[Adopted as Title 12, Ch. 12.08, §§ 12.08.200 through 12.08.240, of the 1986 Code; amended in its entirety 2-24-2004]
A. 
General.
(1) 
The Commissioner shall have control of the supervision and inspection of electrical wiring; and shall appoint a senior inspector, who shall supervise, correlate and direct the enforcement of all laws, ordinances, rules and regulations related thereto.
(2) 
All materials, fittings, devices and apparatus which are used in electrical wiring shall be so assembled as to be suitable both mechanically and electrically for the purpose for which they are to be used. Such materials, fittings, and apparatus shall bear the label of a recognized testing laboratory, or may be approved by the Commissioner as conforming to the standard of Underwriters' Laboratories.
(3) 
Electrical wiring shall include the wires, raceways, apparatus, fittings, devices and fixtures within a building or structure, or relating thereto, for carrying or using electricity for light, heat or power purposes, except in county, state and federal buildings, and in stations, substations, vaults and primary supply equipment where such are under the sole control of the supply company.
(4) 
Electrical wiring and electrical fixtures or devices used for light, heat or power in buildings and structures subject to the provisions of MGL c. 143, §§ 8 to 60, inclusive, as amended, shall be installed, repaired and maintained in accordance with the rules and regulations made in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 617 of the Acts of 1950 and Chapter 576 of the Acts of 1951 by the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations in the Department of Public Safety, as amended. (See MGL c. 143, § 3L, as provided by Chapter 617 of the Acts of 1950, as amended.)
(5) 
These ordinances shall not apply to federal buildings and stations, substations, vaults, and primary supply equipment where such are under the sole control of public utility supply companies.
B. 
Permits.
(1) 
No person, firm or corporation shall receive a permit to install, repair or remove any electrical wiring unless such person, firm, or corporation shall have received a license and certificate from the State Examiners of Electricians in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 141 of the General Laws, as amended, and shall have said license registered with the Department.
(2) 
No person, firm or corporation shall install, alter, repair or remove any electrical wiring without first making application to the Department and receiving a permit. Therefore, such an application shall be on a form approved by the Commissioner and shall contain all information necessary to describe the work which is to be performed.
(3) 
If it shall appear from said application that all applicable laws, ordinances, rules and regulations have been or will be complied with, a permit shall be granted authorizing such installation, alterations, repair or removal.
(4) 
For the maintenance of the electrical wiring in an establishment, or in a power plant other than that of an electric utility, where a licensed master electrician is engaged or where a licensed electrician is employed regularly on the premises, a maintenance permit may be issued for a stated period, which shall not exceed one year. For new work in such an establishment or power plant, Subsection A of this section shall also apply.
C. 
Inspections.
(1) 
When work is completed or ready for inspection, the Department shall be notified immediately, and a time shall be set for an inspection. Electrical wiring shall not be lathed in, covered nor concealed from view until approved by an inspector of wiring.
(2) 
Upon receiving notice that any electrical wiring is completed or ready for inspections, the Department shall act thereon with two working days. The Department may require the person who did the work to be present during inspection or to submit a detailed description of the work performed. If, upon inspection, the work is found to be defective, all defects shall be remedied within 10 days after notice from the Department. If the work is found to comply with the requirements of this article, a certificate of approval, upon request, shall be issued by the Department.
(3) 
The Commissioner, or his duly authorized representative, may inspect electrical wiring at any reasonable hour; and if he finds it unsafe in relation to life, fire or explosion, he shall notify the owner, or any person having an interest therein, to remedy all defects within 10 days. If said defects are not remedied with 10 days, the Commissioner may order the service or any part thereof discontinued or otherwise render the system inoperative. Electrical wiring so discontinued shall be conspicuously tagged at the meter location. Such an installation, if disconnected, shall not be reconnected to the service, or have the current turned on, without the written approval of the Commissioner, or until a meter permit has been issued by the Department.
(4) 
Inspections of wiring installations will not be scheduled or made unless a permit has been issued by the Department.
D. 
Meter and current.
(1) 
A meter shall not be installed, nor a current of electricity be connected with an electrical wiring system, until a written permit has been obtained from the Department.
(2) 
The Department may issue a permit for the temporary connection of a current of electricity to certain specified circuits or parts of an installation. A temporary permit may be also granted for a wiring system before completion of same within or on a building or other structure. A temporary permit shall not be transferable and may be renewed or cancelled at the discretion of the Commissioner.
(3) 
Where the use of service has been discontinued or a change of use of the electrical wiring has occurred, the electrical wiring system shall not be used again until a certificate or reinspection has been issued, if in the opinion of the Commissioner such a reinspection is necessary.
(4) 
If electrical work to be done under any electrical permit issued by the Department has not received a final inspection within a reasonable time for completion, the Commissioner shall notify the owner in writing that if the work has not been satisfactorily completed and inspected within 30 days, the service to said building or structure shall be discontinued. If, at the end of the thirty-day period, the work has not been satisfactorily completed, the Commissioner shall order the service discontinued.
