[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the City of Bordentown 3-8-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-6.] Amendments noted
where applicable.]
Pursuant to Section 11 of the Uniform Fire Safety
Act (P.L. 1983, c. 383),[1] the New Jersey Uniform Fire Code (N.J.A.C. 5:18-1 et seq.)
shall be locally enforced in the City of Bordentown.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 52:27D-202.
The local enforcing agency shall be known as
the "Bureau of Fire Prevention, Fire District No. 1."
A.
The local enforcing agency shall enforce the Uniform
Fire Code in all buildings, structures and premises within the established
boundaries of the City of Bordentown, other than one- and two-unit
owneroccupied dwellings used exclusively for dwelling purposes, and
buildings, structures and premises owned or operated by the federal
government, interstate agencies or the state.
A.
The Bureau of Fire Prevention named in § 162-2 of this chapter shall be administered and supervised by a Fire Official who shall provide quarterly status reports to the Board of Engineers, City of Bordentown as to inspections and related Fire Code matters within the city.
B.
The Board of Engineers shall then provide annual reports
to the City Commissioners as to the status of the operation of the
local enforcing agency and shall make periodic recommendations, as
necessary, as to technical amendments, fees and the continuation of
the interlocal services agreement with the local enforcing agency.
A.
Appointment and qualifications of Fire Official. The
Fire Official shall be certified by the state and appointed by the
Bureau of Fire Prevention, District No. 1, subject to the interlocal
services agreement.
B.
Appointment and qualifications of inspectors and other
employees. Inspectors and other employees of the enforcing agency
shall be appointed by the Bureau of Fire Prevention, District No.
1, upon the recommendation of the Fire Official, subject to the interlocal
services agreement. All life hazard use inspectors must be certified
by the state.
C.
Term of office. The term shall be set by the Bureau
of Fire Prevention, District No. 1, subject to the city's right of
withdrawal contained in the interlocal services agreement referenced
herein.
D.
Removal from office. The Fire Official, inspectors
and other employees of the agency shall be subject to removal from
city service either upon the Board of Commissioners' approval of the
recommendation of the Board of Engineers that the city withdraw from
the interlocal services agreement or upon the decision of the Board
of Commissioners that such removal is in the city's best interests.
The Bureau of Fire Prevention established by § 162-2 of this chapter shall carry out, through the Fire Official, the periodic inspections of life hazard uses required by the Uniform Construction Code on behalf of the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
A.
In addition to the inspections and fees required pursuant
to the Uniform Fire Safety Act[1] and the New Jersey Uniform Fire Code, as modified, the
following additional inspections and fees shall be required:[2]
(1)
Commercial uses not classified as life hazard uses
shall be inspected once a year. Such uses shall pay an annual registration
fee as contained in the Schedule of Fees and Deposits. These uses
include but are not limited to the following:
(a)
Retail stores.
(b)
Offices.
(c)
Restaurants, food concessions and soup kitchens.
(d)
Marine motor craft service and indoor storage
uses.
(e)
Small engine service uses.
(f)
Indoor motor vehicle storage uses.
(g)
Day care and day nurseries providing service
to fewer than six children.
(h)
Prekindergarten and early childhood education
programs, including "Head Start," operated by public and private schools.
(i)
Any establishment, such as a health club or
bowling alley, that provides a baby-sitting service for children of
its patrons.
(j)
Overnight camps providing service to fewer than
six children.
(k)
Hotels and motels having fewer than 100 guest
rooms and fewer than two stories and with access to the rooms being
from the exterior of the building.
(l)
Residences for members of religious orders.
(m)
Firehouses.
(n)
Dry cleaning, coin-operated dry cleaning and
laundromats.
(o)
Car washes.
(p)
Unoccupied industrial buildings.
(q)
Municipal jail having fewer than six cells.
(r)
Medical, dental and oral surgery offices.
(s)
Drive-in theaters.
(t)
Garden supply stores and plant nurseries.
(u)
Public and private outdoor athletic facilities
having open bleachers.
(v)
Bingo halls.
(w)
Amusement rides.
(x)
Truck service stations, truck repair stations
and truck stops.
(y)
Bakeries.
(z)
Woodworking shops.
(2)
Garden apartments shall be inspected once a year.
Such uses shall pay an annual registration fee as contained in the
Schedule of Fees and Deposits for each building inspected.
(3)
Mobile home parks shall be inspected once a year.
