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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 2198 ORDINANCE NO. 2198 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, AMENDING ORDINANCE #1781, ELECTRICAL CODE OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS BY PROVIDING FOR ADOPTION OF THE 1996 NATIONAL ELECTRICAL- CODE; PROVIDING FOR ADOPTION OF THE UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE CODES FOR .THE 1996 NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AMENDED CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR AMENDED ELECTRICIAN LICENSING REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR AMENDMENTS TO THE 1996 NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE; PROVIDING FOR AMENDMENTS TO THE UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE CODE PROVISIONS FOR THE NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE, 1996 EDITION; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY OF FINE NOT TO EXCEED THE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED ($200.00) DOLLARS FOR EACH OFFENSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS: SECTION 1. That Ordinance #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by amending Section 3 to provide as follows, to-wit: "Section 3. 1996 Edition of the National Electric Code and the Uniform Administrative Code Provisions for the National Electric Code, 1996 Edition adopted. 1. The National Electric Code, 1996 Edition, published by the National Fire Protection Association and referred to as "NEC", as amended herein by provisions contained in this article, is hereby adopted as the Electrical Code for the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, incorporated herein by reference and a copy shall be filed in the office of the City Secretary. 2. The Uniform Administrative Code Provisions for the National Electric Code, 1996 Edition, published by the International Conference of Building Officials, as amended herein by provisions contained in this article, is hereby adopted as the Administrative Provisions for the Electrical Code of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, incorporated herein by reference and a copy shall be filed in the office of the City Secretary." SECTION 2. That Ordinances #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by amending Section 7 to provide as follows, to-wit: "Section 7. Termination of Services to Vacant Buildings. The electricity supply agency shall disconnect the electrical service to any building or premises, except private residences, duplexes and apartments, each time such building or premises changes ownership, is leased, or changes occupants, and it shall not again supply electricity to such building or premises until authorized to do so by the Chief Electrical Inspector. The owners, tenants or new occupants of such buildings or premises shall make application to the Chief Electrical Inspector for an inspection. The Chief Electrical Inspector shall make a temporary power inspection within forty -eight hours of filing such application exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, or as soon thereafter as practicable." SECTION 3. That Ordinances #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by deleting Section 8 and Section 9 in their entirety. SECTION 4. That Ordinance #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by amending Section 10 to provide as follows, to-wit: "Section 10. Conflict of interest prohibited. It shall be unlawful for the building official, chief electrical inspector or any electrical inspector, while employed by the City, to engage in the business of the sale, installation, repair, or the maintenance of electrical equipment, either directly or indirectly, or to have any financial interest in any concern engaged in such business in the city." SECTION 5. That Ordinance #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by deleting Section 11 through Section 14 in their entirety. SECTION 6. That the Ordinance #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by deleting Section 17 in its entirety. SECTION 7. That Ordinance#1781 of the City of North Rich/and Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by amending Section 18 to provide as follows, to-wit: "Section 18. Contractor Registration. 1 . As a prerequisite to obtaining electrical permits, any person, firm or business operating under the provisions of this code within the city shall register as an electrical contractor and pay an annual fee of seventy-five ($75.00) which shall be valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance. The registration fee is not refundable in cases of revocation or surrender of a contractor registration. 2. Each contractor shall maintain this registration with the city until the completion of work being performed under such permit. Each contractor applying for registration as an electrical contractor shall complete and sign a contractor registration form as provided by the city. 3. Each application for registration as an electrical contractor shall be accompanied by a affidavit signed by a master electrician, properly licensed by the City, stating that he is either the owner and/or full time employee of such business and that he is authorized to supervise either directly or indirectly the work and that he is authorized to order the correction of any and all code deficiencies in work pursuant to any permits issued to the electrical contractor. The statement shall further establish that the qualifying master is qualifying no other electrical contractor within the city. 4. Each application for registration as an electrical contractor shall be accompanied by an original Certificate of Insurance, issued to the City as Certificate Holder providing a ten (10) day notification period of insurance lapse or cancellation, in the amount of not less than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00) per occurrence for bodily injury, including death, and not less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) per occurrence for property damage. 