[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town
of Dover 7-27-1970 as Art. 15 of the 1969 Revised Ordinances.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 9-28-1970]
A.
There is hereby adopted by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen
of the Town of Dover, for the purpose of establishing rules and regulations
for the installation, renewal, extension and reception of electrical wiring
and electrical apparatus in existing buildings, structures or outdoor electrical
displays or signs or in the construction, reconstruction, alteration or repair
of buildings, structures or outdoor electrical displays or signs, that certain
code known as the "National Electrical Code," as recommended by the National
Fire Protection Association, being particularly the 1968 Edition thereof and
the whole thereof, hereinafter referred to as the "National Electrical Code,"
of which not less than three copies have been and now are filed in the office
of the Clerk of the town, and the same are hereby adopted and incorporated
as fully as if set out at length herein, and from the date on which this chapter
shall take effect the provisions thereof shall be controlling for all existing
and future electrical wiring and apparatus in buildings, structures or outdoor
electrical displays or signs within the corporate limits of the town.
Before any person, firm or corporation shall install, extend or renew
any electrical wiring or fixed electrical equipment, they shall first file
an application for inspection with the Building Inspector of the Town of Dover,
who shall refer the same forthwith to the Middle Department Association of
Fire Underwriters for review and issuance of a permit through the Building
Inspector when appropriate. When emergency repairs are necessary in order
to maintain service of an electrical system, the necessary repairs may be
made without first filing an application for inspection. In such cases, the
application shall be filed not later than the next working day after the repairs
were made.
The Middle Department Association of Fire Underwriters, upon receipt
of an application for inspection, shall, within a reasonable time after notice
of completion of electrical work, make or cause to be made an inspection of
such work and such tests as may be necessary to determine that the installation
conforms to the provisions of this chapter. The Middle Department Association
of Fire Underwriters shall, upon written request from the Chief of the Fire
Department, the Superintendent of the Fire Prevention Bureau or the Building
Inspector, make or cause to be made an inspection of any existing electrical
installation when, in the opinion of the Chief of the Fire Department, the
Superintendent of the Fire Prevention Bureau or the Building Inspector, the
condition of the installation warrants such an inspection. Said Middle Department
Association of Fire Underwriters shall file with the Fire Prevention Bureau
a report of all inspections made and shall have the authority during reasonable
hours to enter any building or premises for the purpose of making an inspection
or test of the electrical installation contained therein. No electrical wiring
shall be concealed by permanent placement of parts of a building until such
wiring has been inspected and approved by the Middle Department Association
of Fire Underwriters.
A.
The Middle Department Association of Fire Underwriters
shall issue a duplicate municipal record for electrical installations when
a permit is issued, one of which shall be filed with the Building Inspector
and one with the Fire Prevention Bureau.
B.
When an inspection discloses that an installation is
in violation of the National Electrical Code or this chapter, a copy of the
violations will be forwarded to the Building Department and Fire Prevention
Bureau of the Town of Dover if notice of correction is not made by the permit
holder or property owner in question within 10 days to the Middle Department
Inspector. If, after a period of 10 days has elapsed or such further reasonable
time as may be granted upon request, the installation has not been approved
by the Middle Department Association of Fire Underwriters, the Chief of the
Fire Department, the Superintendent of the Fire Prevention Bureau or the Building
Inspector, as the case may be, shall have the authority to order the disconnection
of electrical service to said electrical installation.
Only the materials, fittings and devices enumerated in the List of Inspected
Appliances and the Electrical Construction Materials List of Underwriters
Laboratories, Inc., as revised from time to time, shall be used in the electrical
work regulated by the National Electrical Code and this chapter.
Whenever an application is required under the terms of this chapter
for electrical wiring and apparatus to be done in connection with a gas or
oil burner installation in any existing building or structure or in the construction,
reconstruction, alteration or repair of buildings or structures, there shall
be installed an emergency shut-off switch with a red plate thereon marked
"oil burner" or "gas burner," as the case may be, at the entrance to the basement
or heating room.
No application shall be required under this chapter for the following
electrical work:
A.
Minor repair work such as the replacement of lamps and
fuses.
B.
The connection of portable electrical appliances to suitable
permanently installed outlets.
C.
Equipment installed or work performed by or for a public
utility as defined in N.J.S.A. 48:2-13 and operating under authority granted
by the State of New Jersey.
D.
Equipment installed or work performed by a railway utility
in the exercise of its function as a utility and located in or on its right-of-way.
E.
Equipment used in connection with commercial radio and
television transmission.
F.
Repair manufacturing and maintenance work on premises
occupied by a firm or corporation and installation work on existing buildings
occupied by a firm or corporation and performed by a regular employee who
is a qualified journeyman electrician.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation who or which shall violate
any provisions of this chapter or shall fail to comply therewith or shall
violate or fail to comply with any order made thereunder shall, on conviction
thereof, be subject to one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding
$1,000, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or a period of community
service not exceeding 90 days. The imposition of one penalty for any violation
shall not excuse the violation or permit it to continue; and all such persons
shall be required to correct or remedy such violations or defects within a
reasonable time; and when not otherwise specified, each 10 days that a prohibited
condition is maintained shall constitute a separate offense.[1]
B.
The application of the above penalty shall not be held
to prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.
Any person affected by any notice, order or ruling which has been issued
or any action in connection with the enforcement of any provision of this
chapter, or of any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, may request
and shall be granted a hearing on the matter before the Mayor and Board of
Aldermen of the Town of Dover, provided that such person shall file in the
office of the Clerk of the Town of Dover a written petition requesting such
hearing and setting forth a brief statement of the grounds therefor within
10 days after the day the notice, order or ruling was served or within 10
days after the day of action taken. Upon receipt of such petition, the Clerk
of the Town of Dover shall set a time and place for such hearing and shall
give the petitioner written notice thereof. At such hearing, the petitioner
shall be given an opportunity to be heard and to show why such notice, order
or ruling or action taken should be modified or withdrawn. The hearing shall
be commenced not later than 15 days after the day on which the petition was
filed, provided that, upon application of the petitioner, the Clerk of the
Town of Dover may postpone the date of the hearing for a reasonable time beyond
such fifteen-day period if, in his judgment, the petitioner has submitted
a good and sufficient reason for such postponement. After such hearing, the
Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town of Dover shall sustain, modify or
withdraw the notice or order or ruling or terminate the action taken, depending
upon its findings as to whether the provisions of this chapter and of the
rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto have been complied with. If
the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town of Dover sustains or modifies
such notice, order or ruling, or action taken, it shall be deemed to be an
order. The proceedings at such hearing, including the findings and decision
of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town of Dover, shall be summarized,
reduced to writing and entered as a matter of public record in the office
of the Clerk of the Town of Dover. Such record shall also include a copy of
every notice, or-der or ruling or action taken issued in connection with this
matter. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen
of the Town of Dover may seek relief therefrom in any court of competent jurisdiction,
as provided by the laws of this state.
A.
The local enforcement officer for this chapter shall
be the Building Inspector, in whose name prosecutions for violations shall
be instituted. Inspections and approvals in connection with new installations
shall be made by the Middle Department Association of Fire Underwriters, to
which organization all applications shall be referred for recommendations
and approval.
There shall be no fees charged in connection with the administration
of this chapter.