Such uses shall pay an annual registration fee as contained in the
Schedule of Fees and Deposits for the first two mobile homes and an
additional fee as contained in the Schedule of Fees and Deposits for
each mobile home in excess of two.
(4)
Warehouses not classified as life hazard uses shall
be inspected once a year. Such uses shall pay an annual registration
fee as contained in the Schedule of Fees and Deposits for each 50,000
square feet of interior space or fraction thereof.
(5)
Hotels, motels, boardinghouses, buildings containing
three or more apartments and similar buildings used to provide sleeping
accommodations to travelers and not for permanent residence shall
be inspected once every five years. Such uses shall pay an inspection
fee at the time of the inspection as contained in the Schedule of
Fees and Deposits, per unit.
(6)
Self storage facilities providing individual storage
spaces for furniture and household goods shall be inspected once a
year. Such uses shall pay an annual registration fee as contained
in the Schedule of Fees and Deposits for every 50 units or fraction
thereof.
(7)
The Bureau will provide copies of investigation reports
to property owners or their insurance carriers for a fee as contained
in the Schedule of Fees and Deposits. Copies of photographs or other
documents will be provided at cost, plus a handling fee as contained
in the Schedule of Fees and Deposits.
(8)
Change of use of occupancy. Whenever there is a proposed
change in the use and/or occupancy of a building, structure or premises
used for other than residential use, the owner or owner's authorized
agent shall request a Fire Code compliance inspection prior to the
proposed change in use or occupancy. The fee for the certificate of
inspection and compliance to be issued after the inspection shall
be as contained in the Schedule of Fees and Deposits.
B.
Uses not classified above that are subject to the
Uniform Fire Code will be classified as business uses.
C.
Uses required to register with the state as life hazard
uses shall not be required to register under this section.
D.
In the discretion of the Fire Official, vacant buildings
will be charged and inspected according to the previous use of the
building.
E.
All residential uses except R-A uses shall be inspected
in the common areas only.
F.
The Board of Engineers shall recommend, as necessary,
increases and/or modifications in fees for inspections for non-life
hazard uses in its reports to the Board of Commissioners.
A.
The application fees for the permits listed in N.J.A.C.
5:18-2.7(b) shall be as provided by state regulation and are currently
as follows:
|
Type
|
Fee
|
|---|---|
|
1
|
$29.00
|
|
2
|
$115.00
|
|
3
|
$230.00
|
|
4
|
$345.00
|
|
5
|
$1,150.00
|
The following provisions are adopted as local
amendments of the technical standards of the State Fire Code, N.J.A.C.
5:18-1.1 et seq., provided that none of the following provisions shall
require a building which complies with the Uniform Construction Code
to comply with more restrictive requirements than those found in the
Uniform Construction Code. The Board of Engineers shall recommend,
as necessary, modifications and/or additions to these technical amendments
in its reports to the Board of Commissioners.
A.
Salvage burning prohibited. The burning of insulation
from wire or motors for the purpose of salvage is prohibited. The
burning of any type of vehicle is prohibited.
B.
Dumpsters. Dumpsters shall not be located closer than
25 feet to any building, except where it is physically impossible.
A decision shall be made by the Fire Official, taking into account
any approved site plan for the property.
C.
Fire debris removal. Fire debris shall be removed
from any public way, including sidewalks, streets, alleys and driveways,
within 20 days of the fire incident.
D.
Outside storage. The outside storage of combustible
or flammable materials shall not be more than 20 feet in height and
shall be compact and orderly. Such storage shall be located as not
to constitute a hazard and not less than 15 feet from any other building
on the site or from a lot line.
E.
Driveway accessibility. Parking in access driveways
is prohibited.
F.
Erroneous signs prohibited. All signs which erroneously
identify the use of occupancy of a building or structure shall be
removed on order of the Fire Official.
G.
Numbering of buildings. All buildings other than use
group R-3 (one- and two-family dwellings) shall conspicuously display
their street address number with a minimum size figure of three inches.
The numbers must be clearly visible at all times from the center of
the street.
H.
Recharging suppression system. It is the responsibility
of the owner of the suppression system and the agency called to service
the system to notify the Fire Official when a system has been discharged.
No suppression system shall be recharged without an inspection by
the Fire Official or his representative.
I.
