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City of Coatesville, PA
Chester County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (20) Index Notes (1)
From and after the passage of this article, it shall not be lawful for any persons to carry on or work at the business of plumbing or house drainage in the City of Coatesville until a certificate or license to engage in or work at said business shall have been granted said persons by the Codes Department of the City of Coatesville.
A. 
Applications for license; issuance. All and every person or persons with three years or more of practical experience, which experience need not be gained in Coatesville, engaged or engaging in the business or work of plumbing, house and building drainage in said City of Coatesville, shall apply in writing to said Codes Department for such certificate or license, and if, after proper examination made by the Examiners, such person or persons so applying shall be found competent, the same shall be certified to the Codes Department, who shall thereupon issue a certificate or license to such person or persons, which shall, for the period of one calendar year or fractional part thereof next ensuing the date of such examination, entitle him or her or them to engage in or work at the business of plumbing, house and building drainage.
B. 
The applications for registration shall be made to the Secretary of the Codes Department on forms provided by said Department. Said application, after being properly filled out, shall, after the fee is paid and receipt given therefor by said Secretary, be filed with the Plumbing Inspector, who, being a member of the Board of Examiners, shall notify the applicant of the time and place of holding examinations for registration.
A person or persons certified as competent by the Board of Examiners may be licensed as a master plumber and/or journeyman plumber for the care, alteration or addition of the plumbing and drainage system of a designated manufacturing or mercantile building, institution, hotel, apartment or similar building or for the owner or owners of a group of residences or buildings, where the continuous services of a master plumber are required and receive a certificate or license, but in such case the person so licensed shall not be permitted to do any plumbing or drainage work in any building or buildings other than those owned by the institution or company for which he or she is specifically licensed and he or she shall be required to comply in every respect with all provisions of this article.
[Amended 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 1012-96]
The President of Council of the City of Coatesville is hereby authorized to appoint a Board of Examiners, to consist of the Health Officer, the Plumbing Inspector and two competent plumbers in no way connected with the city government, who shall examine all applicants for license under the provisions of this article. In case of a tie vote as to any master or journeyman plumber applicant, the Director of the Codes Department shall cast the deciding vote. The Board shall make all reasonable rules, regulations and examinations, which shall be approved by said Codes Department. An examination of any one member of a firm or corporation therefor shall be deemed sufficient. Said person or persons, firm or corporation engaged or engaging in the business of plumbing or house or building drainage shall pay for each examination the sum as provided in Chapter 108, Fees, and each journeyman or person engaged in the work shall pay the sum as provided in Chapter 108, Fees, if such examination is taken at a regular meeting of the Board of Examiners, which sum shall be paid into the city treasury for the use of the City of Coatesville; provided, however, that if such examination entails a special meeting of the Board of Examiners, then the applicant, whether master plumber or journeyman plumber, shall pay an examination fee as provided in Chapter 108, Fees. The proper officers are hereby authorized to pay to the plumbers acting on said Board the sum of $10 per day for each day of session thus actually employed.
Any master plumber's license or journeyman's license granted hereunder may be revoked by the Codes Department for violation of any of the provisions of these rules and regulations, for refusing or neglecting to make the necessary corrections to work not approved by the Plumbing Inspector or for any other sufficient cause, after a hearing before the Codes Department at a time of which at least five days' notice shall be given to the licensee. The Codes Department may, after hearing, upon reasonable cause, revoke for a specified period. No master plumber or journeyman plumber whose license has been revoked for cause may obtain another license for a period of six months from the date of revocation of his or her license.
A. 
Every registered master plumber shall have a bona fide place of business in the City of Coatesville and shall display on the front of his or her or their place of business a sign, "Registered Plumber," bearing the name or names of the person, firm or corporation, in letters not less than three inches high.
B. 
Signs displayed on buildings not occupied as a bona fide place of business (other than advertisements) of any registered master plumber, firm or corporation must not be construed to permit or allow said registered master plumber, firm or corporation to establish the same privileges or benefits as registered master plumbers, firms or corporations within the limitation of the City of Coatesville.
