[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Rhinebeck 3-22-2005
by L.L. No. 4-2005. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The Town Board of the Town of Rhinebeck hereby finds
that to protect the health, safety and welfare of the occupants and owners
of property in the Town, there shall exist a procedure whereby electrical
inspections shall be performed by qualified inspectors who shall report their
findings to the Town of Rhinebeck (hereafter referred to as "Town"), but shall
not be agents, employees or contractors of the Town.
B.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a procedure
whereby such inspectors shall be qualified in accordance with the standards
set forth herein. This chapter also describes the duties of such inspectors
and provides for violations of the provisions of this chapter.
The Building Inspector of the Town is hereby authorized to accept electrical
inspections from any qualified electrical inspector. No person, corporation,
partnership, limited-liability partnership or limited-liability company (hereafter
collectively referred to as "corporate entity") shall be deemed to be qualified
within the meaning of this chapter unless such person or the qualified employees
of the corporate entity have first complied with all of the requirements set
forth in this chapter and continue to comply with these requirements as follows:
A.
The person or corporate entity shall furnish the Town
with currently effective certificates of insurance, including statutory worker's
compensation insurance for its employees and workers, public liability insurance
for property damage in the minimum amount of $1,000,000 and personal injury
claims in the minimum amount of $1,000,000. The person or agency shall maintain
such insurance policies in full force and effect while performing inspections
and submitting certificates, and each certification should require that all
cancellation notices must be sent to the Town upon issuance, to the attention
of the Town of Rhinebeck Building Inspector (hereafter "Building Inspector").
B.
The person, if using a trade name other than his or her
own name, and all inspection corporate entities shall furnish the Town Building
Inspector with proof of filing of the proper business, partnership or corporate
certificate with the appropriate recording office.
C.
The person or corporate entity shall not solicit of any
person or entity or require, as a condition of inspection, any waiver of responsibility
of an error, omission or recommendation made by its inspectors, or for any
other action of its inspectors.
D.
The person or employees of an inspecting corporate entity
shall require all wiring to meet standards of the latest revision or edition
of the National Electric Code, the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention
and Building Code; including the regulations thereunder, and all other applicable
codes prescribed by the State of New York or the Town and the applicable rules
and regulations of the appropriate utility company (hereafter collectively
referred to "code"). All references in this chapter to the code shall be deemed
to include all amendments to same which may occur after the adoption of this
chapter.
E.
The person or corporate entity shall not compete with
others in any manner that would cause it to reduce the quality of its inspections.
The person or corporate entity shall not knowingly accept an application at
any given location from any applicant who has received violations from another
inspector, agency, utility company, insurance examiner and/or municipal official.
In the event that the person or corporate entity ceases to do business in
the Town, the applicant may seek out another person or corporate entity to
perform a reinspection.
F.
Inspections and reports shall be made only by qualified
electrical inspectors permitted to make such inspections by this chapter and
by the relevant codes, utility companies and all other applicable governmental
requirements. The person or corporate entity shall ensure that the inspectors
it employs (also referred to as "qualified employee" or "inspector") have
adequate experience, education and training as follows:
(1)
Have a working knowledge of the principles of electricity
necessary to apply the code and other applicable requirements.
(2)
Know the requirements of the code and other applicable
requirements.
(3)
Are familiar with the construction practices of the electrical
wiring trade.
(4)
Each inspector, whether self-employed or employed by
a corporate entity, shall submit written proof of successful completion of
one of the following courses, together with updates as required:
(a)
International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI)
National Certification Program for Electrical Inspectors.
(b)
National Certification Program for Construction Code
(Electrical) Inspectors.
(c)
The National Fire Protection Association's "National
Electric Code Thirty-Two-Hour Course."
(d)
Any other comparable course, as approved by the Town
of Rhinebeck Building Inspector.
G.
The person or qualified employee of a corporate entity
shall comply with all federal, state and local laws, ordinances, rules and
regulations pertaining to any electrical inspection.
H.
The person or corporate entity agrees to maintain adequate
written records so that it can provide the Town with records of inspections
when requested. Such records will be maintained for a minimum of five years.
