Township of East Caln, PA Property Maintenance Code

[Amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-05; 7-21-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-02]

The following amendments, additions, deletions and changes are hereby made to the International Property Maintenance Code, 2021 Edition:

Section 101.1 is amended by the insertion of "the Township of East Caln" in the [NAME OF JURISDICTION] blank.

Section 102.3 is amended to read as follows: "Repairs, additions or alterations to a structure, or changes of occupancy, shall be done in accordance with the procedures and provisions of the International Building Code, International Existing Building Code, International Fire Prevention Code, International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, International Plumbing Code, International Mechanical Code, International Fuel and Gas Code, International Electrical Code, and International Wildland-Urban Interface Code, as adopted by East Caln Township. Nothing in this code shall be construed to cancel, modify or set aside any provision of the East Caln Township's Zoning Ordinance."

Section 103.1 is amended by the insertion of "Township Manager, Zoning Officer, Assistant Zoning Officer and Building Code Official" in the [INSERT NAME OF DEPARTMENT] blank and by the addition of the following sentence: "For purposes of this code, the Township Manager, Zoning Officer, Assistant Zoning Officer and the Building Code Official shall be referred to as the code official."

Section 104.1 is amended to read as follows: "The fees for activities and services performed by the code official in carrying out its responsibilities under this code shall be established by resolution of the Township Board of Supervisors, as may be amended from time to time."

Section 104.2 is amended to read: "The Board of Supervisors are authorized to establish a refund policy."

Section 107.1 is amended to read: "In order to hear and decide appeals of orders, decisions or determinations made by the code official relative to the application and interpretation of this code, there shall be and is created a board of appeals. In particular, the board of appeals shall be the Western Chester County Regional UCC Board of Appeals, as set forth in Chapter 9, Board of Building Appeals, in the Township Code of Ordinances, as amended. Chapter 9, Board of Building Appeals, in the Township Code of Ordinances, as amended, shall control proceedings before the Board of Appeals."

Section 107.2 is marked "[Reserved]".

Section 107.3 is marked "[Reserved]".

107.4 is marked "[Reserved]".

Section 108.1 is amended to read as follows: "Chapter 9, Board of Building Appeals, in the Township Code of Ordinances, as amended, shall control proceedings before the Board of Appeals."

The first sentence of Section 109.3 is amended to read as follows: "Any person failing to comply with a notice of violation or order served in accordance with Section 111.4 shall be deemed guilty of a summary offense and the violation shall be a strict liability offense."

Section 109.4 is amended to read as follows: "Any person who violates or permits the violation of any provision of this article or who shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof or who shall violate a provision of this code or shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof shall, upon conviction thereof, in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be subject to the payment of a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000, plus court costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the County Prison for a term of not more than 90 days. Each section or provision of this article that is violated shall constitute a separate offense, and each day or portion thereof in which a violation of this chapter is found to exist shall constitute a separate offense, each of which violations shall be punishable by a separate fine imposed by the Magisterial District Judge of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution, or upon default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the county prison for a term of not more than 90 days. All fines and penalties collected for the violation of this chapter shall be paid to the Township Treasurer."

Section 201.3 is amended to read as follows: "Where terms are not defined in this code and are defined in the International Building Code, International Existing Building Code, International Fire Prevention Code, International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, International Plumbing Code, International Mechanical Code, International Fuel and Gas Code, International Electrical Code, and International Wildland-Urban Interface Code, as adopted by East Caln Township, such terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them as stated in those codes. Exception: when used within this code the terms unsafe and dangerous shall have only the meaning ascribed to them in this code and shall not have the meanings ascribed to them by the International Existing Building Code."

Section 302.4 is amended by the insertion of "10 inches" in the [JURISDICTION TO INSERT HEIGHT IN INCHES] blank.

Section 304.14 is amended by the insertion of "May 1" in the first [DATE] blank and "October 1" in the second [DATE] blank.

The following sentence shall be added to Section 302.8: "For purposes of this section, campers, motor homes and boats are in included within the common meaning of motor vehicle."

Section 602.3 is amended by the insertion of "October 15" in the first [DATE] blank and "April 15" in the second [DATE] blank.

Section 602.4 is amended by the insertion of "October 15" in the first [DATE] blank and "April 15" in the second [DATE] blank.

