[Derived from Art. XVIII of Ch. V of the Charter and Ordinances, 1974]
[Amended 7-20-2004, effective 8-2-2004]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
JOURNEYMAN PLUMBER
Any person who has served his apprenticeship or learned his trade or handicraft and works at it mostly by the day, week or month, not on his own account, but as a servant or employee of another, and shall include any person who holds himself out to the public as a "journeyman plumber."
MASTER PLUMBER
Any person who has an active certificate of competency issued by the Examining Board of Plumbers and who is principally engaged in and carries on the business of plumbing, as a licensed master plumber in the City of Buffalo.
PLUMBING
All matters relating to the practice, materials, fixtures, equipment, piping, and labor used in the installation of storm sewers and systems, sanitary sewers and systems, the attendant vent system, water supply systems, gas systems; maintenance, extension, and alterations of piping, fixtures, equipment, appliances; cleaning of pipes within or adjacent to any building or structure; also, the laterals from said building or structure up to their connections to the public sanitary, storm, or combined sewer, or any other approved terminals. Plumbing, plumbing systems, equipment, and fixtures shall be designed, installed, and located so that under normal conditions of use such systems and equipment will not be a potential danger to health or welfare and will not create excessive noise or otherwise become a nuisance. Systems, equipment, and fixtures include, but are not limited to, apparatuses, devices, fixtures, piping, hangers, pipe covering, wiring, and fittings, and materials used as part of, or in connection with, such installations. Piping materials and fittings shall be capable of withstanding, without leakage, the pressures exerted on such materials and fittings due to head pressure in the event of a stoppage in any drain or storm line.
[Amended 7-20-2004, effective 8-2-2004]
A. 
No person shall perform any plumbing work as a master plumber and/or journeyman plumber in the City of Buffalo without being licensed as hereinafter provided.
B. 
Any violation of this section shall be deemed to be the commission of an unclassified misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine or penalty of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 60 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, for each such offense.
[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]
Said license shall be in printed form, containing the words:
City of Buffalo
Journeyman Plumber's License
No.
Date
License Fee
License is hereby granted to __________________ to perform plumbing work as a journeyman plumber in the City of Buffalo, pursuant to the Code of said City and the rules and regulations governing the installation of plumbing work in said City.
Expires — December 31, 20____
Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services
[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]
A card containing the wording on the aforesaid license, with blank spaces filled in, shall, at the time of issuance of said license by the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services, be issued to said applicant, who shall carry the same upon his person while in the performance of the plumbing work, and said card shall be exhibited, upon demand, to any policeman or inspector of plumbing of said City or to any owner or agent on any premises upon which said plumber is doing work.
[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]
Any person desiring to obtain a license to perform any plumbing work as a journeyman plumber in the City of Buffalo shall first make application to the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services of said City, upon forms provided by him, giving such details as are required by him. The application shall contain:
A. 
The name, age and address of the applicant.
B. 
A statement of the kind of work the applicant has been engaged in for the past five years.
C. 
A statement of the experience and qualifications of the applicant in the doing of plumbing work.
[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]
Upon the receipt of the aforesaid application, the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall thereafter refer the same to the Examining Board of Plumbers of said City, as now or hereafter constituted, for examination as to the qualifications of the applicant to do plumbing work. The Examining Board of Plumbers shall return to the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services said application, together with a statement of its action thereon.
For the purpose of ascertaining the qualifications of any applicant for a license as journeyman plumber, as herein provided, said Examining Board of Plumbers, before registering said plumber, shall require the applicant to pass a test or examination as to his qualifications to do plumbing work in said City.
[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]
A. 
Every applicant for a license as a journeyman plumber aforesaid, after taking said examination and satisfactorily passing the same, shall be entitled to register his name and address with said Board under rules established by the said Board. Upon so registering, said applicant shall receive a certificate of registration from said Board, which he shall present to the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services before receiving a license from said Director. Upon receiving said certificate of registration, the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services may issue a license to said applicant to perform plumbing work as a journeyman plumber in the City of Buffalo.
B. 
The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall not issue any license, as herein provided, to any applicant therefor unless and until there has been filed in his office said application, together with a statement of the action of the Examining Board of Plumbers and a certificate of registration in the name of the applicant, signed by the Examining Board of Plumbers.
[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]
The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services may revoke any license issued to any person under the provisions of this article for cause after a hearing upon three days' notice to said person.
[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003; 7-20-2004, effective 8-2-2004]
Inspectors of plumbing shall report, in writing, to the Chief Plumbing Inspector in the Division of New Construction, Department of Permit and Inspection Services, the name of any journeyman plumber found installing any plumbing and drainage work in the City of Buffalo without a certificate of registration or a license, as herein required, and said Chief Plumbing Inspector shall then refer the matter to the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services for his action. The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall thereafter inform, in writing, said Chief Plumbing Inspector of the result of any action taken by him as aforesaid against any such unlicensed journeyman plumber.
[Amended 5-22-1995, effective 6-2-1995]
The fee for a journeyman plumber's license and the fee for each renewal of said license shall be as provided in Chapter 175, Fees. Each said license shall expire biennially on the 31st day of December following the issuance of said license and shall be renewable thereafter biennially on the 31st day of December. The Examining Board of Plumbers shall charge a fee as provided in Chapter 175, Fees, for each examination, as provided by this article.
[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]
Every holder of a valid license hereunder shall, prior to December 31, make application to the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services for a renewal of the same. No renewal of said license shall be granted by the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services unless the applicant presents with his application for a renewal of license, a certificate of registration obtained from the Examining Board of Plumbers of said City. The renewal of said license shall be in the discretion of the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services, who may for a reasonable length of time stay the renewal thereof pending investigation of any complaints or charges made against the said applicant. No rebate of any portion of said annual renewal, however, shall be allowed pending such stay of license.