Article IV Plumbing

Any person or persons, firm or corporation engaged or engaging in the business of plumbing or house drainage in Malvern Borough shall pay for each registration a fee established by resolution from time to time, by the Borough of Malvern.

[Amended 8-16-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-4[1]]

[1]

Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Subsection A(2) and C(2), pertaining to fees for journeyman plumbers.

Expiration of licenses. At the expiration of each calendar year, said certificate or license shall be null and void. A licensed master plumber and/or journeyman plumber desiring to continue in or work at the business of plumbing and building drainage for the ensuing year shall, before the 31st day of December of each year, surrender said certificate or license for the current year to the Borough and reregister his, their or its name or names and business or home address upon such forms or form as may from time to time be furnished by said Borough.

Reregistration.

§ 89-22 Notice of change of place of business or retirement.

For reregistration, unless the licensed master plumber shall have failed to make application for reregistration at the specified time, master plumbers, firms or corporations continuing to have a bona fide place of business in this commonwealth shall be reregistered upon surrendering the certificate of registration for the then current year and paying the fee established by resolution from time to time, by the Borough of Malvern.

[Amended 8-16-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-4[2]]

[2]

Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Subsection A(2) and C(2), pertaining to fees for journeyman plumbers.

Registration for institutions, etc. A person certified as competent by the Board of Examiners of any township or municipality of this commonwealth may be registered as a master plumber for the care, alteration or addition of the drainage system of a designated manufacturing or mercantile establishment, institution, hotel, etc., where it is necessary to have a continual service of a master plumber, and receive a certificate of registry, but in no case shall a person be permitted to do any plumbing or drainage work in any building or buildings other than that for which he is registered unless he has first secured a place of business.

Certificates may be revoked. The certificate of registry granted under this article may be suspended or revoked by the Borough Council when a master plumber, firm or corporation, or the registered representative thereof, shall refuse or neglect to make the necessary correction to work not approved by the Plumbing Inspector within a reasonable time after notification thereof or who shall permit the use of his, their or its name by a person or persons for the purpose of obtaining a permit or permits to do plumbing and drainage work.

Prohibition. No person, firm or corporation carrying on the business of plumbing and building drainage shall allow his or their name to be used by any person directly or indirectly, either to obtain a permit or permits or do any work under his or their license.

§ 89-21 Applications; register.

Applications. Any person or persons desiring to engage in the business or work of plumbing and buildings drainage in this Borough shall apply in writing to the Borough Council for such certificate or license; and after providing satisfactory evidence of the right to certification required by this article, the same shall be certified by the Borough Council, which shall thereupon issue a certificate or license to such persons, which shall, for the period of one calendar year, or fractional part thereof, next ensuing date of such examination, entitle him or them to engage in or work at the business of plumbing and house drainage.

Register. A register of all such applicants and the license of certificates issued shall be kept in said department, which said register shall be open to the inspection of all persons interested therein.

[Amended 8-16-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-4[1]]

[1]

Editor's Note: This ordinance renumbered former Subsection C as Subsection B and repealed former Subsection B, Bonding.

Every registered master plumber, firm or corporation shall give immediate notice of any change in his, their or its place of business; and upon his, their or its retirement from business or upon his, their or its failure to continue to actively engage in the business of plumbing shall surrender his, their or its certificate of registry to the Borough Council. Every person, firm, corporation or representative thereof, in registering, shall give the full name or names of the person, firm or officers' names of the corporation which he or they shall register.

§ 89-23 Plans and specifications; fees.

[Amended 5-5-1992 by Ord. No. 92-3]

Plan and specification approval required.

No plumbing except minor repairs shall be installed, altered, renewed, replaced or repaired unless a permit, as set forth in Subsection D of this section, has been first obtained from the Plumbing Inspector. The permit shall be posted on the job in a conspicuous place. The plumbing shall be executed in accordance with plans and specifications approved in writing by the Plumbing Inspector.

