[Ord. No. 2020-08, 11/10/2020]
The 2015 International Fire Code, as published by the International
Code Council, Inc., as amended, revised, and/or reprinted from time
to time, is hereby adopted as the Fire Code of Plumstead Township.
Each and all of the regulations, provisions, penalties, conditions
and terms of said International Fire Code are hereby referred to,
adopted, and made a part hereof, as if fully set out in this Part,
with the additions, insertions, deletions, and changes as prescribed
below in this Part.
[Ord. No. 2020-08, 11/10/2020]
The following replacements, insertions, changes, modifications,
and deletions shall be made in the 2015 International Fire Code, as
amended, at the places hereinafter indicated:
1.
Subsection 101.1, relating to the Title, shall be amended so "[NAME
OF JURISDICTION]" is replaced with "Plumstead Township."
2.
Subsection 101.6 entitled "Default Municipality," shall be added
to the code and shall read as follows:
|
101.6 Default Municipality. Whenever
in this Fire Code a municipality or jurisdiction is mentioned and
no name is given therefore, said reference to a municipality or jurisdiction
shall be construed to mean Plumstead Township, or where a state is
mentioned, the same shall mean the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and
where the Department of Fire Prevention is mentioned, the same shall
mean the Plumstead Township Fire Marshal.
|
3.
Subsection 102.3 relating to change of use or occupancy shall be
modified to reference the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code[1] so that it reads as follows:
|
102.3 Change of Use of Occupancy. Changes
shall not be made in the use or occupancy of any structure that would
place the structure in a different division of the same group or occupancy
or in a different group of occupancies, unless such structure is made
to comply with the requirements of this Fire Code and the provisions
of the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, as adopted by Plumstead
Township ("PA UCC").
|
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. §§ 7210.101 to 7210.1103.
4.
Subsection 102.4 relating to application of Building Code shall be
modified to reference the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code so
that it reads as follows:
|
102.4 Application of Building Code. The design and construction of new structures shall comply with
the PA UCC, and any alterations, additions, changes in use or changes
in structures required by this Fire Code, which are within the scope
of the PA UCC, shall be made in accordance therewith.
|
5.
Subsection 102.5 relating to application of Residential Code shall
be modified to reference the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code
so that it reads as follows:
|
102.5 Application of Residential Code. Where structures are designed and constructed in accordance with
the International Residential Code, as adopted by the PA UCC, the
provisions of this Fire Code shall apply as follows:
| |
|
1.
|
Construction and design provisions of this Fire Code pertaining
to the exterior of the structure shall apply including, but not limited
to, premises identification, fire apparatus access and water supplies.
Where interior or exterior systems or devices are installed, construction
permits required by Section 105.7 of this Fire Code shall apply.
|
|
2.
|
Administrative, operational, and maintenance provisions of this
Fire Code shall apply.
|
6.
Subsections 103.1 through 103.2, inclusive, shall be modified to
read as follows:
|
103.1 General. The Plumstead Township
Fire Marshal or any authorized agent or employee thereof shall be
designated as the Fire Code official for the purposes of this Fire
Code.
|
|
103.2 Appointment. The Fire Code official
shall be appointed in accordance with the personnel procedures and
policies of Plumstead Township.
|
7.
Subsection 104.10 relating to Fire Investigations shall be modified
to specify the authority to conduct investigations so that it reads
as follows:
|
104.10 Fire Investigations. The Fire
Code official shall have the authority to investigate the cause and
circumstances of any fire, explosion, or other hazardous condition.
Information that could be related to trade secrets or processes shall
not be made part of the public record except as directed by a court
of law.
|
8.
Subsection 104.11 relating to authority at fires and other emergencies
shall be modified with the addition of the following sentence at the
end of this Subsection: "The Fire Code official may direct the operation
of the scene if no fire chief or fire officer from the fire department
in charge of the fire district the emergency is located in is currently
onsite."
9.
Subsection 105.1.2 relating to types of permits shall be modified
to add a third subparagraph which shall read as follows:
|
3.
|
The Fire Code official shall determine when an operational permit
or a construction permit is required.
|
10.
