ORDINANCE NO. 13,748

AN ORDINANCE to amend the Municipal Code of Des Moines, 1991, adopted by Ordinance No. 11,651, passed April 15, 1991, and amended by Ordinance No. 11,940, passed March 1, 1993, and amended by Ordinance No. 13,010, passed March 28, 1994, and amended by Ordinance No. 13,409, passed January 6, 1997, and amended by Ordinance No. 13,562, passed January 5, 1998 by repealing Sections 8-82, 8-83, 8-84.02, 8-84.03, 8-84.04, 8-88, 8-92, 8-118, 8-178 and 8-198 thereof and enacting new Sections 8-82, 8-83, 8-84.02, 8-84.03, 8-118, 8-178 and 8-198 and adding and enacting a new Section 8-84.05, relating to building construction codes.

Be It Ordained by the City Council of the City of Des Moines, Iowa:

Section 1. That the Municipal Code of Des Moines, 1991, adopted by Ordinance No. 11,651, passed April 15, 1991, and amended by Ordinance No. 11,940, passed March 1, 1993, and amended by Ordinance No. 13,010, passed March 28, 1994, and amended by Ordinance No. 13,409, passed January 6, 1997, and amended by Ordinance No. 13,562, passed January 5, 1998 is hereby amended by repealing Sections 8-82, 8-83, 8-84.02, 8-84.03, 8-84.04, 8-88, 8-92, 8-118, 8-178 and 8-198 thereof and enacting new Sections 8-82, 8-83, 8-84.02, 8-84.03, 8-118, 8-178 and 8-198 and adding and enacting a new Section 8-84.05, relating to building construction codes, as follows:

8-82. LICENSE FEES.

The fees for examinations, licenses and certificates as shown in the following table are hereby authorized and required, except that any licensee who is subject to the restrictions of section 8-67(d) of this code may be issued an inactive license without a fee.

* Initial fee shall be prorated in accordance with the following schedule:


No. of Months Until Initial Fee

First Renewal Due Reduction (%)

19-24 0%

13-18 25%

0-12 50%

 

8-83. LICENSE AND CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCY EXPIRATION; RENEWALS.

All licenses (including "inactive") and certificates shall expire on January 31st of each odd-numbered year. Upon renewal (active/inactive) of a master electrician’s, journeyman electrician’s, or a Residential Wireman certificate of competency the person holding such certificate shall show proof of having attended a minimum of eight (8) hours of attendance at acceptable workshops or classes for the purpose of code review and update. The fee for renewal of an unexpired license or certificate shall be as specified in section 8-82 of this code. Any license or certificate that has expired may be renewed within 90 days after the expiration date upon payment of the biennial fee plus $10.00. Upon the expiration of the aforementioned 90 day period, no license or certificate shall be renewed without successful re-examination and payment of the required fees.

8-84.02. JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN’S CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCY.

No person, except persons qualifying under section 8-84.03 (apprentice), shall engage in the work or practice the trade of installing, altering, maintaining, or repairing any electrical equipment within the scope of this code without first obtaining a journeyman’s certificate of competency through examination and meeting one or more of the following minimum requirements:

(a)Four years of working as an apprentice, as specified in section 8-84.03, under the direct supervision of an individual holding either a master or journeyman electrician’s certificate of competency.

(b)Completion of a minimum of 60 credit hours of post secondary training in the electrical field, from an accredited educational institution or trade school and being employed full time for a period of two years with an electrical contractor, under a master or journeyman’s direct supervision. The educational training may not occur simultaneously.

EXCEPTIONS: All or part of the requirements, specified in subsection 8-84.02, may be waived for individuals qualifying under the following exceptions:

(1)Persons holding a master electrician’s certificate of competency are not required to hold a journeyman electrician’s certificate of competency.

(2)Persons who present evidence of having taken a journeyman level examination, and receiving a successful score, similar in content and difficulty to the examinations required under this code, may receive a journeyman electrician’s certificate of competency without any further examination. This exception shall be reviewed and granted only by the Board.

 

8-84.03 APPRENTICE ELECTRICIANS.