Extinguishers. All hand-operated portable fire extinguishing
equipment shall be selected, distributed, inspected, maintained, tested
and recharged in accordance with NFPA 10; except that fire extinguishers
shall be wall-mounted so the top of the unit is not more than 48 inches
above the finished floor. The Fire Official shall survey all buildings
except single-family and multifamily dwelling units and shall specify
suitable manual fire-extinguishing equipment to be installed.
J.
Disapproved fire extinguishers. Soda acid, foam-loaded
stream, antifreeze and water portable fire extinguishers of the inverting
type or nonapproved vaporizing-liquid extinguishers or devices of
any type shall not be recharged or placed in service for fire protection
use. Extinguishers of these types shall not be considered approved
for fire protection use under the provisions of this code and shall
immediately be removed from service.
K.
Fire escape restraining device. All fire escapes with
a movable lower section, other than counter-balance stairs, shall
be equipped with a quick release immediately upon activation. Any
rope, wire or chain on an existing movable section of a fire escape
intended to be used to return the movable section to the "ready" position
shall be removed.
L.
Prohibited door hardware. Draw bolts, slide bolts,
barrel bolts, surface bolts, flush bolts, hook hasp and padlocks and
key-operated deadbolts from the egress side are prohibited on all
egress doors. All such locking devices shall be removed and the egress
door hardware made to conform with approved egress hardware. Exception:
Draw bolts, hooks and key-operated deadbolts are permitted on egress
doors of dwelling units, provided that the key cannot be removed when
the door is locked from the side from which egress is to be made.
M.
Door obstruction. Egress doors shall not be used for
the display of any advertising signs whatsoever. Egress doors shall
not be decorated in any way that would obscure or confuse the purpose
of the door. The posting of the words: Entrance, Exit, In, Out, Push
and Pull and the street address, as well as business hours, are permitted
on egress doors as long as they do not obstruct the door.
N.
Door identification. The Fire Official may require
the labeling or identification of any door that leads to a hazardous
area, such as a boiler room, furnace room, mechanical room, electrical
equipment room or flammable store room. The Fire Official may also
require other doors to be labeled or identified, such as main electrical
service, alarm panel room, gas meter or store room. Sidewalk doors
to a below-grade space which does not have steps shall be labeled
with the word "shaftway" with a minimum of four-inch letters.
O.
Dispensing of combustible fuels. Combustible fuels
such as kerosene and diesel fuel shall not be dispensed from dispensing
units located in the same island location as gasoline or other flammable
fuel dispensing units. Combustible fuel dispensing units shall be
a distinctively different color from flammable fuel dispensing units
and shall be clearly labeled with the name of the fuel dispensed.
The Construction Official shall forward a copy of all plans received
for the construction or alteration of fuel dispensing facilities to
the appropriate Fire Official for review and approval prior to the
issuance of a construction permit. The standards set forth for the
dispensing of combustible fuels shall become effective upon adoption
of this chapter for all fuel dispensing facilities to be constructed
or modified thereafter.
P.
Prohibited outdoor cooking devices. The use of portable
or mobile cooking devices such as propane stoves and charcoal grills
is prohibited in all residential use groups other than the R-3 use
group. This prohibition applies to the use of the described cooking
devices within and above the foundation of each R-3 use group building
and within an area 15 feet from the foundation or perimeter of each
R-3 use group building.
Q.
Fire lane parking enforcement. Parking of vehicles
or otherwise obstructing areas designated and marked as fire lanes
is prohibited. The fire lane regulations shall be jointly enforced
by the Police Department and the Fire Officials and Fire Inspectors
of the respective Fire Districts. Any person found to have violated
this paragraph shall be liable to a penalty of not more than $50 or
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days, or both.
Pursuant to Sections 15 and 17 of the Uniform
Fire Safety Act,[1] any person aggrieved by any action of the local enforcing
agency shall have the right to appeal to the local construction board
of appeals. If no such body exists, appeals shall be made to the County
Construction Board of Appeals.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 52:27D-206 and
52:27D-208, respectively.
Enforcement, violations and penalties shall
be managed in conformity with the Uniform Fire Safety Act,[1] the Uniform Fire Code and all other laws of the State
of New Jersey.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 52:27D-192 et
seq.
All existing ordinances of the City of Bordentown which are inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter are hereby repealed, specifically, but not limited to, those inconsistent provisions of Chapter 162.[1] This chapter shall become effective upon passage and publication
as required by law.
[1]
Editor's Note: This reference is to former
Ch. 162, Firesafety, adopted 12-23-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-18, as amended.
