USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1896 > Part 34
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Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved June 11, 1896.
Published in Somerville Journal of June 27, 1896.
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ORDINANCES.
No. 63.
AN ORDINANCE FOR THE REGULATION OF PLUMBING.
Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Somerville, as follows :-
LICENSE TO PLUMBERS.
Section 1. No person, firm, or corporation shall hereafter engage in or work at the business of plumbing in this city, either as a master or employing plumber, or as a journeyman plumber, unless such person, firm, or corporation shall have first received, and holds, a valid and unexpired and unrevoked license or cer- tificate therefor from the inspector of buildings, or holds such valid and unexpired and unrevoked license or certificate from the inspector of buildings or board of health of some other city or town of this Commonwealth.
APPLICATIONS FOR LICENSES OR CERTIFICATES.
Section 2. Applications for such licenses or certificates shall · be made to the inspector of buildings.
CERTIFICATES.
Section 3. A master or employing plumber and a journey- man plumber, engaged in or working at the business of plumbing in this Commonwealth prior to the tenth day of July, 1893, and desiring to engage in or work at said business in this city, and who has registered according to the provisions of section two of chapter four hundred and fifty-five of the Acts of 1894 shall be entitled to a certificate from the inspector of buildings, as pro- vided in said section two.
LICENSES.
Section 4. Any person desiring to engage in or work at the business of plumbing, either as a master or employing plumber or as a journeyman plumber, shall make application as aforesaid to the inspector of buildings, which application shall be
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referred to the board of examiners hereinafter provided for, and the applicant will be examined by said board of examiners as to his qualifications for such business, and if said board shall be satisfied of the competency of the applicant he shall receive from the inspector of buildings an annual license authorizing him to engage in or work at the business of plumbing, either as a master or employing plumber or as a journeyman plumber.
FEES, ETC., FOR LICENSES AND CERTIFICATES.
Section 5. The fee for a license or a certificate for a mas- ter or employing plumber shall be two dollars; for a journeyman plumber, it shall be fifty cents. Licenses shall be renewed an- nually upon payment of a fee of fifty cents. In the case of a firm or corporation, the examination and licensing of or the registra- tion and granting a certificate to, any one member of the firm or the manager of the corporation shall satisfy the requirements of this act.
BOARD OF EXAMINERS.
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Section 6. There shall be a Board of Examiners of Plumb- ers, consisting of the chairman of the board of health, the inspec- tor of buildings, who shall be members ex-officio of said board of examiners and serve without compensation, and a third member, who shall be a practical plumber within the meaning of that term, as defined in section one of said chapter 455, and who shall have had at least five years' continued practical experience either as a master or a journeyman during the years next preceding the date of appointment, and said third member shall be appointed by the board of health for the term of one year from the first day of May in the year of his appointment and shall be appointed annually before the first day of June and shall receive such com- pensation, not to exceed five dollars for each day of actual ser- vice, as the city council may determine.
Said Board of Examiners shall, as soon as may be after the appointment of said third member, annually meet and organize by the selection of a chairman, and shall then designate the times and places for the examination of all applicants desiring to
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engage in or work at the business of plumbing within the city, and shall examine said applicants as to their practical knowledge of plumbing, house drainage and plumbing ventilation, and shall submit the applicant to some satisfactory form of practical test, and if satisfied of the competency of the applicant shall so certify to the inspector of buildings.
INSPECTOR OF PLUMBING,
Section 7. The inspector of buildings shall appoint an in- spector of plumbing, who shall be a practical plumber of at least five years' continued practical experience, either as master or as journeyman, during the years next preceding the date of appoint- ment, and who shall hold office until removed by the inspector of buildings for cause, which must be shown. Said inspector of plumbing shall before appointment be subjected to an examina- tion before the civil service commission. The inspector of plumbing shall have an annual salary to be determined by the inspector of buildings, subject to the approval of the city coun- cil, and said inspector of plumbing shall not engage in or work at the business of plumbing. The inspector of plumbing shall inspect all plumbing work for which permits are hereafter granted, in process of construction, alteration or repair, and shall report to the inspector of buildings all violations of any law, ordinance, by-law, rule, or regulation relating to plumbing work, and also perform such other appropriate duties as may be re- quired by the inspector of buildings, and in general shall be sub- ject to the direction of the inspector of buildings.