Section 108 relating to Board of Appeals shall be deleted in its
entity and replaced with the following:
|
SECTION 108
|
|
APPEALS
|
|
108.1 General. Whenever the owner or
builder of any building about to be or in the course of being erected,
altered, repaired, used or occupied, or any other person takes exception
to the decision of the Fire Code official in refusing to approve the
manner of construction or the type of materials to be used in the
erection, alteration, or repair of any building or structure, or to
his/her decision as to the occupation or use of any building or structure,
or as to its safety or compliance with the provisions of this Fire
Code, such owner or builder or duly authorized agent may, within 30
days after such decision, take an appeal to the Board of Appeals.
Such appeal shall be in writing, state the decision of the Fire Code
official and the reason for taking exception thereto, and shall be
filed with the Township. The appeal shall be heard pursuant to and
consistent with the practices and procedures established for or by
the Board of Appeals and in accordance with the Pennsylvania Local
Agency Law (2 Pa. C.S.A § 101 et seq., as amended). The
Board of Appeals shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and render
final adjudications on such appeals. A written decision to affirm,
modify, or reverse the decision of the Code Official shall be issued
by the Code Appeals Board and duly recorded, with such decision being
final.
|
|
108.2 Limitations on authority. An
application for appeal shall be based on a claim that the true intent
of this Fire Code or the rules legally adopted thereunder have been
incorrectly interpreted, the provisions of this Fire Code do not fully
apply or an equally good or better form of construction is proposed.
The Board of Appeals shall not have authority to waive requirements
of this Fire Code.
|
|
108.3 Court review. Any person aggrieved
by a Board of Appeals decision, including the Township, may appeal
this decision to the Court of Common Pleas. Such an appeal shall be
filed within 30 days of the issuance of the decision. Within 30 days
of the filing of an appeal, the Township and the owner and/or tenant
of the premises directly involved in the appeal may intervene in the
appeal as of course by filing a notice of intervention, accompanied
by proof of service of the same upon each appellant or each appellant's
counsel of record. All other intervention shall be governed by the
Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure.
|
11.
Subsection 109.4 relating to violation penalties shall be modified
and adapted to conform to Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure
and to insert penalties so that it reads as follows:
[Amended by A.O.]
|
109.4 Violation Penalties. Any person
who is found to have violated a provision of this Fire Code; to have
failed to comply with any of the requirements of this Fire Code; to
have erected, constructed, altered, repaired, or otherwise undertaken
work on a building or structure in violation of the approved construction
documents or any approved plan, permit, certificate, application for
permit or certificate, or directive of the Fire Code official; or
to have failed to comply with an order, directive, or notice of the
Code Official concerning this Fire Code shall be liable for a summary
offense and, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before
a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal
Procedure, shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000,
plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant
may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days.
Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted
to continue shall constitute a separate offense, and each section
of this Fire Code that is violated shall also constitute a separate
offense.
|
12.
Subsection 111.4 relating to failure to comply shall be modified
so that it reads as follows:
|
111.4 Failure to Comply. Any person
who shall continue any work after having been served with a stop work
order, except such work as that person is directed to perform to remove
a violation of unsafe condition, shall be liable to a fine of not
less than $400 nor more than $1,000. Each day the work continues after
the issuance of the stop work order shall constitute a separate finable
offense. Such fines are in addition to any fines or penalties imposed
pursuant to Section 109, Violations.
|
13.
Subsection 113.2 relating to Schedule of Permit Fees shall be modified
to reference the permit fee adoption procedures for Plumstead Township
so it reads as follows:
|
113.2 Schedule of Permit Fees. A fee
for each permit shall be paid as required, in accordance with the
schedule set by resolution of the Board of Supervisors of Plumstead
Township.
|
14.