5. Renewal of this registration shall be the same as the original application. 6. In the event that the qualifying master electrician leaves the employee of any electrical contractor, the registrant must notify the Building Official within ten (10) days of such loss stating the date of the loss and the name of any temporary supervising master electrician. The electrical contractor must provide a new permanent qualifying master electrician submitting the affidavit described in paragraph 3 within sixty (60) days of the date of the loss of the qualifying master of record; or, the electrical contractor shall surrender its electrical contractors license. During the sixty (60) day interim period, any properly licensed master electrician may temporarily serve as the qualifying master by submitting the affidavit described in paragraph 3, even if that master electrical is currently qualifying another electrical contractor. 7. An electrical contractor's registration may be revoked for violating any part of this code or violation of other city ordinances or for any other acts deemed a detriment to the city or citizens. Contractors who feel aggrieved by the action shall have the right to appeal to the Building Board of Appeals in accordance with Section 5-12 of the Code of Ordinances. SECTION 8. That Ordinance #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by deleting Section 19 in its entirety. SECTION 9. That Ordinance #1871 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by deleting Section 20-10 in its entirety. SECTION 10. That Ordinance #1871 of the City of North Rich/and Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by amending Section 21 to read as follows, to wit: "Section 21. Minimum license qualification criteria. 1. To be qualified to obtain a master electrical/icense, an applicant must hold a master electrician's license from another city with which a reciprocal agreement exists; or, hold a master electricians license from an approved testing agency and provide proof of one of the following criterion:" A. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. B. ... This section is deleted. "2. To be qualified to obtain a journeyman electrical license, an applicant must hold a journeyman electrician's license from another city with which a reciprocal agreement exists; or, hold a journeyman electricians license from an approved testing agency and provide proof of one of the following criterion:" A. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. B. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. "3. To be qualified to obtain a master sign electrical license, an applicant must hold a master sign electrician's license from another city with which a reciprocal agreement exists; or, hold a master sign electricians license from an approved testing agency and provide proof of one of the following criterion:" A. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. B. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. "4. To be qualified to obtain a journeyman sign electrical license, an applicant must hold a journeyman sign electrician's license from another city with which a reciprocal agreement exists; or, hold a journeyman sign electricians license from an approved testing agency and provide proof of one of the following criterion:" A. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. B. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. "5. To be qualified to obtain a residential wireman electrical license, an applicant must hold a residential wireman electrician's license from another city with which a reciprocal agreement exists; or, hold a license from an approved testing agency and provide proof of at least two (2) years experience in the wiring and installation of electrical equipment in one and two family dwellings. 6. To be qualified to obtain a maintenance electrical license, an applicant must hold a maintenance electrician's license from another city with 'Nhich a reciprocal agreement exists; or, hold a maintenance electricians license from an approved testing agency and provide proof of one of the following criterion:" A. