[Adopted 5-11-2017 by Ord. No. 709]
The following words and phrases shall have the meanings indicated below. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense shall include the future; words used in the singular shall include the plural; and words used in the plural shall include the singular. The word "shall" is always mandatory and "may" is discretionary.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Any of the three fire companies operating in the Township of Upper Chichester Township: Ogden, Boothwyn, and Reliance.
OWNER
A person holding legal or equitable title in any real estate, business or equipment.
PERSON
Any individual person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
POLICE
A member of the Police Department of the Township of Upper Chichester.
RESTORATION SERVICES COMPANY
A person engaged in the business of, or offering any of the following services for a condemned or fire damaged building, or a building that has been the subject of other natural or man-made disaster, restoration; emergency response and/or repairs; boarding of windows, doors or other openings; and any other related services.
SOLICITATION
The act, at or near the scene of a commercial, industrial and/or residential fire, or during the occurrence of police and/or fire operations relating thereto, of seeking, persuading, enticing or in any way offering assistance of services which have not been requested by the person solicited.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Upper Chichester.
No person shall offer his services to or be called by the Township, the Police Department or the Fire Department as a restoration services company unless that person is the holder of a current license to perform such work as hereinafter provided. License requirements for a restoration services company are provided in Part II: General Legislation, Chapter 244, Contractors, Article I, Registration of Contractors, of the Code of Ordinances of the Township of Upper Chichester.
A. 
All licensees shall keep and maintain all vehicles and equipment listed on its application in a safe and operable condition, and in a condition which shall pass the motor vehicle inspection standards of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B. 
All licensees shall, within 60 minutes of receipt of the Police Department's or Fire Department's call requesting service, arrive with appropriate vehicles, equipment and/or materials necessary at the location of the condemned or fire-damaged property.
C. 
Should any licensee be unable to respond to the service call from the Police Department or Township with the appropriate vehicle, equipment and/or materials in the required response time, the licensee shall make arrangements with another licensee to respond to the call and shall so advise the police/fire dispatcher or Township. If a licensee is delayed while in transit to the requested location, the vehicle operator shall advise the police/fire dispatcher or Township of the delay and of his present location, whereupon a determination shall be made by the appropriate police official, fire official or Township as to whether another licensee shall be called.
D. 
All fees charged by the licensee, when performing restoration services as an independent contractor, shall at all times be reasonable and shall be the sole responsibility of the owner, possessor or tenant of the condemned or fire-damaged property.
E. 
All licensees shall be responsible for removing all dangerous materials and debris from the property. No liquid cleanup is required of the licensee unless safety conditions indicate otherwise, but the licensee shall leave the scene in a safe and clean condition.
F. 
All emergency and/or requested boarding of residential, industrial and/or commercial properties shall be done in a manner consistent with Appendix A of the International Property Maintenance Code of 2009, and all future amendments thereto.
A. 
All condemned or fire-damaged properties shall be restored to a level that limits the danger posed to the general health, safety and welfare of the public as much as possible in a manner consistent with the statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Code of Ordinances of the Township of Upper Chichester.
B. 
If the owner, tenant, occupier or other person in control of the condemned or fire-damaged property cannot restore the property to a safe condition; or if the owner, tenant, occupier or other person in control of the property fails or refuses to make such restoration to the property within a reasonable time; or if the property is in such a condition as to create a dangerous condition that would be too dangerous for the owner, tenant, occupier or other person in control of the property to attempt to restore the property to a safe condition, a Township police officer or the Township shall call the restoration services licensee assigned to the police or fire duty assignment to effect such a restoration.
C. 
The Police Department or Township shall establish reasonable rules and regulations for the establishment of a police/fire duty assignment, the fair rotation of assignment of restoration services licensees to the duty assignment, and the use of the duty assignment by Township police officers and/or the Township. Upon occurrence of a bona fide police or fire emergency resulting in obvious and imminent public danger, the rules and regulations shall be deemed suspended as public welfare may require.
No person and no restoration services company shall engage in solicitation at a fire scene, or appear and remain at a fire scene, unless summoned by the owner, tenant, occupier, or other person in control of the property or a police officer, fire official or the Township. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the owner, tenant, occupier or other person in control of real property from utilizing the restoration service company chosen by the owner, tenant, occupier or other person in control of the real property.
A. 
The Township reserves the right to suspend the license issued at any time if an inspection by a Township official, fire official or police officer determines that required equipment is missing, inoperable, or unsafe, or the owner or operator is otherwise in violation of this article or of the Code of Ordinances of the Township of Upper Chichester. Any such suspension shall continue, without rebate of any application or license fee, until such time as the Township or his designee determines that the applicant is in full compliance with the terms and conditions of all applicable ordinances.
(1) 
The licensee agrees, as a condition of the license, to hold the Township harmless for any and all claims, actions or causes of action whatsoever, including alleged loss of profits, arising from any suspension of license.
(2) 
The Township shall give the licensee notice that the licensee is in violation of the provisions and terms of this article prior to any formal action to suspend the license. The determination of whether a violation is safety related shall be solely the determination of the Township. The Township shall permit the licensee to correct deficiencies as follows:
(a) 
In the case of any nonsafety violation, the licensee shall have 10 days in which to correct deficiencies.
(b) 
In the case of safety-related violations, the licensee shall have 48 hours in which to correct deficiencies.
B. 
A restoration services license may be revoked upon a finding by the Township of any of the following:
(1) 
The license was procured by fraudulent conduct or false statement or omission of a material fact, and in this event, the license shall be null and void as if an application had never been filed.
(2) 
The licensee failed to perform or violated any of the duties of a licensee set forth hereinabove.
(3) 
The licensee no longer meets all the standards for issuance of a restoration services license.
(4) 
The licensee's application is found to be defective in any way or contains misinformation or omissions of fact, and in this event, the license shall be null and void and as if an application had never been filed.
(5) 
The licensee failed to correct safety-related or non-safety related deficiencies within the allocated time as provided by Subsection A(2)(a) and (b) above.
(6) 
The licensee's license had been suspended three times.
Any ordinance or part of ordinance, to the extent that it is inconsistent herewith, is hereby repealed.
The provisions of this article are severable, and if any section, sentence, clause, part, or provision hereof shall be held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect or impair the remaining sections, sentences, clauses, parts or provisions of this article. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Upper Chichester that this article would have been adopted if such illegal, invalid or unconstitutional section, sentence, clause, part or provision had not been included herein.