REGISTRATION OF PLUMBERS.
Section 8. Every person, firm, or corporation engaging in or working at the business of plumbing in this city, either as a master or employing plumber, shall register his name and place of business in the office of the inspector of buildings, and notice of any change in the place of business of a registered plumber shall be immediately given to the inspector of buildings, and no such person, firm, or corporation shall do any plumbing work in this city until such registration shall have been made.
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INSPECTOR OF BUILDINGS TO SUPERVISE PLUMBING.
Section 9. The inspector of buildings shall have control of the enforcement of the regulations regarding plumbing and the general supervision of the business and inspection of plumb- ing, and of the enforcement of all laws and ordinances in regard thereto.
PERMITS, ETC., FOR PLUMBING.
Section 10. The rules and regulations in this ordinance contained are prescribed for the materials, construction, altera- tion and inspection of all pipes, fittings, tanks, faucets, valves and other fixtures by and through which waste water or sewage is used and carried, and no such pipes, tanks, faucets, valves, materials, or other fixtures shall be placed in any building in this city except in accordance with plans which shall before such placing of any such fixtures be submitted to and approved by the inspector of buildings, and which shall conform to the pro- visions of this ordinance, and no plumbing work shall be done, except in the case of repair of leaks, without a permit being first issued therefor by the inspector of buildings; and every person before doing any such plumbing work in a building or making connections with any drain or sewer shall file in the office of the inspector of buildings plans in accordance with which the pipes, tanks; faucets, valves, and other fixtures are to be placed in the building, and upon blanks provided for that purpose a notice of the work to be performed, with such specifications in regard to such work as said inspector shall require, and shall obtain from such inspector a permit to do such work and the approval of said plans and specifications; and no such work or any plumbing work shall be done in any building except subject to the approval of the inspector of buildings, and in accordance with the afore- said plans, notice, specifications, permit, and any ordinance of the city or any law applicable to such work.
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INSPECTION OF PLUMBING.
Section 11. Pipes and other fixtures shall not be covered or concealed from view until inspected and approved under the direction of the inspector of buildings by an inspector of plumb- ing, who shall examine the same within two working days after notice that they are ready for inspection. Any plumbing work or materials not done and furnished in any building to the ap- proval of the inspector of buildings and in accordance with said plans, notice, specifications and permit, and any ordinance of the city or any law applicable to such work, shall be upon the order of the inspector of buildings forthwith removed by the plumber who furnished such work or materials, or changed and com- pleted as he shall direct.
CONNECTION WITH SEWER.
Section 12. The plumbing of every building shall be sep- arately and independently connected with the public sewer, when such sewer is provided, or with a proper and sufficient drain connected thereto outside of the building; and if a sewer is not accessible, with a proper cesspool, which shall be built as the in- spector of buildings or board of health shall require; and in no case shall the drain or soil pipe be used for more than one dwell- ing or for more than one dwelling in a block of two or more houses, but a block of two houses may be connected with the public sewer through one pipe, connections being made five feet outside of the building.
CONNECTION WITH SEWER OR CESSPOOL.
Section 13. Every building provided with water from the city or other water supply shall have a waste pipe, for the con- veyance of waste water or sewage, connected with the public sewer or with a particular sewer, or, if there is no such sewer, with a cesspool, constructed as aforesaid as the inspector of buildings or board of health shall require. No drain or sewer from any building shall, without the approval of the inspector of buildings, pass under another building, and no drain or sewer
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shall pass within five feet of the outside of the foundation walls of any other building, unless it be of iron pipe of such weight and so laid as the inspector of buildings shall approve.
EXCEPTIONS FROM ORDINANCE.
Section 14. The inspector of buildings may, with the ap- proval of the board of health, except from the operation of such of the provisions of this ordinance as he shall deem advisable, any building not constructed, and not to be used, for and as a dwelling house or place of business.
TEST OF PLUMBING.