No person other than a registered master plumber, as herein provided, shall be allowed to carry on or engage in the business nor shall any person or persons expose the sign of plumbing, house or building drainage or any advertisement or display pertaining thereto (wholesale showrooms excepted), unless he or she or they have first secured a license or certificate and been registered in the office of the Codes Department of the City of Coatesville, nor shall any person or persons other than a registered master plumber or a registered journeyman plumber in his or her or their employ (registered apprentices excepted) be allowed to alter, repair or make any connection with any drain, soil, waste or vent pipe or any pipe connected therewith or to repair or alter the location of any water pipe.
Every registered master plumber, firm or corporation shall give immediate notice of any change in his, her, their or its place of business and, upon his, her, their or its retirement from business, shall surrender his, her, their or its certificate of registry to the Codes Department; every person, firm or corporation, in registering, shall give the full name or names of the person, firm or officer's names if a corporation, for which he or she or they shall register.
At the expiration of each calendar year, said certificate or license shall be null and void. A licensed master or journeyman plumber desiring to continue in or work at the business of plumbing, house and building drainage for the ensuing year shall, between the first and 31st days of December of each and every year, surrender said certificate or license to the Codes Department who certified it and reregister his, her, their or its name or names and business or home address upon such form or forms as may, from time to time, be furnished by said Codes Department.
[Amended 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 1012-96]
A. 
A reexamination will not be necessary for reregistration unless the licensed master or journeyman plumber should have failed to make an application for reregistration at the specified time. The sum as provided in Chapter 108, Fees, shall be paid by master plumbers, firms or corporations and journeymen plumbers for reregistration, which sum shall be paid into the city treasury for the use of the city. A register of all such applicants and the licenses or certificates issued shall be kept in said Codes Department, which said register shall be open to the inspection of all persons interested therein. Any person, firm or corporation holding a license or certificate granted by any city, borough, incorporated town or township of the first class of this commonwealth to engage in or work at the business of plumbing and drainage work, desiring to do plumbing or drainage work in the City of Coatesville, shall, without complete examination, be registered before entering upon such work, but such applicant shall be required to submit to the Plumbing Inspector a statement as to certain facts showing whether the applicant is competent to carry on the work, and the Plumbing Inspector shall certify to the Codes Department as to the competency of the applicant; provided, however, that such registration shall be restricted and limited to such plumbing and drainage work as he, she, they or it shall have contracted for at the time or registry. On the completion of such contract or contracts, the registration of such person, firm or corporation shall be null and void, and no further permit shall be issued until he or she or they or it shall have first registered his or her or its name or their names and addresses as hereinbefore provided.
B. 
The fee for registration of any person, firm or corporation holding a license or certificate approved by the Plumbing Inspector and granted by any city (other than the City of Coatesville), borough, incorporated town or township of the first class in Pennsylvania and for every journeyman plumber shall be as provided in Chapter 108, Fees, and he, she, they or it shall be restricted and limited to such plumbing and drainage work as he, she, they or it shall have contracted for at the time of registry. Any additional fee of like amount will be necessary before another registration will be made.
A. 
The President of Council of the City of Coatesville is hereby authorized and empowered to appoint a plumber who is actively engaged in the plumbing business and who possesses the necessary qualifications as provided in the Act of June 7, 1901, who shall be the Plumbing Inspector of the City of Coatesville, to serve at the pleasure of the President of Council of said city.
B. 
The President of Council shall, at the same time, on appointing a Plumbing Inspector actively engaged in the plumbing business, appoint a Substitute Inspector, who shall supervise, superintend and inspect the work done by the regular Inspector or by the firm with which he or she is connected in the course of its private business or when the regular Inspector is unavailable.
C. 
The compensation of the Plumbing Inspector and Substitute Inspector shall be paid from proper items of appropriation in the budget of the City of Coatesville, in such amount as may from time to time be prescribed by the Council.
