[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Buchanan 10-4-1971 by L.L. No. 1-1971 (Ch. 12 of the 1971
Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
This article shall be known as the "Electrical Code of the Village
of Buchanan."
Since there is danger to life and property inherent in the use
of electrical energy, this article is enacted to regulate the installation,
alteration or repair of wiring for electric light, heat or power and
signal systems operating on 50 volts or more, in or on all real property
within the Village of Buchanan.
All electrical installations heretofore mentioned shall be made
in conformity with the requirements of the National Electrical Code,
except where the provisions of this article or any other local law,
ordinance or Building Code[1] of the Village of Buchanan shall differently prescribe,
in which event compliance with the provisions of such local law, ordinance
or Building Code shall be recognized as proper compliance with this
article. The requirements of the current National Electrical Code
shall be those known as "National Fire Protection Association Pamphlet
No. 70," as approved and adopted by the American Standards Association
on July 24, 1962.
The Chief Inspector and each of the duly appointed inspectors
of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters are hereby authorized and
deputized as agents of the Village of Buchanan to make inspections
and reinspections of all electrical installations heretofore and hereafter
described and to approve or disapprove the same. In no event, however,
will the cost or expense of such inspections and reinspections be
a charge against the Village of Buchanan.
It shall be the duty of the Inspector to report in writing to
the Building Inspector, whose duty it shall be to enforce all the
provisions of this code, all violations of or deviations from or omissions
of the electrical provisions of the National Electrical Code and of
all local laws, ordinances and the Building Code[1] as referred to in this article insofar as any of the same
apply to electrical wiring. The Inspector shall make inspections and
reinspections of electrical installations in and on properties in
the Village of Buchanan upon the written request of an authorized
official of the Village of Buchanan or as herein provided. The Inspector
is authorized to make inspections and reinspections of electrical
wiring installations, devices, appliances and equipment, in and on
properties within the Village of Buchanan, where he deems it necessary
for the protection of life and property. In the event of an emergency,
it is the duty of the Inspector to make electrical inspections upon
the oral request of any official or officer of the Village of Buchanan.
It shall be the duty of the Inspector to furnish written reports to
the proper officials of the Village of Buchanan and owners and/or
lessees of property where defective electrical installations and equipment
are found upon inspection. He shall authorize the issuing of a certificate
of compliance when electrical installations and equipment are in conformity
with this article. He shall direct that a copy of the certificate
of compliance be sent to the Village of Buchanan to the attention
of the Building Inspector.
It shall be a violation of this article for any person, firm
or corporation to install or cause to be installed or to alter or
repair electrical wiring for light, heat or power in or on properties
in the Village of Buchanan until an application for inspection has
been filed with the New York Board of Fire Underwriters. It shall
be a violation of this article for a person, firm or corporation to
connect or cause to be connected electrical wiring in or on properties
for light, heat or power to any source of electrical energy supply
prior to the issuance of a temporary certificate or a certificate
of compliance by the New York Board of Fire Underwriters.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the
provisions of this article or rule or regulation made pursuant thereto
shall be guilty of disorderly conduct and shall be a disorderly person
and, upon conviction thereof, may be punished by a fine of not more
than $100, and each day on which such violation continues shall constitute
a separate offense.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to the electrical
installations in mines, ships, railway cars, automotive equipment
or the installations of equipment employed by a railway, electrical
or communications utility in the exercise of its function as a utility,
and located outdoors or in buildings used exclusively for that purpose.
This article shall not apply to any work involved in the manufacture,
assembly, test or repair of electrical machinery, apparatus, materials
and equipment by a person, firm or corporation engaged in electrical
manufacturing as their principal business. It shall not apply to any
building which is owned or leased in its entirety by the government
of the United States or the State of New York.
This article shall not be construed to relieve from or lessen
the responsibility of any person owning, operating, controlling or
installing any electric wiring, devices, appliances or equipment for
loss of life or damage to person or property caused by any defect
therein, nor shall the Village of Buchanan or the New York Board of
Fire Underwriters be deemed to have assumed any such liability by
reason of any inspection made pursuant to this article.
The provisions of this article shall constitute the rules regulating
the work of electrical contractors and nonresident electricians in
the Village of Buchanan and shall be known as the "Electrical Ordinance."
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Includes any person, firm, copartnership, association or
corporation having a regular place of business, who or which performs
the work of or who is engaged in the business of electrical contracting
and/or of installing, altering and repairing, or contracting to install,
alter or repair, any electrical conductors or wiring apparatus, fixtures
and/or other appliances, with the exception of small plug-in appliances
used or to be used for light, heat or power, or signaling systems
or signs where more than 50 volts are required for operation, excepting
persons, copartners, associations and corporations regularly employing
electricians for the maintenance, repair, alterations and extensions
of electrical conductors, electrical machinery, apparatus or appliances
on their own property, and also excepting electric corporations as
defined in the Transportation Corporations Law of this state and their
employees engaged in performing such work in the conduct of the business
of such corporation.
Includes a copartnership, association or corporation.
No person shall engage in or conduct a business of maintaining,
installing, altering or repairing, or contracting to install, alter
or repair, any electrical conductors, wiring apparatus, fixtures or
other appliances, except small plug-in appliances used or to be used
for supplying electrical energy for light, heat or power, or signaling
systems where more than 50 volts are required for operation in the
Village of Buchanan until such person shall apply for and obtain a
master electrician's license to engage in such business as herein
provided.