(a)For purposes of this code, the term "apprentice" shall include any person who is involved or assisting in the installation of electrical systems or equipment, including individuals serving as trainees, helpers, or individuals that are participating in an established apprentice training program. Apprentice electrician's shall work under the direct supervision and control of an individual holding a master or journeyman electrician’s certificate of competency.

(b)Every apprentice shall register with the office of the building official before the first day of January of each year. The senior electrical inspector shall report all such registrations to the board following the first of the year.

(c)No electrical contractor shall employ any apprentice, for work with the City of Des Moines, who is not registered as required by subsection 8-84,03(b), and no electrical contractor shall employ more that two apprentices for each individual, permanently employed by the contractor, as a journeyman or master electrician. This ratio shall apply to every permitted job with the City of Des Moines.

8.84.04 REPEALED BY ORD. 13,---.

8-84.05. RESIDENTIAL WIREMAN CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCY.

No person shall engage in doing residential electrical work unless said person has obtained a Residential Wireman's Certificate of Competency and who is therefore duly authorized to do residential electrical work under the direction and supervision of an individual who holds an active Master Electrician's Certificate of Competency. A Certified Residential Wireman shall be limited to doing electrical work on single or multi-family dwellings, not to exceed three stories in height.

To obtain a Residential Wireman's Certificate of Competency a person shall meet the following conditions:

(a)Successfully pass a residential wireman's examination that has been approved by the Board of Examiners.

(b)_He or she must have been actively engaged in the electrical trade under the direct supervision of a certified master electrician or a certified journeyman electrician for a period of not less than two (2) years.

EXCEPTIONS: All or part of the requirements specified in subsection 8-84.03 may be waived for individuals qualifying under the following exceptions:

(1)Persons holding a master electrician's certificate of competency or journeyman's certificate of competency are not required to hold a residential wireman's certificate.

REPEALED BY ORD. 13,---.

8-92.REPEALED BY ORD. 13,---.

8-118. SERVICES AND CIRCUITS: SEPARATION FROM COMMUNICATIONS CONDUCTORS.

(a) All service entrances in and upon buildings and structures within the city shall be of the class known as "rigid metal conduit or electrical metallic tubing," except as herein provided.

(b) Underground service entrances for all buildings except in single family, two-family, and row dwellings shall be of moisture resistant wire installed in rigid metal conduit or approved non-metallic raceway such as Schedule 40 Polyvinylchloride or its equivalent.

(c) Other provisions of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, that portion of an underground service lateral that is installed by an electrical contractor, but is owned and maintained by a corporation licensed by law to engage in the business of supplying and distributing electricity, may be of a type used by such a corporation for such an installation.

(d) All direct burial cable used by the utility company for the purpose of distributing electrical current within the city, shall be placed and located in the ground a minimum depth of 30 below the proposed final grade. No separation shall be required between electrical conductors and communications conductors when laid in a common trench.

(e)Underground service entrance risers, to the meter, may be schedule 40 PVC, when not subject to physical damage.

8-178. CONTRACTOR'S LICENSE--REQUIRED. EXCEPTIONS.

(a) Required. Except as otherwise provided, herein, no person, firm or corporation shall engage in, or represent to the public as engaging in the activity or business of contracting, reconstructing, altering, or repairing any plumbing or building drainage system in or for any building within the city without first having obtained from the city a plumbing contractor's license. The owner, in the case of a sole proprietorship, or one active manager of plumbing operations, in the case of any other form of business organization, shall hold a master plumber's certificate of competency before such person, firm or corporation may be granted a plumbing contractor's license. The license issued shall recite the name of the person holding the master plumber's certificate of competency and the name of the firm or corporation. The plumbing contractor's license shall be automatically revoked in the event the person named thereon ceases to hold a master plumber's certificate of competency or ceases to actively manager plumbing operations conducted under the plumbing contractors license.

(b) Exceptions. Exceptions to license requirements shall be as follows:

(1)A plumbing contractor's license shall not be required in cases where a private sewer, other than a building or house sewer, is constructed under the jurisdiction, standard specifications, and inspection of the city engineer, or in cases where lateral sewer studs, extending from a public sewer to the property line, are constructed under the jurisdiction, standard specifications and inspection of the city engineer.

