[Adopted as Ch. 10, Art. II, of the 1963
City Code (Ch. 141, Art. II, of the 1980 Code)]
The Inspector of Wires, appointed according to law and subject to the provisions of § 3-3 of Chapter 3, Administration of Government, shall possess all the powers, rights and privileges, perform all the duties and be subject to all the liabilities of such Inspector as defined by law or ordinance. He is hereby designated, under the provisions of Section 1 of Chapter 391 of the Acts of the year 1906, as the officer of the City to be vested with all the rights and powers and to be subject to all the duties and obligations conferred or imposed upon such officer by the provisions of that section, or by any other of the provisions of that Act. He shall receive such compensation for his services as the City Council may determine and provide.
The Inspector of Wires shall have power and
authority, by and with the consent of the Mayor, to appoint one or
more persons to act and serve as his deputies, such appointments to
conform to all the provisions of law. All powers, rights and privileges
and all duties and liabilities pertaining to the office of Inspector
of Wires, except such powers, rights and privileges and such duties
and liabilities as are conferred and imposed by the provisions of
Chapter 391 of the Acts of the year 1906, are hereby conferred and
imposed upon each such deputy.
The Inspector of Wires, shall, at reasonable
intervals, inspect all electric wires and all poles and supports thereof,
and all electrical apparatus within the City, except as otherwise
hereinafter provided, in order to ascertain that they are free from
decay, imperfections or other injuries rendering any of them liable
to failure or to become a menace to the public safety. His inspections
shall include the poles, wires and other electrical apparatus pertaining
to the fire alarm telegraph and police signal telegraph systems of
the City, and he shall immediately report to the City Electrician
any dangerous or unsafe condition of or any other defect or failure
in the poles, wires or other electrical apparatus of those systems.
The Inspector of Wires shall enforce all laws
and ordinances and all orders of the City Council relating to electric
wires, poles, supports, conduits, ducts and all other electrical apparatus
within the City, whether overhead, underground or within buildings,
public or private, and shall have the right during all reasonable
hours to enter any building, manhole, duct or subway in the discharge
of his official duties, or for the purpose of making any test or inspection
of the wires, electrical apparatus or appliances therein contained.
For such purposes he shall be granted prompt access to all buildings,
public or private, and to all manholes, ducts and subways on application
to the persons owning, leasing or operating or otherwise in charge
or control of the same.
The Inspector of Wires shall cause to be filed
in the office of the City Clerk at City Hall and shall preserve records,
plans and specifications properly indexed, including locations, relocations,
alterations and removals of all poles, supports, ducts, conduits and
electrical apparatus over, in and under all streets, ways and places
in the City, together with the names of the owners, lessees or operators
of each and all such wires, systems and apparatus. For this purpose
any person now owning, operating or using wires carrying an electric
current on, over or under any street or building shall, within a reasonable
time after request therefor by the Inspector of Wires, furnish the
Inspector with a written statement in detail of the number and location
of its posts and poles, the number of crossarms on each, the number
of wires thereto attached and the location of all subways, manholes
and service connections, which statement shall particularly specify
and distinguish the area and limits of the territory wherein power
is furnished for the telegraph, the telephone, electric light and
electric power, the number and location of lamps, motors or other
appliances, together with full information of the method of operating
such wires. Every person hereafter granted a location for or a permit
to install any new system for the transmission of electricity, or
for any addition to or extension of any existing system, shall, upon
the request of the Inspector, within 30 days after the receipt of
such request in writing, furnish him with a detailed statement as
aforesaid and with plans and specifications thereof, which shall be
in form and size to the satisfaction of the Inspector.
The Inspector of Wires shall have full charge
of and supervision over all electric wires, wiring systems and apparatus
belonging to the City, except the fire alarm telegraph and police
signal telegraph systems, and shall see that the same are kept at
all tunes in good repair and working order. All work required to be
done on any City wires or apparatus shall be done by or charged to
the department to which such wires or apparatus particularly belong.
The Inspector of Wires shall keep a full and
complete record of all work done by him or by his deputies and of
complaints made in writing concerning violations of law and ordinances;
of all permits issued, inspections or examinations made and other
official acts performed by him or his deputies as required by this
chapter; and a full and complete account of all moneys received and
expended by him or them in connection therewith. The record and account
shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the City Council,
the Mayor and the Auditor of Accounts. These records shall be so arranged
as to afford full information at any time concerning the condition
and general arrangement of any electrical equipment or installation
at the time of the Inspector's last visit to or inspection of the
same, either by himself or by any of his deputies. He shall report,
within two weeks, back to the complainant, in writing, concerning
any complaint in regard to violation of law or ordinance.[1]