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. B. ... The remainder of this section is unchanged. SECTION 11. That Ordinance #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by amending Section 28 to provide as follows, to-wit: "Section 28. Amendments to the 1996 Edition of the National Electric Code. The 1996 Edition of the National Electric Code is hereby amended to read as follows: (a) Article 110-5 is amended to read as follows: "Conductors. Conductors normally used to carry current shall be of copper. Aluminum and copper-clad aluminum conductors may be used only in services to the meter base. All branch circuits shall be wired with copper conductors only. Aluminum or copper-clad conductors shall not be used for system grounding. Where the conductor material is not specified, the sizes given in this Code shall apply to copper conductors. Where other materials are used, the size shall change accordingly." (b) Article 230-2 (a) is amended by adding Exception NO.8 to read as follows: "Exception No 8: In supplying electrical service to multifamily dwellings, two or more laterals or overhead service drops shall be permitted to a building when all of the following conditions are met: a. The building height is limited to three stories. b. The building has six or more individual gang meters and all meters are grouped at the same location. c. Each lateral or overhead service drop originates from the same point of service. 11 (c) Article 230-71 (a) is amended by renumbering the existing Exception NO.1 to No. 2 and adding Exception No. 1 to read as follows: "Exception No 1. Multi-occupant Buildings. Individual service disconnecting means is limited to six for each occupant. The number of individual disconnects at one location may exceed six. 11 (d) Article 250.8 is amended by adding a last sentence ahead of the (FPN) to read as follows: "Where a metal underground water pipe, as described in item (a) is not present, a method of grounding as specified in (b) through (d) below shall be used." (e) Article 300-11 is amended in its entirety as follows: "300-11. Securing and Supporting. (a) Secured in Place. Raceways, cable assemblies, boxes, cabinets, and fittings shall be securely fastened in place. Support wires that do not provide secure support shall not be permitted as the sole support. Branch-circuit wiring associated with equipment that is located within, supported by, or secured to a fire-rated floor or roof/ceiling assembly shall not be secured to the ceiling support wires. Branch-circuit with associated with equipment that is located within, supported by, or secured to non-fire-rated floor or roof/ceiling assembly shall be permitted to be supported by the ceiling support wires. Exception: as permitted elsewhere in this Code. (b) Raceways Used as Means of Support. Raceways shall not be used as a means of support for other raceways, cables, or nonelectric equipment. Exception NO.1: Where the raceways or means of support are identified for the purpose. (FPN): See Article 318 for cable trays. Exception NO.2: Raceways containing power supply conductors for electrically controlled equipment shall be permitted to support Class 2 circuit conductors or cables that are solely for the purpose of connection to the equipment control circuits. Exception NO.3: As permitted in Section 370-23 for boxes or conduit bodies or Section 410-16(f) for fixtures. II (f) Note #3 of Notes to Ampacity Table of 0 to 2000 volts for Tables 310-16 through 310-19, Allowable Ampacity Tables, is amended by adding a last sentence to read as follows: "This Note to Tables 310-16 through 310-19 shall not be used in conjunction with Section 220-30." (g) Article 336-5(a) (1), Exception, is amended to read as follows: "Exception No 1: An additional level shall be permitted where the renovation of attic, vehicle parking, or storage space creates a habitable floor level in an existing one- family dwelling. Exception No 2: An additional level shall be permitted in dwellings where the entire structure is protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system. 11 SECTION 12. That Ordinance #1781 of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding Section 31 to provide as follows, to-wit: "Sec. 31. Amendments to the Uniform Administrative Code Provisions for the National Electric Code, 1996 Edition. (a) Section 203, BOARD OF APPEALS, be deleted in its entirety. (b) Section 304, FEES, is deleted in its entirety. (c) Section 305.5, Reinspections, be amended by amending paragraph number four to read as follows: "To obtain a reinspection, the applicant shall file a request as required in this section. Prior to such inspection, the building official may asses a reinspection fee in the amount of thirty ($30.00) dollars. Reinspection fees may be assessed when the approved plans are not readily available to the inspector, for failure to provide access on the date for which inspection is requested, or for deviating from plans requiring approval of the building official." SECTION 13. That should any 'NOrd, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, clause, phrase or section of this Ordinance or of the Code of Ordinances, as amended hereby, be adjudged or held to be void or unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of said Ordinance or the Code of Ordinances, which shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 14. That any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this ordinance or of the Code of Ordinances, as amended hereby, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction in the municipal court of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed the sum of Two Hundred ($200.00) Dollars for each offense, and each and every day said violation is continued shall constitute a separate offense. SECTION 12. This ordinance shall take effect on June 15, 1997, after its passage as the law and charter in such cases provide. DULY PASSED by the City Council of North Richland Hills, Texas, on the /d-. day of Jl1a y ,1997. APPROVED: <.. ~'Þ~~ ~ MA~~-~ t' ATTEST r?1/PU~¡~ CITY SECRETARY APPROVED AS TO FORM: --.-.. CI