Township of East Whiteland, PA Chapter 65 Building Construction

[HISTORY: Adopted by Board of Supervisors of the Township of East Whiteland 5-12-2004 by Ord. No. 151-2004.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Electrical standards — See Ch. 83.

Energy conservation — See Ch. 84.

Existing building regulations — See Ch. 85.

Fire prevention — See Ch. 90.

Fuel gas standards — See Ch. 96.

Mechanical standards — See Ch. 116.

One- and two-family dwelling standards — See Ch. 123.

Plumbing — See Ch. 139.

Property maintenance — See Ch. 141.

Subdivision and land development — See Ch. 175.

Urban wildland interface standards — See Ch. 183.

Zoning — See Ch. 200.

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided for the repeal of former Ch. 65, Building Construction, adopted 11-21-2000 by Ord. No. 132-2000 .

§ 65-1 Election to administer and enforce.

A. The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the Act[1] and the regulations promulgated under the Act which are found at 34 Pa. Code Chapters 401 through 405 (the "regulations"), as the same are amended from time to time, as the Township's building code. The Township shall notify the Department[2] within 30 days of adoption of this chapter that the Township has elected to administer and enforce the Act in accordance with this chapter.

[1] Editor's Note: "The Act" refers to the Construction Code Act, Act 45 of 1999, which is codified at 35 P.S. § 7210.101 through § 7210.1103.

[2] Editor's Note: "The Department" refers to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

B. By electing to adopt, administer and enforce the Act, the Township hereby adopts and incorporates as fully as if set out at length herein Chapters 1-29 and 31-35 of the International Building Code, 2003 Edition, (IBC 2003) as now and as hereafter supplemented, reissued, amended and revised and its successor building codes, as published by the International Code Council, Inc., as the Township's building code. Not fewer than three copies of the International Building Code, 2003 Edition, have been and now are filed in the office of the Township Secretary and may be examined there without charge. If any provision in Chapter 1 of the IBC 2003 which governs administration of the building code is inconsistent with the regulations, the provisions in the regulations shall govern the administration and enforcement of the building code.

C. The Township hereby adopts and incorporates as fully as if set out at length herein all Appendices of the IBC 2003, as now and as hereafter supplemented, reissued, amended and revised and its successor appendices as published by the International Code Council, Inc.

§ 65-2 Additions, insertions and changes to standards.

The following sections of the IBC 2003 are hereby amended and revised as follows:

A. Section 101.1 is amended by the insertion of "East Whiteland Township" in the "[NAME OF JURISDICTION]" blank.

B. Section 103.1 shall be amended to read as follows:

103.1 Creation of enforcement agency. The Department of Codes and Life Safety shall be responsible for administering and enforcing this code. The Director of the Department of Codes and Life Safety shall be hired by the Township Manager and shall be certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to serve as the Township's Building Official. For purposes of this code, the Director of the Department of Codes and Life Safety shall be referred to as the "Building Official."

C. Section 108.2 is amended to read as follows:

108.2 Schedule of permit fees. A fee schedule shall be adopted by resolution of the Board of Supervisors of East Whiteland Township, which may be amended from time to time.

D. Section 112, Board of Appeals, shall be deleted and replaced with the following:

	SECTION 112
	BOARD OF APPEALS
	112.1 General. The Township, along with Easttown Township, Willistown Township and Malvern Borough (the "participating municipalities"), intends to form an intergovernmental Board of Appeals, which Board shall hear and decide appeals of orders, decisions or determinations made by the respective municipalities' building official relative to the application and interpretation of the municipalities' building code. The members of the intergovernmental Board of Appeals shall be appointed by the participating municipalities and shall be governed by rules and regulations adopted by the participating municipalities. The intergovernmental Board of Appeals shall adopt rules of procedure for conducting its business.

E. Section 113.4, Violation penalties is amended to read as follows:

113.4 Violation penalties. Any person who violates or permits the violation of any provision of this chapter or who shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof or who shall erect, construct, alter or repair any building or structure in violation of either an approved plan, a directive of the Building Official or of a permit or certificate issued under the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding brought before a District Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be subject to the payment of a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the county prison for a term of not more than 30 days. Each section or provision of this chapter that is violated shall constitute a separate offense, and each day or portion thereof in which a violation of this chapter is found to exist shall constitute a separate offense, each of which violations shall be punishable by a separate fine imposed by the District Justice of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution, or upon default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the county prison for a term of not more than 30 days. All fines and penalties collected for the violation of this chapter shall be paid to the Township Treasurer.

