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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 12155J ORDINANCE NUMBER ~~,:~~~~ _--` _ '--~.r-~ ,~ ~~ ORDINANCE AMENDING 11-2 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS (1986), TO AMEND SECTION C02(b) OF THE FORT WORTH ELECTRICAL CODE ALLOWING PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS OF NON-ELECTRICAL BACKGROUND THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEAL PLANS AS ALLOWED BY STATE LAW, PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE IS CUMULATIVE, PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE, PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS SECTION 1 That Section 11-2 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, is hereby amended by replacing the first paragraph of Section C02(b) with the following: (b) Plans and Specifications. The Chief Electrical Inspector may require plans and specifications to be prepared by or under the direction of a registered professional engineer licensed by the State of Texas. When the plans and specifications are not prepared by an engineer, the Chief Electrical Inspector may require the applicant submitting the documents to demonstrate that State law does not require them to be prepared by an engineer SECTION 2. This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such code are hereby repealed. SECTION 3 It shall be unlawful for any person to install, alter or repair any electrical equipment in the City or cause the same to be done contrary to or in violation of any provision of this Code. Any person, firm, or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects, or refuses to comply with or who resists enforcement of any of the provisions of this Code with respect to fire and life safety shall be fined not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000 00) for each offense, and with respect to all other provisions of this Code shall be fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500 00) for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. ,., SECTION 4 It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and, if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, or section of this ordinance shall be declared void, ineffective, or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or final decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such voidness, ineffectiveness, or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation m this ordinance at any such void, ineffective, or unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, or section. SECTION 5 All rights and remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas are expressly saved as to any and all violations of the Ordinance No 11888, as amended, or any other ordinances affecting construction and fire safety, which have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance; and, as to such accrued violations and all pending litigation, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or not, under such ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts. Electrical permits heretofore issued under existing ordinances shall be valid for the time being for which they are issued under the existing Electrical Code, but, upon expiration thereof, the same shall be void. SECTION 6 This ordinance constitutes a digest and revision of the Electrical Code of the City of Fort Worth; as provided in Section 2, Chapter XXV, and. Section 9, Chapter XXVII, of the Charter of the City of Fort Worth. The Crty Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, is hereby authorized to publish this ordinance in pamphlet form for general distribution among the public, and the operative provisions of this ordinance, as so published, shall be admissible in evidence in all courts without further proof than the production thereof, as provided in Chapter XXV, Section 3, of the Charter of the Crty of Fort Worth, Texas. SECTION 7 The Crty Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, is hereby directed to publish the caption, penalty clause, and effective date of this ordinance for two (2) days in the official newspaper of the Crty of Fort Worth, Texas, as authorized by Section 2, Chapter XXV of the Charter of the City of Fort Worth, Texas and by Section 52.013(a) of the Texas Local Government Code. 7~ SECTION 8 This ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its passage and publication, and rt is so ordained. APPR VED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY Assistant Crty Attorney Date. ~ -~ 1 3 - C1' Adopted. ` % ~o~-QJ~~ Effective. ~ D _ ~ ~ - ~ City of Fort Worth, Texas Mayor and Council Communication DAT}3 REFERENCE NUMtitslc a,vv aYeara+s re.vu 09/12/95 G-11223 06SEALS 1 of 2 SUBJBCT ELECTRICAL CODE AMENDMENTS -REQUIREMENTS FOR ENGINEER'S SEALS ON ELECTRICAL PLANS RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council amend Section 11-2 of the Electrical Code in order to be consistent with state law regarding requirements for engineers' seals on electrical plans DISCUSSION During the adoption of the 1993 National Electric Code as the Electrical Code of this City, discussions took place between the Electrical Board and the Texas State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers The City's previous Electrical Code allowed Master Electricians to prepare and submit electrical plans for any building It was the State Engineering Boards' position that this provision violated state law for buildings that are subject to the Engineering Practice Act As a result of these discussions, the local amendments were revised to accept only seals from a registered electrical engineer since the Electrical Board felt it inappropriate that any engineer, regardless of their field of training, could stamp electrical plans The effect of this local amendment is that the City's Electrical Code is now more restrictive than the State Engineering Practice Act This has eliminated many non-electrically trained engineers from sealing plans although they previously prepared plans in Fort Worth and who continue to prepare plans in other locations throughout the State A complication to enforcing this provision of the local code is that the State does not register "electrical" engineers as required by our local code, only "professional" engineers The recommendation of the Electrical Board and the Chief Electrical Inspector attemptsto resolve this situation while maintaining a standard for qualified designers This recommendation proposes to accept sealed plans from registered engineers with non-electrical training provided they can successfully pass the Master Electricians exam This recommendation attempts to ensure that the engineer stamping the plans has demonstrated knowledge of the City's Electrical Code through a testing process The management staff of the Department of Development recognizes that the Electrical Board is attempting to ensure that the engineer stamping electrical plans is trained in the electrical field, however, both the Director and Acting Building Official believe that this issue is appropriately addressed at the State level by the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers City of Fort Worth Texas Mayor and Council Communication DATE REFERENCE NIINISER 11223 G LOG NAME PAGE 09/12/95 - 06SEALS 2 of 2 SIIBJECT ELECTRICAL CODE AMENDMENTS -REQUIREMENTS FOR ENGINEER'S SEALS ON ELECTRICAL PLANS The alternate proposed amendment recommended by the management staff of the Development Department removes any reference to field of training and duplicates the wording in the Building, Mechanical, and Plumbing Codes It also coincides with the standard accepted by the State and other municipalities throughout the State The City's plan review process would provide the necessary oversight to maintain effective quality control and code compliance for submitted plans This alternative also recognizes the ability of engineers who have previously demonstrated ability to design electrical plans without requiring additional local testing At the September 5, 1995 Council work session, the Mayor and Council directed staff to bring forward the alternate proposed amendment recommended by management staff This amendment is recommended for Mayor and Council consideration following a scheduled public hearing MG a Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY Office by: (to) APPROVED Ann Kovich 8901 CITY GGUNCIL Originating Department Head: SEP 12 1995 Ann Kovich 8901 (from) For Additional Information City Secretary of the Cit of Fort Worth T Contact: y , exaa Ann Kovich 8901 Adopted Ordinance No, -____._