No person shall install, alter or repair any electrical conductor,
wiring apparatus, fixtures or other appliances, except small plug-in
appliances used or to be used for the supplying of electrical energy
for light, heat or power, or signaling systems where more than 50
volts are required for operation in the Village of Buchanan, in one
single occupancy, until such person shall apply for and obtain a special
"A" license for the purpose of installing the same.
For each official year, the Village of Buchanan shall appoint
a Board to determine the fitness of applicants for licenses and to
investigate and report on all proposed suspensions or revocations
of licenses and may, for cause shown, remove any member thereof and
shall fill any vacancy therein. This Board shall consist of:
A.
An employee of the Building Department of the Village of Buchanan.
B.
One employing electrician and one journeyman electrician.
C.
A New York Board of Fire Underwriters Electrical Inspector.
D.
An authorized representative of the electrical supply utility of
the Village of Buchanan.
E.
An architect or builder or licensed professional engineer.
A.
An applicant for a master electrician's license must be over
21 years of age, a citizen of the United States, of good moral character
and, at the time of applying for examination, shall have had immediately
preceding his application at least five years of experience in the
installation, alteration and repair of wiring and appliances for electric
light, heat and power in or on buildings. Credit for said five years
of experience shall be computed as follows:
(1)
A journeyman electrician who has worked at least five years with
his tools on installation, alteration and repair of wiring and appliances
for light, heat and power in or on buildings.
(2)
A graduate engineer of a college or university who holds a degree
of electrical engineering, master engineering or bachelor of science
in electrical engineering and has, in addition, worked at least one
year with his tools on the installation, alteration and repair of
wiring and appliances for electric light, heat and power in or on
buildings.
(3)
A graduate of a vocational, industrial or trade school in electrical
wiring, installations and design or applied electricity and has worked
at least three years with his tools on the installation, alteration
and repair of wiring and appliances for electric light, heat and power
in or on buildings.
B.
The applicant shall satisfactorily prove to the Board that he has
an established place for the transaction of business.
C.
Exception. Any person residing in the Village of Buchanan who shall
produce good and sufficient proof to the Board of Examiners that he
is qualified as a journeyman electrician pursuant to the enactment
of this article and has been, exclusive of all other occupations,
engaged as such for three years shall not be required, before having
a license issued to him, to take or submit to any examination herein
provided, but such license shall be issued to him upon the payment
of the required fee therefor, provided that he does so within 30 days
from the enactment of this article. The examination to determine the
qualifications of a master electrician shall be wholly written or
wholly oral, or partially written or partially oral, and shall be
of a practical and elementary character sufficiently rigid to test
the knowledge of the matters above referred to in the National Electrical
Code.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by L.L. No. 9-2011]
An applicant for a special "A" license must be a resident of
the Village of Buchanan, showing proof of ownership of his own home,
and must, upon appearing before the Examination Board, show satisfactory
proof that he is familiar with the local laws, ordinances and electrical
codes enforced. The special "A" license may be granted based on an
oral examination by the Board, and such license shall be issued to
him upon the payment of the required fee. The special "A" license
shall be issued for the performance of work on a single continuous
installation in or on his own residence. The special "A" license fee
for homeowners shall be in an amount as set from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Trustees.
Every application for a license shall be made in writing in
such form and shall furnish such information as the License Board
of the Village of Buchanan may from time to time prescribe.
A.
Candidates will receive written notice of the time and the place
where they shall fill out applications for the license and when they
shall appear before the License Board for investigation as to their
character and fitness for the license.
B.
An applicant seeking a master electrician's license as a representative
of a partnership or corporation shall be a partner in the partnership
or an officer in the corporation, showing proof thereof.
Every applicant shall be required to answer a reasonable number
of questions, in writing or orally, to show that he has sufficient
knowledge and technical training to perform the work or supervise
the installations, alterations, repair and maintenance of electrical
wiring, equipment and appliances, as required by the provisions of
this article, and no license shall be issued unless the applicant
obtains a passing mark on said examination, which shall be established
by the License Board of the Village of Buchanan.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by L.L. No. 9-2011]
A.
Reciprocity. Upon payment of a fee in an amount as set from time
to time by resolution of the Board of Trustees and upon the filing
of proof with the Board of Examiners by a person, firm or corporation
that said person, firm or corporation is licensed in any locality
having an electrical ordinance, a special "B" license shall be issued
that will entitle the holder thereof to undertake the performance
of electrical work in the Village of Buchanan. However, such other
local electrical ordinance shall extend the same privilege under substantially
the same conditions to any person, firm or corporation licensed in
the Village of Buchanan.
B.
Certified copies. Certified copies of licenses shall be issued upon
application and a fee in an amount as set from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Trustees.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original § 12-20 of the 1971
Code, entitled "How payments of applicant for license to be made,"
which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 6-18-1990
by L.L. No. 7-1990.
A.
No individual, partnership or corporation shall lend, rent or in
any manner transfer or assign his or its license name and/or license
number to any other individual, partnership or corporation; nor shall
any individual, partnership or corporation make use of a license name
or license number which is not actually his or its own. Every such
license may, after due notice to the holder thereof and opportunity
to be heard, be suspended or revoked by the Board of Examiners for
failure or refusal of the licensee to comply with this article and
the National Electrical Code or other code in effect or for other
cause deemed sufficient by the Board, including the lending, renting,
transferring or assignment of any license contrary to the provisions
of this section.
B.
No individual, partnership or corporation shall falsely represent
themselves or himself as a master or employing electrician by the
use of words "master electrician" or "licensed electrical contractor"
or words of similar import or meaning on signs, cards, stationery
or in any other manner whatsoever.