F. Section 114.3 shall be amended to read as follows:

114.3. Unlawful continuance. Any person who shall continue any work in or about the structure after having been served with a stop-work order, except such work as that person is directed to perform to remove a violation or unsafe condition, shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding brought before a District Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense, and shall be subject to the payment of a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the county prison for a term of not more than 30 days. Each day or portion thereof in which a violation of the stop-work order is found to exist shall constitute a separate offense, each of which violations shall be punishable by a separate fine imposed by the District Justice of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution, or upon default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the county prison for a term of not more than 30 days. All fines and penalties collected for such violation(s) shall be paid to the Township Treasurer.

G. Section 1612.3 is amended by the insertion of "East Whiteland Township" in the [NAME OF JURISDICTION] and "November 20, 1996" in the [DATE OF ISSUANCE] blanks.

H. Section 3410.2 is amended by the insertion of "October 9, 1989" in the [DATE TO BE INSERTED BY THE JURISDICTION] blank.

§ 65-3 Administration.

The building code shall be administered and enforced by the Department of Codes and Life Safety. The Township Manager shall hire the Director of the Department of Codes and Life Safety who shall also be known as the "Building Code Official."

§ 65-4 Provisions of existing building code which shall remain in effect.

Pursuant to § 104(d)(1) of the Act, the Township may keep in full force and effect any provisions of the Township's existing building code which were in effect on or before July 1, 1999, or reenactments of simultaneously repealed ordinances which were originally adopted before July 1, 1999, provided that such provisions meet or exceed the Act. Under such authority, the Township intends to keep in force and effect the following provisions of its existing building code which meet or exceed the standards in the Act. If any provision in this § 65-4 is inconsistent with a provision in the IBC 2003 or its successor codes, the provisions in this § 65-4 shall control.

A. Section 903.2.2 shall be revised to state as follows:

903.2.2 Use Group E. An automatic fire-suppression system shall be provided throughout all buildings with a Use Group E fire area.

B. Section 903.2.3 shall be revised to state as follows:

	903.2.3 Use Groups F-1. Throughout all buildings with a Use Group F-1 fire area, an automatic fire-suppression system shall be provided as follows:
	1.	Where any Use Group F-1 fire area exceeds 5,000 square feet in area;
	2.	Where the total combined area of all Use Group F-1 fire areas on all floors exceeds 10,000 square feet; and
	3.	Where any Use Group F-1 fire area is three or more stories above grade.

C. Section 903.2.6 shall be revised to state as follows:

	903.2.6 Use Groups M. Throughout all buildings with a Use Group M fire area, an automatic fire-suppression system shall be provided as follows:
	1.	Where any Use Group M fire area exceeds 5,000 square feet in area;
	2.	Where the total combined area of all Use Group M fire areas on all floors exceeds 10,000 square feet; and
	3.	Where any Use Group M fire area is three or more stories above grade.

D. Section 903.2.8 shall be revised to state as follows:

	903.2.8 Use Groups S-1. Throughout all buildings with a Use Group S-1 fire area, an automatic fire-suppression system shall be provided as follows:
	1.	Where any Use Group S-1 fire area exceeds 5,000 square feet in area;
	2.	Where the total combined area of all Use Group S-1 fire areas on all floors exceeds 10,000 square feet; and
	3.	Where any Use Group S-1 fire area is three or more stories above grade.

E. Section 903.2.9 shall be revised to state as follows:

	903.2.9 Use Groups S-2. Throughout all buildings with a Use Group S-2 fire area, an automatic fire-suppression system shall be provided as follows:
	1.	Where any Use Group S-2 fire area exceeds 5,000 square feet in area;
	2.	Where the total combined area of all Use Group S-2 fire areas on all floors exceeds 10,000 square feet; and
	3.	Where any Use Group S-2 fire area is three or more stories above grade.

F. The Township shall keep in full force and effect the following requirements in its building code, which provisions were in effect as of July 1, 1999:

[Added 11-10-2004 by Ord. No. 167-2004]

(1) All repairs and alterations to residential buildings shall comply with the Township's building code adopted on May 12, 2004, and any successor code adopted by the Township pursuant to Act 45 of 1999.

(2) Construction, alteration, enlargement, replacement, repair, removal and demolition of utility and miscellaneous use structures which are greater than 500 square feet in area shall comply with the Township's building code adopted on May 12, 2004, and any successor code adopted by the Township pursuant to Act 45 of 1999.