(5) 
A meter shall be located in a readily accessible place, but not in a bathroom, bedroom, living room, kitchen, private hall, pantry, closet, or a required means of egress.
(6) 
Each switch, meter, device, or panel board shall be permanently marked with the name plate or painted lettering to identify the load which it supplies, and each branch circuit over current device shall be clearly identified with the branch circuit which it supplies.
(7) 
Only one meter shall be allowed for each legal space as determined by the Department through appropriate codes, regulations and ordinances. Exception: Separate meters for voltage or phase characteristics shall be allowed; except that for this purpose 120/208 volt three-phase, four-wire and 120/230 volt single-phase, three-wire systems shall be considered as the same.
(8) 
Residential one- and two-family dwellings shall be allowed an owner's meter/service only when all common areas and related common building wiring are supplied by the owner's meter/service at the time of inspection and approval of the owner's meter/service.
(9) 
Separate residential garage services must receive approval of the Department and inspector of wires.
E. 
Damaged buildings.
(1) 
Any wiring, electrical equipment or apparatus subjected to fire, water, heat or smoke damages shall be replaced.
(2) 
Exception: where an approved testing contractor cleans and tests wiring, electrical equipment or apparatus to three times its normal operating values or wiring, electrical equipment or apparatus meets the manufacturer's original requirements and is certified by the contractor to the Department in writing.
F. 
Existing buildings. The Department shall consider to be "new work" any wall, room or space which has been stripped to the structure or which will be recovered with new building materials such as gypsum-board, plaster, wood, etc. (For this purpose, paint and wallpaper are not considered building materials.)
An application, specification and plan submitted for a building permit for construction on or within 200 feet of a former or active dump site, refuse disposal site, sanitary landfill site, or land reclamation site containing organic matter shall be accompanied by a certificate from a competent professional engineer acceptable to the Commissioner to attest that said application and specification conform to safe and acceptable standards as may pertain to the elimination and/or control of any hazardous or unwholesome gaseous vapors.
The present existing structure of the Board of Appeals duly enacted by the City shall remain in effect:
A. 
Appointment. The Board of Appeals established under the provisions of Section 2 of Chapter 349 of the Acts of 1910, as amended by Chapter 243 of the Acts of 1945, shall consist of three members to be appointed by the Mayor. One member shall be representative of the building trade unions or a builder; one shall be either a registered architect or registered professional engineer; and one shall be an attorney-at-law. There shall also be six associate members to be appointed by the Mayor. Two associate members shall be representative of the building trade unions or builders; two shall be either registered architects or registered professional engineers; and two shall be attorneys-at-law. When a member is disqualified or absent, an associate member of like qualification to the disqualified or absent member shall serve. All members and associate members shall have had at least five years' experience in their respective vocations.
B. 
Term of office. The appointment of members first made under Chapter 12.04 and this article shall be for the term of one, two or three years, respectively, so that the term of one member shall expire each year. All subsequent appointments of members shall be for the term of three years. The appointment of associate members first made under Chapter 12.04 and this article shall be for the term of one, two or three years, respectively, so that the term of one associate member shall expire each year. All subsequent appointments of associate members shall be for the term of three years.
A. 
Building district. The entire territory comprised within the City limits as the same now is or may be established is designated as the building district under authority of Chapter 126 of the Acts of 1873.
B. 
Fire districts. For the purposes of Chapter 12.04 and this article, there shall be established fire districts or zones which shall be known as the "inner fire district" and "general fire districts."
(1) 
Inner fire district. This district comprises the area within the following boundaries: beginning at the intersection of the center line of Union Street extended with the east bank of the Connecticut River, thence extending northerly along the east bank of said river to the center line of Sergeant Street extended; thence continuing easterly on the center line of Sergeant Street extended and the center line of Sergeant Street to the center line of Main Street; thence continuing easterly on the center line of Carew Street to the center line of Chestnut Street; thence continuing southerly on the center line of Chestnut Street and Maple Street to the center line of Union Street; thence continuing westerly on the center line of Union Street and the center line of Union Street extended to the point of beginning.
(2) 
General fire district. Such districts shall comprise the entire areas of the Business A, Business B, and Business C Districts not included in inner fire district, Commercial A and Residence-Office Districts or zones as the same now are or may be established by the Zoning Ordinance.
A. 
Restrictions.
(1) 
A projecting marquee that extends into or over a public way more than 12 inches shall be subject to the regulations provided in § 175-25.
(2) 
A projecting marquee may project beyond the street line within 12 inches of the outside face of the curb, but no part shall be located less than 10 feet nor more than 18 feet above the curb.
B. 
Supports and attachment. A projecting marquee shall be assembled and attached to a building or other structure in such a manner so as not to be or become dangerous to property or persons. It shall safely support its own weight plus a superimposed uniformly distributed live load of 30 pounds per square foot in addition to any concentrated loads to which it may be subject.