For purposes of this subsection, "minor repairs" shall mean the repairing of an existing plumbing fixture, including the replacement of faucets or valves or parts thereof with like material or material serving the same purpose; the clearance of stoppages; the stopping of leaks, without replacement of water drainage or vent piping; the relieving of frozen pipes; and other minor replacements or repairs designated as "minor repairs" by the Plumbing Inspector, but not including changes in the piping to the fixtures or in drainage, vent or water-supply systems other than those specially mentioned in this subsection, and not including the replacing of any plumbing fixture. Any minor repair which involves a new fixture and/or fitting shall comply with the performance standards of § 89-26. A permit shall be required for such repair work, and the permit applicant must establish compliance with § 89-26 before a permit will be issued. All replaced and/or repaired fixtures and/or fittings shall be subject to inspection by the Plumbing Inspector.

Notwithstanding any other subsection, this article shall not prevent a person from installing the necessary sewer pipes from the buildings on his property to the designated lateral on the sewer system. Prior to the installation of any pipes, the person shall obtain a permit as set forth in Subsection D of this section. However, he will not have to pay a registration fee as set forth in § 89-20A.

(4)

For purposes of this subsection, "sewer system" shall mean the public sewer system that is presently in under construction within the Borough.

(5)

No special equipment of any description for a hospital or institution of similar character, manufacturing establishment, chemical laboratory or other laboratory or any place where special equipment is required which necessitates connections with the vent pipes or the general drainage system of a building shall be installed until plans of the proposed installation shall be submitted to and approved by the Plumbing Inspector.

Plan requirements.

There shall be a separate plan placed on file in the office of the Borough for each building, public or private, or any addition thereto or alterations thereof, accompanied by specifications describing the drainage of said buildings on the blanks prescribed and furnished for this purpose, showing the location, size and kind of pipes, traps, closets and fixtures to be used and must show partitions and method of ventilating water closet compartments. Plans must be drawn legibly in ink, and old work shall be shown in red ink. All applications for changes in plans must be made in writing.

In replacing any fixtures, unless a minor repair, as defined in Subsection A of this section, the master plumber shall file application for replacement before starting work.

Plans filed for the correction of any complaint must designate the approximate time for the completion thereof.

Drainage plans and specifications.

Blanks for drawings and specifications for drainage will be furnished, on application, at the Borough office. One vertical drawing will be sufficient for a building where it can be made to show all the work; if the work is intricate and cannot be shown on one drawing, two or more shall be made.

A plot plan showing the location of the building, together with the building sewer, and all drainage piping of every description connected with the sanitary drainage system shall in all cases be submitted.

When plans have been prepared by registered architects and engineers showing all drainage, venting, piping and fixture location in a manner satisfactory to the Plumbing Inspector, these plans and specifications may be submitted for approval with the necessary application blank furnished for this purpose.

Approval of plan.

A permit of approval will be issued in writing when a plan is deemed satisfactory by the Plumbing Inspector.

§ 89-25 Adoption of plumbing standards; amendments and insertions.

Under no circumstances whatever shall a verbal approval or permission given by anyone be considered a justification for any deviation from the approved plans or the violation of any of the rules and regulations governing building drainage.

Fees. Fees shall be established from time to time by resolution of Borough Council.

§ 89-24 Supervision and inspection.

It shall be the duty of the Plumbing Inspector to supervise, superintend and inspect all plumbing and house drainage in conformity with the provisions of the ordinances and the rules and regulations of the Borough of Malvern.

Drainage, sewerage or plumbing work must not be covered or concealed in any manner until after it is inspected and approved by the Plumbing Inspector. Notice must be given said Plumbing Inspector upon blanks to be furnished by him when the work is sufficiently advanced for inspection, when it shall be the duty of the proper officer to inspect the same within one working day after receipt of said notice.

[Amended 10-16-1990 by Ord. No. 90-8; 4-16-1996 by Ord. No. 96-8]

The model plumbing regulations (BOCA Plumbing Code), entitled "BOCA National Plumbing Code, Ninth Edition, 1993," published by the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc., are hereby adopted, as amended and supplemented pursuant to this section.

