[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Upper Gwynedd 2-24-1964 by Ord. No. 64-1. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch. 63.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
On and after the passage of this chapter, it shall not be lawful for any person to carry on or work at the business of plumbing or house drainage in the Township of Upper Gwynedd until a certificate or license to engage in or work at said business shall have been granted said persons by the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health nor until they have registered as such in the office of the Board of Health of said Township; provided, however, that nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent the employment of journeyman plumbers or working of apprentices under the direction and supervision of duly registered and licensed master plumbers.
A. 
Registration of master plumbers. All master plumbers duly registered and licensed in any other competent jurisdiction and residing in and/or having a bona fide place of business in the Township of Upper Gwynedd shall not be required to undergo any examination, and they shall be entitled to register for the current year and, annually thereafter, before the 31st day of December of each year.
B. 
Registration of journeyman plumbers. All journeyman plumbers duly registered and licensed in any other competent jurisdiction to work at the business of plumbing and drainage work, desiring to work in the Township of Upper Gwynedd, shall not be required to undergo any examination, and they shall be entitled to register for the current year and, annually thereafter, before the 31st day of December of each year.
A. 
Registration and fees. Any person or persons, firm or corporation engaged or engaging in the business of plumbing or house drainage in the Township of Upper Gwynedd and any journeyman plumber working at the business of plumbing or house drainage in said Township shall pay into the Township treasury, for the use of said Township, such initial and renewal registration fees as the Board of Commissioners shall establish from time to time by resolution.
B. 
Expiration of licenses. At the expiration of each calendar year, said certificate or license shall be null and void. A licensed master plumber or journeyman plumber desiring to continue in or work at the business of plumbing and house drainage for the ensuing year shall, before the 31st day of December of each year, surrender the said certificate or license for the current year to the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health and reregister his, their or its name or names and business or home address upon such forms or form as may, from time to time, be furnished by said Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
C. 
Registration for institutions, etc. A person certified as competent by the Board of Examiners of the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health may be registered as a master plumber for the care, alteration or addition of the drainage system of a designated manufacturing or mercantile establishment, institution, hotel, etc., where it is necessary to have a continual service of a master plumber, and receive a certificate of registry but, in no case, shall said person be permitted to do any plumbing or drainage work in any building or buildings other than that for which he is registered. To obtain a registration other than an institutional registration, the person must submit proof that he is no longer employed by said firm, institution or other business establishment and offer evidence of a bona fide place of business.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
D. 
Certificates may be revoked. The certificate of registry granted under this chapter may be suspended or revoked by the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health when a master plumber, firm or corporation, or the registered representative thereof, shall violate any of these rules and regulations and shall refuse or neglect to make the necessary corrections to work not approved by the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health within a reasonable time after notification thereof or who shall permit the use of his, their or its name by a person or persons for the purpose of obtaining a permit or permits to do plumbing and drainage work. No person, firm or corporation carrying on the business of plumbing and house drainage shall allow his or their name to be used by any person, directly or indirectly, either to obtain a permit or permits or do any work under his or their license.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
A. 
Applications. Any qualified journeyman plumber desiring to engage in the business or work of plumbing and house drainage in this Township shall apply in writing to said Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health for such certificate or license; and if, after proper examination made by the Board of Examiners of said Township, such person or persons so applying shall be found competent, the same shall be certified to the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health, who shall thereupon issue a certificate or license to such person for the period of one calendar year, or fractional part thereof, to engage in or work at the business of plumbing and house drainage.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
B. 
Register. A register of all such applicants and the license or certificates issued shall be kept in said Department, which said register shall be open to the inspection of all persons interested therein.
C. 
Board of Examiners.
(1) 
The Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health is hereby authorized to appoint a Board of Examiners, to consist of the Township Plumbing Inspector and two competent master plumbers in no way connected with the Township government, who shall examine all applicants for license under the provisions of this chapter. The said Board of Examiners shall make all reasonable rules and regulations governing examinations, which shall be approved by said Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health. An examination of any one member of a firm or corporation, or the superintendent or foreman thereof, shall be deemed sufficient. The master plumbers acting for said Board shall receive the sum of $10 per day for each day, or part thereof, they are actually employed.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
(2) 
The Board shall also appoint or select a competent master plumber who shall act as an alternate in the event that one of the regular master plumbers cannot attend an examination. The Board of Examiners of said Township shall sit for the purpose of examination on the following months and days: the third Wednesday of February, May, September and November of each year.
A. 
Place of business.
(1) 
Every registered master plumber shall have a bona fide place of business and shall display on the front of his or their place of business a sign "Registered Master Plumber," bearing the name or names of the person, firm or corporation in letters not less than three inches high.
(2) 
A bona fide place of business shall be a building or part of a building where a shop is equipped with a reasonable amount of stock, tools and work space or an office where people may call to transact business at least 30 hours per week.
B. 
Display of signs.
(1) 
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to advertise himself or itself as registered master plumbers unless it holds a bona fide registration and place of business.
(2) 
Every master plumber doing work in the Township of Upper Gwynedd must have his truck or trucks clearly lettered with the name and address of his business.
C. 
Notice of change of place of business.
(1) 
Every registered master plumber, firm or corporation shall give immediate notice of any change in his, their or its place of business; and upon his, their or its retirement from business or upon his, their or its failure to continue to actively engage in the business of plumbing shall surrender his certificate of registry to the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
(2) 
Every person registering for any firm or corporation shall give the full name or names of the person, firm or officers of the corporation for which he shall register.
A. 