Section 15. Plumbing work shall not be used unless the same has first been, under the direction of the inspector of build- ings, approved and tested by an inspector of plumbing, with the water test, or, if that is not practicable, with peppermint or other reliable test, approved by the inspector of buildings, and all connections must be made of all pipes, traps and other fixtures, and the pipes shall be permanently secured before the test is made. Pipes or other fixtures or material found upon inspection to be defective shall be removed.
MATERIAL OF DRAIN PIPES.
Section 16. Drain and connecting ventilating pipes shall be of a size approved by the inspector of buildings, and made of cast or standard wrought iron, within the building, and for a distance of at least ten feet outside, except that lead pipes may be used for short connections. Such pipes, if of wrought iron. shall be of standard weight and strength, and if of cast iron, shall be of uniform thickness throughout, and when placed in or be- low the cellar floor shall weigh as specified in section seventeen of this ordinance.
Such portions of drains as are outside of buildings and more than ten feet distant from the foundation walls, shall be con- structed of extra heavy cast-iron or vitrified drain pipe; joints on
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cast-iron pipe shall be set straight and filled with molten lead and thoroughly calked and made tight without the use of any ma- terial other than oakum and lead; connection of lead pipes with standard cast or wrought-iron pipes shall be made with standard brass ferrules or solder nipples; connection of lead pipes with extra heavy cast-iron pipes shall be made with extra heavy brass ferrules; all to be to the satisfaction of the inspector of buildings or the inspector of plumbing.
WEIGHT OF IRON PIPES.
Section 17. From and after the thirty-first day of October in the present year (1896), all cast-iron pipes used in plumbing within any building shall be plain and without tar, paint or other coating and shall have an average weight of not less than that below specified, namely :
2 inch pipe. 52 lbs. per foot
3 inch pipe 93 lbs. per foot
4 inch pipe. 13 lbs. per foot
5 inch pipe 17 lbs. per foot
6 inch pipe 20 lbs. per foot
8 inch pipe
.33 lbs. per foot
10 inch pipe 45 lbs. per foot
12 inch pipe.
.54 lbs. per foot
TRAPS, VENTILATORS, ETC.
Section 18. Drain pipes shall be properly secured every seven feet by irons to walls, laid in trenches to uniform grade, or suspended to floor timbers by strong iron hangers. Every drain pipe shall be supplied with a running trap placed outside of all connections, with an accessible cleanout at or near the point where it leaves the building, and shall have a fall of not less than one inch in sixty inches. Drain pipes (and branches of the same, when required by the inspector of buildings), shall be · carried above the roof, open and of size approved by the in- spector of buildings, not smaller than the branch for the largest
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fixture connection, and to a sufficient height, not less than two feet above the roof and not less than five feet above the top of any window within ten feet.
Where the drain pipe passes through the roof, it shall have a copper or heavy lead flashing. Changes in direction shall be made with curved pipes, and connections with horizontal or vertical lead or iron waste or drain pipe shall be made with Y branches where practicable.
TRAPS AND CLEANOUTS.
Section 19. There shall be an accessible cleanout placed at the foot of each vertical line of soil or waste pipe, on the sewer side of the running trap and in such other positions as the in- spector of buildings shall require. All traps and cleanouts shall be of a size and pattern approved by such inspector.
DRAIN PIPES EXPOSED.
Section 20. All drain pipes shall be exposed to sight, where practicable, within the building, and shall not be exposed to pressure where they pass through walls. When required by the inspector of buildings, drain pipes below a cellar floor shall be laid in a brick trench with a concrete bottom, and shall be ac- cessible through sufficient unattached covers.
SURFACE WATER LEADERS.
Section 21. Rain water leaders, when connected with soil or drain pipe, shall be suitably trapped. Blind drains or surface water leaders, when connected with drain pipe, shall have a trap and back water gate and shall be flushed by a conductor or other means. Said leaders shall in no case be used to drain other than rain or surface water. No rain-water leader or surface-water leader shall in any case connect with, or discharge into, any soil pipe or drain pipe, connected or to be connected, directly or indirectly, with any common sewer, or the contents of which, directly or remotely, flow or may flow into any common sewer, within those districts in this city within which it has been
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or may be provided by ordinance of the city that roof water or storm water or surface water shall be excluded from the sewers.
