0364 (Gas Lines)ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE INSTALLATION, ALTERATION,
AND MAINTENANCE OF ALL PIPING EXTENDING FROM THE
POINT OF DELIVERY OF GAS FOR USE AS A FUEL AND DESIGNED
TO CONVEY OR CARRY THE SAME TO GAS APPLIANCES, AND
REGULATING THE INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE OF APPLIANCES
DESIGNED TO UTILIZE SUCH GAS AS A FUEL, WITHIN THE COR-
PORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA; PRO-
VIDING FOR THE INSPECTION OF SAID PIPING AND CERTAIN
APPLIANCES; PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS FOR
THE INSTALLATION OF SAID PIPING AND CERTAIN APPLIANCES
AND THE COLLECTION OF INSPECTION FEES THEREFOR; PRO-
VIDING FOR THE LICENSING OF PERSONS ENGAGING IN THE
BUSINESS OF INSTALLING, REPAIRING, OR MAINTAINING SAID
PIPING OR CERTAIN APPLIANCES; PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR
THE VIOLATION OF THIS ORDINANCE, AND REPEALING ALL
CONFLICTING ORDINANCES.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA:
SECTION 1. TITLE. This ordinance shall be known as the "Gas
Code" of the City of Okeechobee, Florida and may be cited as such.
SECTION 2. PURPOSE AND SCOPE. The purpose of this ordinance
is to provide minimum standards, provisions and requirements for safe
installation of consumer's gas piping and gas appliances. All such
gas piping and gas appliances installed, replaced, maintained, or
repaired within the corporate limits of the City of Okeechobee, Florida
shall conform to the requirements of this ordinance and to the specifi-
cations, rules, and regulations entitled "Installation of Consumer's
Gas Piping and Gas Appliances" Southern Standard Gas Code, which
specifications, rules, and regulations are hereby incorporated herein
by reference and made a part of this ordinance as if fully set forth
herein. Copies of such specifications, rules, and regulations shall
be kept on file in the office of the Clerk of the City of Okeechobee.
SECTION 3. USE OF EXISTING PIPING AND APPLIANCES. Not -with-
standing any provision in this ordinance to the contrary, consumer's
piping installed prior to the adoption of this ordinance or piping
installed to supply other than natural gas may be converted to natural
gas, if the Inspector finds, upon inspection and proper tests, that
such piping will render reasonable satisfactory gas service to the
consumer and will not in any way endanger life or property; otherwise
such piping shall be altered or replaced, in whole or in part,
to conform with the requirements of this ordinance.
SECTION 4. BOND AND LICENSE. (a) No person shall engage
in or work at the installation, extension, alteration, of consumer's
gas piping or certain gas appliances, until such person shall have
secured a license as a certified Gas Contractor.
(b) The person desiring to do such work shall secure from
the Building Official a non - transferable Gas Contractors license
which shall run until the first day of January next succeeding its
issuance, unless sooner revoked. The person obtaining a license
shall pay an annual license fee of $50.00 to the City Clerk; pro-
vided, however, any license obtained after the 1st day of July of
any year shall be computed at the rate of one half (%) of the annual
fee.
(c) Nothing herein contained shall be construed as pro-
hibiting an individual from installing or repairing his own appliances
or installing, extending, replacing, altering, or repairing consumer's
piping on his own premises, or as requiring a license or a bond from
an individual doing such work on his own premises; provided, however,
all such work must be done in conformity with all other provisions
of this ordinance, including those relating to permits, inspection,
and fees.
SECTION 5. GAS INSPECTOR AND ASSISTANTS. To provide for the
administration and enforcement of this ordinance, the office of Gas
Inspector is hereby created. The Inspector, and such assistants as
may be necessary in the proper performance of the duties of the office,
shall be appointed by the City Council of the City of Okeechobee,
Florida, and the compensation for such office shall be determined at
the time of appointment.
The City Builiding Official shall be such Gas Inspector until
such time as a Gas Inspector is appointed.
SECTION 6. POWERS AND DUTIES OF INSPECTOR. (a) The
Inspector is authorized and directed to enforce all of the pro-
visions of this ordinance, and the Inspector, upon presentation
of proper credentials, may enter any building or premises at
reasonable times for the purpose of making inspections or pre-
venting violations of this ordinance.
(b) The Inspector is authorized to disconnect any gas
piping or fixture or appliance for which a certificate of approval
is required but has not been issued with respect to same, or which,
upon inspection, shall be found defective or in such condition as
to endanger life or property. In all cases where such a discon-
nection is made, a notice shall be attached to the piping, fixture,
or appliance disconnected by the Inspector, which notice shall state
that the same has been disconnected by the Inspector, together with
the reason or reasons therefor, and it shall be unlawful for any
person to remove said notice or reconnect said gas piping or fix-
ture or appliance without authorization by the Inspector and such
gas piping of fixture or appliance shall not be put in service or
used until the Inspector has attached his certificate of approval
in lieu of his prior disconnection notice.
