[Adopted 7-27-1970 as Art. 1, Ch. A, of the 1969 Revised Ordinances, amended in its entirety 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 19-1996]
There shall be appointed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town of Dover, within 30 days after the approval and final adoption of this article, and annually thereafter on the first day of January in each year, an officer to be known as the "Uniform Construction Code Officer," who shall be or has been either an architect, carpenter, mason or other building mechanic with five years' experience. The term of office of every person so appointed shall expire on the first day of January following the month of his appointment. His duties shall be such as devolve upon him as Uniform Construction Code Officer by the laws of this state and this and other ordinances of the Town of Dover.
Said Uniform Construction Code Officer shall, before he enters upon the discharge of his duties, take and subscribe to, upon oath before the Town Clerk, faithfully and impartially perform the duties of said office and shall give a bond to the town in its corporate name, to be approved by the Town Counsel or Attorney, in the sum of $1,000, with at least two sureties, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of said office, said bond to be presented to and accepted by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen before said Uniform Construction Code Officer shall enter upon the duties of said office.
Said Uniform Construction Code Officer is charged with the performance of all services necessary to ensure the strict enforcement of the ordinances of the town now existing, or that may hereinafter be adopted, relating to the erection, construction or alteration of buildings therein. He shall keep a record of all applications for permits and preserve and properly index such drawings as may be filed of all plans on which permits shall be granted.
After any permit shall have been granted as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of said Uniform Construction Code Officer diligently to inspect said building while in the course of erection and to see that it is constructed in conformity with the ordinances of the town relating thereto. Said Uniform Construction Code Officer shall also keep a full and complete record of all buildings in the course of erection or alteration, their style and proposed uses and make report of the same in writing once a month to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
For the purpose of ascertaining all violations of ordinances designed for the more effectual prevention of fires, it shall be lawful for him, the Uniform Construction Code Officer, whenever he shall have good and sufficient reason to believe that any such ordinances are being violated, to enter into or upon lots or buildings for the examination of hoistways, trapdoors, fireplaces, hearths, chimneys, stoves and pipes thereto, receptacles for ashes, ovens, boilers, heaters and chemical apparatus, which are dangerous as tending to cause or promote fires; and it shall be his duty to direct the owner or occupant of any defective building, by notice signed by said Uniform Construction Code Officer, to correct the same in such manner and within such reasonable time as he may deem necessary. He shall also examine at reasonable hours in the daytime and it shall be lawful for him for that purpose to enter into and upon all buildings and places where any gunpowder, saltpeter, hemp, flax, straw, hay, rushes, firewood, boards, shingles, shavings or other combustible materials be lodged; and whenever he shall discover any violations of any such ordinances or anything that is detrimental to public safety, he shall notify in writing the owner or occupants of the building wherein such unlawful or unsafe conditions exist to immediately cause the same to be corrected; and it shall be the duty of the person so notified to comply with such notice, and in case of neglect or refusal of the owner or occupant of such building, in possession of such combustible materials, to correct said unlawful or unsafe conditions and to alter, remove or secure the same within the time and in the manner directed in said notice to the person offending.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to conflict with the appointment of any other employee of the municipality to the office of Uniform Construction Code Officer, who shall be or has been either an architect, carpenter, mason or other building mechanic with five years' experience who may hold both offices at the same time, in which case he shall devote such time to the performance of his duties thereof as may be required to effectually enforce this article.