JOINTS.
Section 22. All joints on lead waste and vent pipe on the drain side of the trap shall be wiped around branch or flange joints. Joints on waste or vent pipes requiring washers or pack- ing shall be avoided.
TRAPS.
Section 23. Every sink, basin, bath tub, water closet, slop- hopper and each set of wash trays or other fixtures connecting with the drainage system shall, except as hereinafter provided, waste through a separate and independent trap, which shall be placed as near as practicable to the fixture that it serves. 'One trap may be permitted to serve for one sink and one set of two wash trays, one bath tub and one wash basin, provided that they are in the same room and that separate connections be made with the trap, which shall not be less than four inches in diameter, and that the waste pipe be not more than three and one-half feet in length from the trap to the fixture.
SIZE OF WASTE PIPES.
Section 24. Waste pipes of less than two inch bore shall be of lead or brass. Waste or vent pipes shall be of a size approved by the inspector of buildings, and if of lead, shall weigh not less than as below specified, namely :-
14 inch pipe. . 22 lbs. per foot
1} inch pipe 3 lbs. per foot
1ª inch pipe. 32 lbs. per foot
2 inch pipe 4 lbs. per foot
3 inch pipe. .6 lbs. per foot
4 inch pipe. 8 lbs. per foot
Where two or more lead or brass waste pipes join the main waste pipe, such main waste pipe shall be of a size approved by the inspector of buildings.
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TRAPS NOT TO CONNECT WITH VENT PIPES.
Section 25. No trap shall waste into a vent pipe or be con- nected with a waste or drain pipe in such a manner as may, when it is flushed, cause the seal of any other trap to be broken.
SYPHONAGE AND AIR PIPES.
Section 26. Traps shall be protected from syphonage or air pressure by cast or wrought iron air pipes (except that lead pipes may be used of a size not less than the waste pipe of the traps they serve), placed as the inspector of buildings may direct. Lead air pipes may be used only where they are exposed to view or cased with a removable casing. Air pipes shall be run without drainage point to the top of the fixture served and as direct as practicable.
Two or more air pipes may be connected together or with a drain pipe above the highest waste connection on the drain pipe. Air pipes for water closet traps shall be of two inch bore if thirty feet or less in length, and of three inch bore if more than thirty feet in length. Air pipes of less than two inch bore shall not exceed twenty-five feet in length and when run through external wall or roof shall be increased to two inch bore. All air pipes shall rise continuously from the trap when practicable, and shall drain to some point.
GREASE TRAPS.
Section 27. A grease trap shall be constructed under the sink of every hotel, eating-house, restaurant or other public cooking establishment in such a manner as to be easily ac- cessible for inspection and cleaning.
TANKS AND OVERFLOW PIPES.
Section 28. Tanks supplied from street service pipes shall have a one inch overflow pipe. Drip or overflow pipes from safes under water closets or other fixtures, or from tanks or cis-
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terns shall be run to some place approved by the inspector of buildings in open sight and in no case shall any such pipe be con- nected directly with a drain pipe. No waste from a refrigerator or other receptacle in which provisions are stored shall be con- nected with a drain pipe.
WATER CLOSETS.
Section 29. Every water closet or line of water closets on the same floor shall be supplied with water from a tank or cistern and shall have a flushing pipe of not less than one inch in diameter; but this requirement shall not apply to closets substituted for vaults where the same are located outside the building proper, and such water closets may be ar- ranged so as to receive their supply directly from the main, with proper fixtures approved by the water board and inspector of buildings.
WATER CLOSETS.
Section 30. All earthenware closets shall be connected with a brass floor flange strongly soldered to the lead bend, bolted, and a gasket or packing used approved by the inspector of build- ings. No pan water closet shall be permitted or any sluice vault of brick, stone or cement.
WATER CLOSETS.
Section 31. Every building hereafter erected or recon- structed or converted to use as a dwelling shall have at least one water closet for each and every family, and every water closet shall have a window of at least three square feet on the open air, or, in buildings already constructed, some other ventilation ap- proved by the inspector of buildings. Local vents shall be placed where prescribed by the inspector of buildings.