[Amended 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 1012-96]
There shall be a separate plan for each, building, public or private or any addition thereto or alterations thereof, accompanied by the specifications showing the location, size and kind of pipe, traps, closets and fixtures to be used, which plans and specifications shall be filed with the Plumbing Inspector, together with such other information as he or she may require. Said plans and specifications shall be furnished by the architect, plumber or owner and filed by the plumber. All applications for change in plans must be made in writing. Plans filed for the correction of any complaint must be designated the approximate time for the completion thereof for each plan filed; and as a condition precedent to any sewer connections and water sewer service connections, all individual fixtures, compartment appliances or connections to soil stack, waste pipe, sewer or water service pipe shall be inspected and approved by the Plumbing Inspector, for which services a fee as provided in Chapter 108, Fees, per fixture, appliance or connection shall be charged, which inspection fee shall be payable within or without the corporate limits of the city.
Plumbers, before commencing the construction of plumbing work in any building in said City of Coatesville (except in case of repairs, which are here defined to relate to the mending of leaks in soil, vent or waste pipes, faucets, valves and water supply pipes, and shall not be construed to permit the replacing or installation of any fixtures, such as water closets, bathtubs, washstands, sinks, refrigerator cases, soda or bar fixtures, etc., or the respective traps for such fixtures), shall submit to the Plumbing Inspector plans and specifications legibly drawn in ink, on blanks to be furnished by the Codes Department. Where two or more buildings are located together and on the same street and the plumbing work is identical in each, one will be sufficient. Plans will be approved or rejected by the Plumbing Inspector within 24 hours after their receipt; approval will not be given until all fees have been paid.
Whenever there is a line of sewer laid on any street or alley, all connections and entrances from the main sewer to the building shall be made under the supervision of the Plumbing Inspector. Unless Y- or T-branches already exist in the sewer line and are available for use, cast-iron inserts, MD sewer connections or equal must be used in making said connections.
[Added 12-10-2007 by Ord. No. 1291-2007[1]]
A. 
Eligibility
(1) 
Homeowner's plumbing permit. Homeowners' permits, issued if a home is not for sale or rent, are required for new construction, renovation, and any work that requires a building permit. Generally, homeowners' permits are not required for replacement in kind. Only owner-occupants who perform the work themselves qualify for homeowners' permits.
(a) 
A homeowner's permit is not authorized until a dwelling is on the site or under construction. A homeowner shall not be permitted to install their own gas lines, install HVAC, or perform any heating duct work.
(b) 
A homeowner's permit issued for a mobile home on a leased lot authorizes feeder installation for the mobile home itself and it does not include the installation or repair of service equipment.
(c) 
If a homeowner's permit is approved for a dwelling on a lot, other structures on the same lot, such as a noncommercial garage, are also covered unless otherwise prohibited.
(d) 
Applicants for homeowners' permits shall contact the City of Coatesville Codes Enforcement Department to have the plumbing work inspected and may contact the Department with any questions about the plumbing code. Before installing dry wall, applicants shall contact the Plumbing Code Enforcement Officer for a "rough in" inspection.
(e) 
Permits shall be valid for six months from the date granted and are not renewable.
B. 
Application requirements. Applicants shall submit the application with the following items for processing:
(1) 
Proof of home ownership:
(a) 
A copy of the official, signed deed with Recorder of Deeds stamp which has been recorded at the Chester County Recorder of Deeds Office. If you need a copy, contact the Chester County Courthouse, Market and High Streets, West Chester, PA 19382, phone: (610) 344-6000; or
(b) 
A copy of the long-term lease, e.g. 99 years, if the site of the dwelling is part of a community where title to the land is not conveyed by deed to the homeowner; or
(c) 
A copy of the title to a mobile home; or
(d) 
A written contract of sale, signed by the parties, for a mobile home that includes the names of the buyer, seller, contract price, date of sale, and identification number of the mobile home.
(2) 
A copy of the homeowner's driver's license or other photo identification.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated former § 176-19, Violations and penalties, as § 176-19.1.
[Amended 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 1012-96]
A. 
Any person or persons who shall fail to comply with any of the provisions of this article shall be liable, upon summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $600 or to a period of imprisonment not exceeding 90 days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
B. 
All prosecutions for violations of this article shall be by summary proceeding brought in the name and for the use of the City of Coatesville. All fines and penalties shall be paid to the Director of Finance of the City of Coatesville, to apply to the general fund.