This chapter shall be known as the "West Manchester Township
Building Code."
The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions
of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act (Act of November 10, 1999,
P.L. 491, No. 45, 35 P.S. § 7210.101 to § 7210.1103,
as amended), and its regulations, in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401 to
405 (collectively referred to as "the code").
The code is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference as
the Building Code of the Township.
Administration and enforcement of the code within the Township
shall be undertaken in any of the following ways as determined by
the Board of Supervisors of West Manchester Township from time to
time by resolution:
A. By the designation of an employee of the Township to serve as the
building code official to act on behalf of the Township;
B. By the retention of one or more construction code officials or third-party
agencies to act on behalf of the Township;
C. By agreement with one or more other municipalities for the joint
administration and enforcement of this Act through an intermunicipal
agreement;
D. By entering into a contract with another municipality for the administration
and enforcement of this Act on behalf of the Township;
E. By entering into an agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of
Labor and Industry for plan review, inspections and enforcement of
structures other than one-family or two-family dwelling units and
utility and miscellaneous use structures.
A Board of Appeals is hereby established by the Board of Supervisors
of West Manchester Township in conformity with the requirements of
the relevant provisions of the code, as amended from time to time,
and for the purposes set forth therein. If at any time enforcement
and administration is undertaken jointly with one or more other municipalities,
the Board of Appeals shall be established by joint action of the participating
municipalities.
Fees assessable by the Township for all administration and enforcement
undertaken pursuant to this chapter and the code shall be established
by the Board of Supervisors of West Manchester Township by resolution
from time to time. All fees for permits and inspections required by
the UCC and this chapter and all other Township ordinances shall be
paid before any permits are issued, and any additional fees which
shall become due shall be paid before the issuance of a use and occupancy
certificate.
Final inspections and occupancy certificates as required under
or issued in conjunction with the UCC shall be conducted and issued
with, and at the same time as, final inspections and use and occupancy
certificates required by the Township's Zoning Ordinance. No inspection shall be conducted or permit issued under
either this chapter or the Zoning Ordinance separately from the other.
It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to request such inspections
or permits from both the Township's Building Code Official and
Zoning Enforcement Officer, who shall be responsible between them
for coordinating the inspections and the issuance of the required
permits within the time set by the UCC and the Township's Zoning
Ordinance.
Any owner or person, as those terms are defined in the code,
who or which violates or permits the violation of any provision of
this chapter or of the code shall commit a summary criminal offense,
and, upon conviction by a District Justice, shall be subject to a
fine of up to $1,000, plus costs, and imprisonment to the extent allowed
by law for summary offenses for each violation. Each day of a violation,
and each separate violation of this chapter or the code, shall be
considered a separate violation.
If any section, subsection, sentence or clause of this chapter
is held for any reason to be invalid, such decision or decisions shall
not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter,
and it shall be deemed that this chapter would have been enacted without
the invalid section, subsection, sentence or clause.
This chapter shall be effective July 1, 2004.