A new Chapter 9 shall be created to read as follows:

Chapter 9
COMMUNICATIONS AMPLIFICATION SYSTEMS
§ 900. Definitions. The following words and terms shall, for the purposes of this section and as used elsewhere in this code, have the meaning shown herein.
APCO — Associates Public Safety Communications Official International.
CCDES — Chester County Department of Emergency Services.
FCC — Federal Communications Commission.
NABER — National Association of Business and Education Radio.
NPSPAC — National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee.
PCIA — Personal Communications Industry Association.
§ 901. General provisions.
Except as otherwise provided, no person shall erect, construct, alter, refit, change the use of, or provide an addition of more than 20% of the existing floor area to any building, structure or any part thereof, or cause the same to be done, which fails to support adequate radio coverage for CCDES, the Downingtown Fire Department and Ambulance, Downingtown Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police.
For the purpose of this section, adequate radio coverage shall include all the following:
1.	A minimum signal strength of -95 dBm available in 98% of the area of each floor of the buildings when transmitted from the closest CCDES radio communications system site;
2.	A minimum signal strength of -95 dBm received at the closest CCDES radio communications site when transmitted from 98% of the area of each floor of the building.
3.	The frequency range which must be supported shall be between 821.0125 MHz and 868.6095 MHz.
4.	A 95% reliability factor.
5.	Signal strength measurements, for the purpose of measuring the performance of a bidirectional amplifier, shall be based on one input signal adequate to obtain a maximum continuous operating out level.
6.	The provisions of this section shall become applicable upon notification to the property owner that unacceptable performance levels exist. The property owner shall have 90 days from the date of notification to enhance radio coverage and bring it within the acceptable limits of these provisions.
§ 902. Amplification systems allowed.Buildings and structures which cannot support the required level of radio coverage shall be equipped with either a radiating cable system or an internal multiple antenna system with or without FCC-type accepted bidirectional 800 MHz amplifiers as needed. If any part of the installed system or systems contains an electrically powered component, the system shall be capable of operating on an independent battery and/or generator system for a period of at least 12 hours without external power input. The battery system shall charge in the presence of an external power input. If used, bidirectional amplifiers shall include filters to reduce adjacent frequency interference at 35 dB below the NPSPAC band. Settings used should not attenuate the NPSPAC frequencies and further provided that they are not more than one MHz from the NPSPAC frequencies.
§ 903. Testing procedures.
903.1. Acceptance test procedure When an in-building radio system is required, and upon completion of installation, it will be the building owner's responsibility to have the radio system tested to ensure the two-way coverage on each floor of the building is a minimum of 98%. Each floor of the building shall be divided into a grid of approximately 20 equal areas. A maximum of two nonadjacent areas will be allowed to fail the test. In the event that three of the areas fail the test, in order to be more statistically accurate, the floor may be divided in 40 equal areas. In such event, a maximum of four nonadjacent areas will be allowed to fail the test. After the forty-area test, if the system continues to fail, the building owner shall have the system altered to meet the 98% coverage requirement. The test shall be conducted using the most current E.F. Johnson portable radio or its equivalent, available from the Emergency Services Providers or CCDES, as specified by the authority having jurisdiction. A spot located approximately in the center of a grid area will be selected for the test, then the radio will be keyed to verify two-way communications to and from the outside of the building through CCDES. Once the spot has been selected, prospecting for a better spot within the grid area will not be permitted. The gain values of all amplifiers shall be measured and the test measurement results shall be kept on file with the building owner so that the measurements can be verified each year during the annual tests. In the event that the measurements results became lost, the building owner will be required to rerun the acceptance test to reestablish the gain values.
903.2. Annual tests. When an in-building radio system is required, the building owner shall test all active components of the system including but not limited to the amplifiers, power supplies and backup batteries, a minimum of once every 12 months. Amplifiers shall be tested to ensure that the gain is the same as it was upon initial installation and acceptance. Backup batteries and power supplies shall be tested under load for a period of one hour to verify that they will properly operate during an actual power outage. If within the one-hour test period, in the opinion of the testing technician, the batteries exhibit symptoms of failure, the test shall be extended for an additional hour until the testing technician confirms the integrity of the battery. All other active components shall be checked to determine that they area operating within the manufacturer's specifications for the intended purpose.
903.3. Five-year tests. In addition to the annual test, the building owner shall perform a radio coverage test of a minimum of once every five years to ensure to that the radio system continues to meet the requirements of the original acceptance test. The procedure set forth above shall apply to such tests. A copy of accepted tests shall be provided to the CCDES.
§ 904. Field testing.Police, Fire or Code Personnel, after being provided reasonable notice to the owner or his representative, shall have the right to enter onto the property to conduct field testing to be certain that the required levels of radio coverage is present.
§ 905. Exemptions. This section shall not apply to structures of Use Group R-3 and R-4. For the purposes of this section, parking structures and stairwells are included in the definition of "building" and stair shafts are included in the definition of "all parts of a building," but elevators may be excluded.
§ 906. Existing buildings and structures.Any non-exempt building or structure, existing, under construction, or for which a building permit application is pending or has been approved as of the effective date of this section shall comply with the requirements of this section, if CCDES, East Caln Township or the Downingtown Fire Department, determines that adequate radio coverage, as defined in § 800, does not exist in the building or structure. The owner of the building or structure shall be notified in writing of the inadequacy of the coverage and shall have a period of 90 consecutive calendar days from the date of notice to comply with this section, including but not limited to enhancing radio coverage and bringing it within the acceptable limits of this section.