The Building Inspector may examine these records at the Building Inspector's
office upon giving the person or corporate entity 24 hours' written or
oral notice to produce such records.
I.
The person or corporate entity will maintain an office,
which office shall be equipped to receive telephone calls during normal business
days for a minimum of six hours per day.
J.
The person or corporate entity performing the electrical
inspection shall establish a system to receive applications and issue inspection
reports in accordance with the following: The person or corporate entity shall
provide an application form, which shall include a copy for the Town of Rhinebeck,
for the applicable utility company and for the landowner or applicant.
K.
All inspections will be completed and certificates issued
in a timely manner to ensure that applicants are not subjected to undue delay
in receiving electric service. Inspections shall normally be made within 48
hours of the receipt of the application.
L.
All inspectors, upon request of the Building Inspector,
shall submit proof to such Building Inspector as to the requirements set forth
in this chapter, inclusive of any special standards for the particular structure
to be inspected. The Building Inspector shall have the authority to determine
that a particular inspector or corporate entity is unqualified to perform
such inspections in the Town for good cause, including, without limitation,
such inspector's exhibited lack of knowledge of the code and such person's
or qualified employee of a corporate entity's or corporate entity's
failure to comply with all of the other provisions of this chapter. Prior
to making such determination, the Building Inspector shall provide written
notice to the particular inspector or qualified employee of a corporate entity
or a corporate entity setting forth the reasons for the particular concerns,
and the inspector-qualified employee of a corporate entity or corporate entity
shall have not more than 10 days from receipt of the written notice to submit
written proof to the Building Inspector on the issue of the qualifications
and competence, or other compliance with the provisions of the chapter, of
the particular inspector, one or more previously qualified employees of a
corporate entity, or corporate entity. Within 10 days of receipt of this written
proof or, if no proof is received, within 25 days of the mailing of the notice,
the Building Inspector shall render a final determination in writing, setting
forth the reasons for such determination. The person, qualified employee of
a corporate entity or corporate entity who has been deemed to be unqualified
by the Building Inspector may appeal to the Town Board of the Town for a hearing
on the determination made by the Building Inspector. The Town Board of the
Town will then conduct a hearing on the appeal within 30 days of the filing
of a written appeal and make its written determination within 30 days following
the conclusion of a hearing.
M.
Failure of any person or corporate entity to abide by
the above requirements shall be grounds for the Town Building Inspector to
provide notice to the person, agency, utility company, applicant and landowner
that such inspector or corporate entity is no longer qualified to perform
such inspections in the Town.
A.
The inspector shall not be deemed to be an employee or
agent of the Town; rather the inspector, whether an individual or an employee
of a corporate entity, shall be an independent contractor who shall be hired
by the property owner or applicant and whose fees shall be paid by the property
owner or applicant. The inspector, whether an individual or corporate entity
employing the inspector, shall remain at all times liable to the landowner
and/or applicant for any damages related to the acts or omissions of said
inspector, and the Town assumes no liability therein.
B.
It shall remain the duty of the Building Inspector to
enforce all provisions of the code, insofar as any of the same applies to
electrical wiring. The Town Building Inspector or his or her duly authorized
designee retains, at all times, the right to make inspections and reinspections
of electrical wiring, installations, devices, appliances and equipment, in
or on properties within the Town where he or she deems it necessary for the
protection of life and property.
C.
Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to require
the Town to pay for any costs, expenses or fees relative to the work of the
electrical inspectors authorized hereunder.
A.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person
or corporate entity to perform electrical inspections in the Town without
having first complied with the provisions of this chapter.
B.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for a person
or corporate entity to connect or cause to be connected electrical wiring
in or on properties within the Town for light, heat or power to any source
of electrical energy supply without first having received a building permit
from the Building Inspector and having received a certificate of electric
inspection issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions
of this chapter or any rule or regulation made pursuant thereto shall be guilty
of an offense, upon conviction thereof; may be punished by a fine of not more
than $250 or imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both, and each day
on which such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