C. 
Protection.
(1) 
A projecting marquee shall not discharge water, snow, or ice into the street.
(2) 
The roof, if glazed, shall be glazed with safely supported wire glass that is not less than 1/4 of an inch in thickness.
D. 
Permits and bonds.
(1) 
Application.
(a) 
Except as otherwise provided, a person, firm or corporation shall not place or maintain a sign or marquee that projects into or over a public way more than 12 inches without furnishing and signing a bond and securing a permit as provided in this section. This section, however, shall not apply to a sign or marquee that projects into or over a public way 12 inches or less; nor to pole wires, conduits and appurtenances of railroad, railway, telegraph, water, gas, electric, heat and power companies.
(b) 
The provisions of this section, except as to safety, shall not be so construed as to compel the alteration or removal of any sign or marquee that was legally erected prior to the passage of the ordinance codified in Chapter 12.04 and this article.
(2) 
Permits.
(a) 
A permit for the placing and maintaining of such a sign or marquee shall not be issued until the plans for same have been approved by the Commissioner, nor until the applicant for such a permit has filed with the City Treasurer a bond conforming to the provisions of this section.
(b) 
An application for such a permit shall set forth the purposes for which such a sign or marquee is to be used and the manner in which it will project into or over the public way, and shall describe accurately in writing, and by drawings made to scale, the design and construction of the sign or marquee and the method of its attachment to a building or other structure.
[1] 
Drawings shall be submitted in triplicate and, when approved by the Commissioner, one copy shall be retained by him, one shall be returned to the applicant, and one shall be filed with the City Treasurer.
(3) 
Bonds.
(a) 
A bond required by provisions of this section for a sign or marquee shall be satisfactory to the City Treasurer, and shall be duly executed by the applicant and a surety company that is qualified to do a surety company business in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The bond shall indemnify the City against any and all claims for personal injury or damage to property that in any way results from such a sign or marquee. It is further stipulated that the person, firm or corporation who or which owns such a sign or marquee shall also pay all judgments and damages that result from or arise out of the collision with or falling of such a sign or marquee.
(b) 
The sum of the bond, or bonds, for each projecting sign or other advertising device shall be $5,000 for each 200 square feet or fraction thereof of the combined face areas.
(c) 
The sum of the bond for each projecting marquee shall be $10,000 for one foot up to and including 10 feet in length, plus $3,000 for each additional 10 feet in length or fraction thereof.
(d) 
The clerk of a firm or corporation shall furnish, in addition to the required bond, a copy of the minutes of the meeting or certificate of vote which authorizes the signee to place his signature on the applications and bond.
(4) 
License. The granting of a permit under the provisions of this section shall not relieve the applicant, owner, or agent of procuring from the Director of the Department of Public Works a license to occupy or use a portion of a public way in the City under the provisions of Chapter 369 of the Acts of 1911. A person, firm, or corporation who or which has procured a permit from the Commissioner under the provisions of this section shall not erect a sign or marquee until and unless a license to occupy or use a portion of a public street in the City has been granted by the Director of the Department of Public Works and the fee for such license, as determined by said Director, has been paid.
(5) 
Permit not transferable. A permit which was issued under this section shall not be transferable. If an owner of a projecting sign or marquee transfers ownership of such a sign or marquee to a new owner, the new owner shall, within 10 days, furnish and sign a bond and secure a permit as required in this section. Upon transfer of ownership, the former owner shall at once notify the Commissioner in writing of such transfer, giving the name and address of the new owner and the date of the transfer; and the former owner and his surety shall remain liable after such transfer for maintenance of such sign or marquee until the new owner has obtained a new permit from the Commissioner under this section. The City Treasurer, after such new permit has been granted, shall obtain from the City Solicitor a statement that no claims or suits are pending against the City arising out of the erection or maintenance of such sign or marquee; and, not earlier than three days after the receipt of such statement, may issue to the former permittee or his surety a statement that liability on the bond which was filed with the applicant for such former permit has ceased on a day subsequent to three days after the filing of the City Solicitor's statement to the City Treasurer.
(6) 
Permit for removal. If a sign or marquee erected or maintained under a permit issued under the provisions of this section is to be removed, a permit to do so must first be obtained from the Commissioner who, after an inspection of the premises and after the completion of such removal, shall notify the City Treasurer in writing that the sign which was erected under the terms of a particular permit has been removed. The City Treasurer, upon receipt of such notice from the Commissioner, shall obtain from the City Solicitor a statement that no claims or suits are pending against the City arising out of the erection, maintenance or removal of such sign or marquee, and may, not earlier than three days after the receipt of such statement, issue to the former permittee or his surety a statement that liability on the bond which was filed with the application for such former permit has ceased on a day subsequent to three days after the filing of the City Solicitor's statement to the City Treasurer.