ADDITIONS TO DRAINAGE.
Section 32. When in the opinion of the board of health it may be necessary as a health measure, upon its order addition shall be made to any part of the drainage system of any build-
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ing, or any part of the drainage system of any building shall be reconstructed by the owner at his expense. In adding to or reconstructing any part of the drainage system or in substituting new fixtures for old, the waste and vent connections shall be as prescribed by the inspector of buildings.
STEAM EXHAUSTS.
Section 33. No steam exhaust shall be connected with any public sewer or any soil pipe or waste or drain pipe which com- municates with a public sewer.
SERVICE PIPES.
Section 34. Service pipes from street to building shall be not less than three-quarter inch galvanized iron or five- eighth inch two and one-half pound lead pipe and shall have a round way stop and waste cock of same size as the service pipe. Water pipe in exposed places shall be properly protected from frost. Lead water pipes shall be of a weight not less than that below specified, namely :-
Street Pressure. Tank Pressure.
2 inch . 1} lbs. per foot. 1} lbs. per foot ¿ inch . 2 lbs. per foot. 12 lbs. per foot 125884 lbs. per foot § inch. 2} lbs. per foot. 2
2 inch. 3 lbs. per foot. 22 lbs. per foot
1 inch. .4 lbs. per foot. 3 lbs. per foot
APPROVAL OF DRAINAGE SYSTEM.
Section 35. No drainage system or plumbing work shall be considered approved until a certificate of approval has been granted by the inspector of buildings.
MEANING OF ORDINANCE.
Section 36. All questions as to the intent and meaning of the provisions of this ordinance, or any question not covered by this ordinance, shall be decided by the inspector of buildings ; provided that any person dissatisfied or aggrieved by his decision may appeal to the board of aldermen, whose decision shall be final.
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ALTERATIONS.
Section 37. Any person or persons receiving a written notice from the inspector of buildings or his agent, served upon him or them, of any violation of these regulations, shall, within ten days, make such alterations as are called for in said notice.
PENALTIES.
Section 38. Any owner, lessee, contractor, workman, agent or any other person violating any provision of this ordinance, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars for each and every violation thereof, and if such person has received a license under this ordinance or under said chapter four hundred fifty-five of the Acts of 1894, his license may be revoked by the inspector of buildings, and if the violation shall be committed by one holding a license issued from another city or town, the inspector of buildings may forbid him to engage in or work at the business of plumbing in the City of Somerville for a period not exceeding one year. If the person committing the violation hold a license issued by the inspector of buildings of the City of Somerville, said inspector may forbid him to engage in or work at the business of plumbing in the City of Somerville for a period not exceeding one year. Any person engaging in or working at the business of plumbing in this city after he has been for- bidden so to do by the inspector of buildings as aforesaid shall be subject to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for every such offence, as provided by law.
REPEALS OF ORDINANCES.
Section 39. An ordinance, entitled "An Ordinance for the Regulation of Plumbing," passed by the city council and ap- proved by the mayor December 4, 1893, is hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not affect any act done, any right accrued, any penalty or liability incurred, any suit, prosecution or proceeding pending or the tenure of office of any person holding office under said repealed ordinance at the time when this ordinance takes
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effect, nor shall the repeal of said ordinance, approved December 4, 1893, have the effect of reviving any ordinances repealed or superseded by said ordinance approved December 4, 1893.
Section 40. This ordinance shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved October 10, 1896.
Published in Somerville Citizen of November 6, 1896.
No. 64.
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER SEVENTEEN, ENTITLED "FIRE DEPARTMENT," OF THE REVISED ORDINANCES OF 1891.
Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Somerville, as follows : --
Section 1. Section one of chapter seventeen of the Re- vised Ordinances of 1891 is hereby amended by inserting in the first paragraph thereof after the word "companies" the words- and relief drivers-so that as amended the said paragraph shall read as follows: Section 1. The fire department shall consist of a chief engineer and one assistant engineer, and as many en- gine, hose, hook and ladder, and other companies, and relief drivers, as the city council shall from time to time determine.
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