Plans and specifications.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
(1) 
The drainage of all buildings, public or private, and all alterations, extensions, additions and removals to the drainage systems shall be executed in accordance with the plans and specifications approved, in writing, by the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health.
(2) 
No special equipment of any description for a hospital or institution of similar character, manufacturing establishment, chemical laboratory or other laboratory or any place where special equipment is required which necessitates connections with the vent pipes or the general drainage system of a building shall be installed until plans of the proposed installation shall be submitted to and approved by the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health.
B. 
There shall be a separate plan placed on file in the office of the Township of Upper Gwynedd Department of Health for each building, public or private, or any addition thereto, alteration or removal thereof, accompanied by specifications describing the drainage of said building on the forms prescribed and furnished for this purpose, showing the location, size and kind of pipes, traps, closets and fixtures to be used and any connections or proposed connections with the sewerage system and the storm drainage system, and showing partitions and the method of ventilating water closet compartments.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6; 8-25-1986 by Ord. No. 86-14]
(1) 
Plans must be drawn legibly in ink, and old work shall be shown in red ink.
(2) 
All applications for a change in plans must be made in writing.
(3) 
Plans filed for the correction of any complaint must designate the approximate time for the completion thereof.
C. 
Standards for submission of plans.
(1) 
Forms for drawings and specifications for drainage will be furnished on application at the office of the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health. One vertical drawing will be sufficient for a building where it can be made to show all the work; if the work is intricate and cannot be shown on one drawing, two or more shall be made.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
(2) 
A plot plan showing the location of the building, together with the house sewer, wells and all drainage piping of every description connected with the sanitary drainage system, shall in all cases be submitted.
(3) 
When plans have been prepared by registered architects and/or engineers showing all drainage, venting piping and fixture location in a manner satisfactory to the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health, these plans and specifications may be submitted for approval with the necessary application form furnished for this purpose.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
D. 
Approval of plan.
(1) 
A permit of approval will be issued, in writing, when a plan is deemed satisfactory by the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
(2) 
Under no circumstances whatever shall a verbal approval or permission given by anyone be considered a justification for any deviation from the approved plans or the violation of any of the rules and regulations governing house and/or building drainage.
E. 
Fees. The applicant for approval of any drawings or ground plans for a new building, for alterations, additions, replacement and/or removal of fixtures or for a certified statement of the sanitary condition of the plumbing or house drainage system of any property and/or compliance with this chapter and the rules and regulations of the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health shall pay over to the Township such filing fee as the Board of Commissioners shall establish from time to time by resolution.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
F. 
The foregoing requirements shall not be applicable to any industrial, mercantile or institutional establishment which maintains and operates a private sewage disposal plant approved and supervised by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and which maintains upon its payroll a person certified under § 143-3C hereof as a master plumber; provided, however, that the exempted facility shall nevertheless be bound by and shall strictly adhere to the plumbing regulations of the Township of Upper Gwynedd, and that nothing herein stated shall abrogate the right of the Township of Upper Gwynedd to inspect plumbing, drainage and sewage disposal facilities installed on such premises and to order corrections to be made to such facilities where the same are not installed according to the plumbing regulations of the Township of Upper Gwynedd.
[Added 3-22-1965 by Ord. No. 65-2]
A. 
Supervision. It shall be the duty of the Township Plumbing Inspector or his representative to supervise, superintend and inspect all plumbing and house drainage in conformity with the provisions of the ordinances of the Township of Upper Gwynedd and the rules and regulations of the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
B. 
Drainage, sewage or plumbing work must not be covered or concealed in any manner until after it is inspected and approved by the Plumbing Inspector or his representative.
C. 
Notice must be given said Board when the work is sufficiently advanced for inspection, when it shall be the duty of the proper officer to inspect the same within three working days after receipt of said notification.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
D. 
The foregoing requirements shall not be applicable to any industrial, mercantile or institutional establishment which maintains and operates a private sewage disposal plant approved and supervised by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and which maintains upon its payroll a person certified under § 143-3C hereof as a master plumber, unless the exempted facility shall have been given notice that supervision or inspection is deemed necessary by the Township.
[Added 3-22-1965 by Ord. No. 65-2]
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6]
The Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health rules and regulations for the construction, repair and replacement and/or removal of plumbing, house drainage, building drainage and cesspools in the Township of Upper Gwynedd shall be those approved by the Board of Township Commissioners on the ninth day of May, A.D. 1963, and/or as may be modified or changed by the Township of Upper Gwynedd Board of Health and further approved by the Board of Township Commissioners.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Plumbing Standards referenced have been repealed; see now Ch. 63, Building Construction.
[Amended 4-22-1985 by Ord. No. 85-6; 8-25-1986 by Ord. No. 86-14]
A. 
Any person or persons, entity, partnership, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter, upon conviction thereof, shall be liable to pay a fine or penalty not to exceed $1,000 plus costs of prosecution for each and every offense. All fines and penalties imposed by this chapter are recoverable by summary proceedings before the Magisterial District Judge, and all suits or actions at law instituted for the recovery thereof are to be in the name and for the use of Upper Gwynedd Township, against which the offenses are committed. In default of payment of any fine or penalty imposed by any Magisterial District Judge under the provisions of this chapter, the person or persons so offending may be committed to the Montgomery County Prison for a period not exceeding 30 days.
[Amended 11-23-1992 by Ord. No. 92-15]
B. 
Each day a violation is committed shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such hereunder.
C. 
This section shall not preclude the Township from any other remedy it may have at law or equity.