05]
(4) 
Section 501 of the Act is amended by adding subsections to read:
§ 501. Administration and enforcement.
A.1.
Counties of the Second Class. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A, a municipality located within a county of the second class shall not administer and enforce plumbing code provisions of an ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code and incorporated codes for the purposes of Section 302A. A county of the second class that has adopted a plumbing code and accompanying rules and regulations, pursuant to the Act of August 24, 1951 (P.L. 1304, No. 315), known as the Local Health Administration Law, shall retain the authority to promulgate and enforce such plumbing code and to make such changes as it deems necessary, provided that such changes meet the minimum requirements as defined in the Uniform Construction Code.
G.
Technical assistance to municipalities. The Governor's Center for Local Government Services in the Department of Community and Economic Development shall be the principal agency for the developing and providing technical assistance municipalities for implementing, administrating and enforcing the provisions of this Act.
The Building Code shall be administered and enforced by the Office of Life Safety and Code Enforcement. The Township Manager shall hire the Director of Life Safety and Code Enforcement who shall also be known as the Building Code Official.
[Amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-05; 10-3-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-03]
Pursuant to § 104(d)(1) of the Act, the Township may keep in full force and effect any provisions of the Township's current Building Code which were in effect on or before July 1, 1999, or reenactments of simultaneously repealed ordinances which were originally adopted before July 1, 1999, provided that such provisions meet or exceed the Act. Under such authority, the Township intends to keep in full force and effect the following provisions of its current Building Code which meet or exceed the standards in the Act. If any provision in this § 90-5 is inconsistent with a provision in the IBC 2006 or its successor's codes, the provisions in this § 90-5 shall control. The following provisions are reenacted from East Caln Ordinance 1999-01, enacted January 4, 1999.
§ 106.1 Construction documents: add new sentence to read: "All applicable construction documents shall bear the Index and File Information provided for the project by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry."
§ 110.1.1 Certificate of occupancy: Building Numbering and Identification: All buildings and structures shall be equipped with address numbers; visible from the center line of the street; of a size that is easily recognizable and of a contrasting color so as to allow easy identification. On buildings and structures, other than residential occupancies, the size of these numbers will range from 18 inches to four feet in size. On residential properties the mailbox will be marked on both sides with three inches Gothic numbers and where no mailbox exists with numbers on the front door or garage door of no less than three inches Gothic in size and readable from the center line of the road.
§ 110.5. Use and occupancy required: add new section to read: "Whenever a building or structure is sold or space within a building or structure is sold or re-occupied, it shall not be used or re-occupied until the Building Official has caused an inspection thereof to be made; and the building is found to be in compliance with this article; and the new occupancy in compliance with the East Caln Township Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 225] and the East Caln Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance [Chapter 185]. Applications shall be in writing and made to the Building Code Official, who shall act thereon within 15 days. Use and Occupancy Permits shall be in a form prescribed by the Building Code Official."
§ 903 Automatic sprinkler systems: shall be amended to read as follows and affect Sections 903.1 through 903.2.13: "An automatic fire suppression system shall be installed in all occupancies, regardless of area, size or height. Exception: detached single-family dwellings."
§ 906 Portable fire extinguishers: A portable fire extinguisher(s) shall be installed in the following locations in accordance with the International Fire Code, 2006 Edition, codified in Chapter 35: (1) In all Use Groups, (2) In all areas containing a commercial kitchen exhaust hood system(s), (3) In all areas where fuel is dispensed, (4) In all areas where a flammable or combustible liquid is used in the operation of spraying, coating or dipping, (5) In all occupancies in Use Group 1-3 at staff locations [access to portable extinguishers shall be permitted to be locked], (6) On each completed floor of buildings under construction. Exception: Use Group R-3, (7) In any laboratory, shop or other room occupied for similar purposes, (8) Where required by the Township's Fire Prevention Code, referenced within Chapter 90 of the Township Code.
[Amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-05]
§ 907.2 Fire alarm and detection systems: shall be amended to read as follows and affect Sections 907.21 through 907.2.9: "An automatic fire alarm system shall be required in all Use Groups, regardless of area, size or height. Exception: buildings of Use Group R-3 and R-4."
§ 1006.1 Illumination requirements: shall be modified to delete the exception noted in No. 1, 2 and 3.
§ 1006.1.1 Illumination requirements: A section shall be added to include in the areas requiring illumination: (1) All public restroom facilities, (2) all meeting, conference, lunch or break rooms with a capacity of 10 or more persons.
§ 3406.4 Change in ownership/principal parties: Whenever there is a change in ownership, principals or parties of interest (in the case of corporations or other business entities) of an existing building or structure as to which a use and occupancy permit would be required for its initial use and occupancy; or upon written request of the owner of an existing building or structure, a certificate of use and occupancy shall be required. Said document shall be issued providing there are no violations of the law or orders of the code official pending, and it is established after inspection and investigation that the use of which the permit is to be issued has theretofore lawfully existed. This code shall not require removal, alteration or abandonment of, or prevent the continuation of, the lawful use and occupancy of an existing building or structure, unless such use is deemed to endanger public safety and welfare. It shall be the responsibility of the new owner to obtain said certificate prior to occupancy.