The BOCA Plumbing Code, adopted hereby, is changed and/or completed as follows:

In § P-101.1 insert "The Borough of Malvern" in place of "[Name of Jurisdiction]."

Section P-113.2 is deleted and replaced with the following:

P-113.2 Fee Schedule: The permit fees for all plumbing work, inspections and reviews shall be paid in accordance with § 89-23E of the Code of the Borough of Malvern, Pennsylvania, Ordinance No. 254.

§ 89-26 Water conservation performance standards for new plumbing fixtures and fittings.

Section P-116.4 is deleted and replaced with the following:

P-116.4 Penalties: Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this Code shall be subject to the fines and penalties established by the Code of the Borough of Malvern, Pennsylvania (Ordinance No. 254), Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation and/or offense.

(4)

Section P-117.2 is deleted and replaced with the following:

P-117.2 Unlawful continuance: Any person who continues any plumbing work in or about the structure after having been served with a stop-work order, except such work as that person is directed by the Code Official to perform to remove a violation or unsafe condition, shall be liable for the fines and penalties established by the Code of the Borough of Malvern, Pennsylvania, (Ordinance No. 254), Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty, and each day such work continues shall be a separate violation and/or offense.

(5)

Section P-121.2 is deleted and replaced with the following:

P-121.2 Appeals Board: The Borough Council of the Borough of Malvern, Chester County, Pennsylvania, shall function as a Code Appeals Board which shall hear all appeals filed pursuant to § P-121.1 and may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or modify the decision appealed from and may make such order or determination as, in the opinion of the Board, ought to be made. Failure to secure such concurring vote shall be deemed a confirmation of the decision of the Code Official. The decision shall be made part of the minutes of the meeting.

(6)

Sections P-121.2.1, P-121.2.2, P-121.2.3, P-121.2.5, P-121.3, P-121.4.1, P-121.5, P-121.6 and P-121.6.1 are deleted.

(7)

In § P-304.3, insert "159" in place of "[NUMBER]."

(8)

In § P-309.4, insert "[3] feet [0] inches" in place of "[NUMBER] feet [NUMBER] inches."

(9)

In § P-309.5, insert "[36]" at both "[NUMBER]" locations in the section.

All other ordinances or parts of ordinances are hereby repealed to the extent that they conflict with the regulations adopted by this section and such regulations are more restrictive.

Nothing in this section or in the model regulations adopted hereby shall be construed to affect any suit or proceeding pending in any court, or any rights acquired, or liability incurred, or any cause or causes of action acquired or existing, under any act or ordinance hereby repealed or exchanged pursuant to Subsection C hereof.

[Added 5-5-1992 by Ord. No. 92-3]

Use of nonconforming fixtures and fittings prohibited. No water supplied from the Borough public water supply system shall be used or drawn through any plumbing fixture or fitting, installed after the adoption of these regulations, unless such fixtures and/or fitting complies with all the requirements of this section. These regulations apply to both internal and external water use and/or consumption for any and all residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, institutional or governmental uses and/or by any Borough water user or customer for any purpose.

Water conservation performance standards. All new (including replacement) plumbing fixtures and fittings shall perform in accordance with the following minimum water conservation performance standards:

Water closets and associated flushing mechanisms. The water consumption of any water closet shall not exceed an average of 1.5 gallons per flush cycle over a range of test pressures from 20 to 80 pounds per square inch (psi). All such fixtures and fittings shall perform according to the test requirements of the ANSI A112.19.2M and ANSI A112.19.6M.

Urinals and associated flushing mechanisms. The water consumption of any urinal and associated flushing mechanisms shall not exceed an average of 1.5 gallons per flush cycle over a range of test pressures from 20 to 80 pounds per square inch (psi). All such fixtures and associated mechanisms shall perform according to the test requirements of ANSI A112.19.2M and ANSI A112.19.6M.