(2)The Des Moines Waterworks shall not be required to hold a plumbing contractor's license in order to perform the following work:

(i)Reconnection of an existing water service from an existing water main to a new water main, provided that the Des Moines Waterworks obtained a plumbing permit for such work prior to the commencement of the work and that such work is inspected and approved by the plumbing section.

(ii)Minor adjustments to a stop box in order to terminate water service when such service must be terminated because of leaks in the service or delinquent payment of water bills, provided the affected property owner refuses to cause such minor adjustments to be made.

(iii)Minor temporary water service adjustments to control flows in emergency situations where damage is caused or a hazard is created. Upon termination of the service the Des Moines Waterworks shall notify the owner that permanent repair work must be done.

All work done by the Des Moines Waterworks shall be the responsibility of the Des Moines Waterworks, and all damage caused to stop boxes by the Des Moines Waterworks shall be corrected by the Des Moines Waterworks.

(3)Any person holding a Class A, B, or D mechanical contractor's license may install water heaters in accordance with the Uniform Plumbing Code, provided such person has first obtained a mechanical permit therefor, and provided further, that no water heater installed under this exception shall exceed 50 gallons capacity or 50,000 Btu fuel input. (4)A plumbing contractor's license shall not be required for the repair and maintenance of plumbing facilities in city-owned buildings when the work is performed by a regular city employee who holds a current journeyman plumber's Certificate of Competency. Any person working under the provisions of this paragraph shall obtain plumbing permits and inspections as required by section 8-184 and 8-192, respectively.

(4)In cases which an owner-occupant of a single family dwelling desires to perform any plumbing work within his or her single family dwelling the owner may obtain a plumbing permit by paying the proper fee. For purposes of this section an owner occupied single family dwelling shall mean a detached residence designed for or occupied by one family only and occupied by the recorded owner of the property. This exception does not allow a homeowner to install or repair building sewers, private disposal systems, water services or required testable backflow devices.

In this case, the permittee is required to obtain all required inspections and the homeowner must be the individual doing the work. This individual must be knowledgeable of plumbing systems, applicable code provisions and capable of designing and laying out their work.

8-198. DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

(a)Drainage pipe shall be cast iron, No-Hub cast iron, galvanized steel, galvanized wrought iron, lead, copper, brass, ABS, PVC or other approved materials having a smooth and uniform bore.

Exceptions:

(1)No galvanized wrought iron, galvanized steel, or DWV copper pipe shall be used underground and shall be kept at least six inches (152.4mm) above ground.

(2)ABS and PVC pipes and fittings shall be marked to show conformance with the standards in the code. ABS and PVC installations are limited to construction not exceeding the following conditions:

(i)No vertical stack shall exceed 35 feet in height. No horizontal branch shall exceed 25 feet in length, except 1 1/2" pipe shall not exceed 20 feet in length.

(ii)ABS, PVC and SDR 23.5 shall be installed with a minimum bedding of 4 inches below and up all sides with 3/8 inch clean smooth gravel or a bedding product allowed by the Des Moines Metropolitan Design Standards.

(iii)All installations shall be made in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.

(iv)Application of ABS and PVC beyond the dimensional limits of this code may be approved by the senior plumbing inspector for a particular case.

(b)Drainage fittings shall be of cast iron, malleable iron, lead, brass, copper, ABS, PVC, No-Hub fittings or other approved materials having a smooth interior waterway of the same diameter as the piping served and all such fittings shall conform to the type of pipe used.

(1)Fittings on screwed pipe shall be of the recessed drainage type. Burred ends shall be reamed to the full bore of the pipe.

(2)The threads of drainage fittings shall be tapped so as to allow one-fourth inch per foot (20.9mm/m) grade.

Sec. 2. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and publication as provided by law.

FORM APPROVED:

Vicky Long-Hill, Assistant City Attorney

Preston A. Daniels, Mayor

Attest:

I, Donna Boetel-Baker, City Clerk of the City of Des Moines, Iowa, hereby certify that the above and foregoing is a true copy of an ordinance (Roll Call No. 99-2852), passed by the City Council of said City at a meeting held September 13, 1999, signed by the Mayor on September 13, 1999, and published as provided by law in the Business Record on September 27, 1999. Authorized by Publication Order No. 6278.

Donna Boetel-Baker, CMC/AAE, City Clerk