Section 202, Definitions. The following definitions shall be amended
to read as follows:
|
BOARD OF APPEALS. The Plumstead Township Building Code Board of Appeals created, organized, and operated in accordance with Chapter 5, Code Enforcement, of the Plumstead Township Code, as amended.
|
|
FIRE CODE OFFICIAL. The Township Fire Marshal, his/her
deputies and/or assistants, Code Enforcement Officer, or other designated
authority charged with the administration and enforcement of this
Fire Code.
|
|
FIRE DEPARTMENT. The Plumsteadville Volunteer Fire
Company and the Point Pleasant Volunteer Fire Company or, alternatively,
another fire department or fire company authorized by the Plumstead
Township Board of Supervisors or Township Fire Marshal to perform
fire protection functions in Plumstead Township.
|
|
OCCUPIED. As applied to a building or portion thereof,
shall be construed as though followed by the words "or intended, arranged
or designed to be occupied, or having a certificate of use and occupancy."
|
|
TOWNSHIP. Plumstead Township, Bucks County, Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
|
15.
Subsection 501.3 relating to construction documents shall be modified
to replace the term "fire department" with "Fire Code official."
16.
Section 503.3 relating to marking shall be removed in its entirety
and replaced with the following:
|
503.3 Marking and Parking Regulations. Whenever the Fire Code official shall determine that the parking
of motor vehicles or other obstruction upon any public or private
street, lane, alley, or driveway or within any shopping center, educational
institution, apartment complex, or similar occupancy is liable to
interfere with the operations of the fire department or seriously
hamper egress of occupants from a building in case of fire, the property
owner or tenant shall post signs reading "fire lane - no parking by
order of the Fire Marshal" along each street, lane, alley, or driveway
or within such shopping center, educational institution, apartment
complex, or similar occupancy. The number, location, and size of such
signs shall be established by the Fire Code official. In addition,
whenever the Fire Code official determines signs will not clearly
indicate the area in which parking is prohibited, the property owner
or tenant may be required to paint lines four inches in width on the
roadway surface indicating the area in which parking is prohibited
and shall paint the words "fire lane" in letters three feet in height
on the roadway surface at intervals specified by the Fire Code official.
|
|
503.3.1 Temporary Parking Regulations. The Fire Code official is hereby given authority to adopt and enforce
temporary parking regulations to cover emergencies or conditions upon
any public or private street, lane, alley, or driveway or within any
shopping center, educational institution, apartment complex, or similar
occupancy if the Fire Code official determines that the parking of
motor vehicles is liable to interfere with the operations of the fire
department or seriously hamper the egress of occupants from a building
in case of fire. In exercising the authority provided by this section,
the Fire Code official may post temporary signs reading "no parking
by order of the Fire Marshal" on or along such street, lane, alley,
or driveway or within such shopping center, educational institution,
apartment complex, or similar occupancy.
|
|
503.3.2 Violation. The Fire Code official
may place a parking ticket on any vehicle in violation of the parking
restrictions set forth in Sections 503.3 and 503.3.1. Each day a violation
occurs shall constitute a separate violation. Any person violating
any of the provisions of Sections 503.3 and/or 503.3.1, upon summary
conviction before a Magisterial District Judge, shall be sentenced
to pay a fine of $25 and costs of prosecution. Except that in all
cases where the Fire Code official first give notice of the offense
by either handing to the offending operator, or affixing to the motor
vehicle in question, a ticket on which the official has noted the
time and place of the offense, nature of the offense charged, and
the license registration of the motor vehicle in question, no prosecution
shall be instituted for 48 hours thereafter, provided that, if during
the said forty-eight-hour period, the offender shall voluntarily appear
at the Plumstead Township Police Department and voluntarily pay $25
to the Township, in lieu of fines and costs, no prosecution for such
offense shall thereafter be brought.
|
17.
Subsection 503.6 relating to security gates shall be modified to
replace the term "fire chief" on lines two and three with the term
"Fire Code official."
18.
Section 505 relating to premises identification shall be removed
in its entirety and replaced so that it reads as follows:
|
SECTION 505
|
|
RESERVED
|
19.
Section 506 relating to key boxes shall be removed in its entirety
and replaced so that it reads as follows:
|
SECTION 506
|
|
RESERVED
|