(c) It shall be the duty of the Inspector to confer from time
to time with representatives of the local Health Department, the
local Fire Department, and the Gas Company, and otherwise obtain
from proper sources all helpful information and advice, presenting
same to the appropriate Officials from time to time for their con-
sideration.
SECTION 7. PERMITS. (a) No person shall install a gas
conversion burner, floor furnance, central heating plant, vented wall
furnace, water heate, boiler, consumer's gas piping, or convert
existing piping to utilize natural gas without first obtaining a
permit to do such work from the Building Official; however, permits
will not be required for setting or connecting other gas appliances,
or for the repair of leaks in house piping.
(b) When only temporary use of gas is desired, the
Inspector may issue a permit for such use, for a period of not to
exceed sixty (60) days, provided the consumer's gas piping to be
used is given a test equal to that required for a Final Piping
Inspection.
(c) Gas Company$shallr; not be required to obtain permits
to set meters, or to extend, relocate, remove, or repair its
service lines, mains, of other facilities, or for work having to do
with its own gas system.
SECTION 8. INSPECTION. (a) ROUGH PIPING INSPECTION shall
be made after all new piping authorized by the permit has been
installed, and before any such piping has been covered or con-
cealed or any fixtures or gas appliances have been attached thereto.
(b) FINAL PIPING INSPECTION shall be made after all piping
authorized by the permit has been installed and after all portions
thereof which are to be concealed by plastering or otherwise have
been so concealed, and before any fixtures or gas appliances have
been attached thereto. This inspection shall include a pressure
test, at which time the piping shall stand an air pressure equal to
not less than the pressure of a column mercury six (6) inches in
height, and the piping shall hold this air pressure for a period
of at least ten (10) minutes without any perceptible drop. A
mercury column gauge shall be used for the test. All tools, appar-
atus, labor, and assistance necessary for the tests shall be fur-
nished by the installer of such piping.
SECTION 9. CERTIFICATES. The Inspector shall issue a certi-
ficate of approval attthe completion of the work for which a permit
for consumer piping has been issued, if after inspection it is
found that such work complies with the provisions of this ordinance.
A duplicate of each certificate issued covering consumer's gas
piping shall be delivered to the Gas Company and used as its authority
to render gas service.
SECTION 10. FEES. (a) The total fees for inspection of
consumer's gas piping at one location (including both rough and final
piping inspection) shall be $1.50 for one to four outlets, inclusive,
and $0.50 for each outlet above five.
(b) The fees for inspecting conversion burners, floor
furnaces, boilers or central heating plants shall be $1.50 for
each unit.
(c) The fees for inspecting vented wall furnaces and water
heaters shall be $1.00 for each unit.
(d) If the Inspector is called back, after correction of
defects noted, an additional fee of $1.00 shall be made for each
such return inspection.
(e) Any and all fees shall be paid by the person to whom
the permit is issued.
SECTION 11. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. Any person that shall
fail to comply with or violate any of the provisions of this ordin-
ance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof
shall be fined not less than $100.00 nor more than $500, or the
license of such person may be revoked, or both fine and revocation
of license may be imposed.
SECTION 12. NON- LIABILITY. This ordinance shall not be
construed as imposing upon the City of Okeechobee, Florida any
liability or responsibility for damages to any person injured by
any defect in any gas piping or appliance mentioned herein, or by
installation thereof, nor shall the City of Okeechobee or any official
or employee thereof, be held as assuming any such liability or
responsibility by reason of the inspection authorized hereunder or
the certificate of approval issued by the Inspector.
SECTION 13. VALIDITY. If any section, sub- section, sentence,
clause or phrase of this ordinance is, for any reason held to be un-
constitutional (or invalid) such (holding) shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portion of this ordinance. The City Council
of the City of Okeechobee hereby declares that it would have passed
this ordinance and each section, sub - section, sentence, clause or
phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
sub- sections, sentences, clauses, or phrases be declared unconstitu-
tional or invalid.
SECTION 14. DEFINITIONS. The following definitions, along
with those contained in the Gas Code are provided for the purpose
of interpretation and administration of this ordinance:
f(Ca) "Inspector" means the person appointed as Inspector, and
shall include each Assistant Inspector (if any), from time to time
acting as such under this ordinance by appointment of the City
Council of the City of Okeechobee.
(b) "Person" means any individual, partnership, firm,
corporation, or any other organized group of individuals.
(c) "Gas Company" means any person distributing gas within
the corporate limits of the City of Okeechobee, or authorized and
proposing to so engage.
(d) "Certificate of Approval" means a document or tag issued
and /or attached by the Inspector to the inspected material, piping,
or appliance installation, filled out, together with date, address
of the premises, and signed by the Inspector.
(e) "Certain Appliances" means conversion burners, floor
furnaces, central heating plants, vented wall furnaces, water heaters
and boilers.
SECTION 15. ORDINANCES REPEALED. All ordinances, or parts of
ordinances, in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed.
/4 ocro 464.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of, 1972.
ATTEST: President of the City Council
City Clerk
APPROVED by me this day of September, 1972.
Mayor, Cit2 of Okeechobee