The remaining sections in this chapter are and represent amendments and additions to the requirements contained in the International Plumbing Code (hereinafter known as the IPC) and where they conflict with those of the International Plumbing Code, the requirements of this chapter shall prevail.
1. Section 103.1 Department of Plumbing Inspection
2. Section 106.5 Permit Issuance
3. Section 106.5.3 Expiration
4. Section 106.6 Permit Fees
5. Section 108.5 Stop Work Orders
6. Section 305.4 Freezing
7. Section 312.3 Drainage and Vent Air Test
8. Table 403.1 Minimum Number of Required Plumbing Fixtures
9. Section 410.2 Small Occupancies
10. Section 413.3 Floor Drains
11. Section 504.6 Water Heater Floor Drain
12. Section 603.1 Size of Water Service Pipe
13. Section 710.1 Maximum Fixture Unit Load
14. Section 715.1 Sewage Backflow
15. Section 903.1 Roof Extension
16. Section 1111.1 Subsoil Drains
1. DEPARTMENT OF PLUMBING INSPECTION. Section 103.1 shall be amended by deleting the section and replacing with the following: “There is hereby established in the City the Department of Plumbing Inspections, which shall be under the direction and supervision of the Building and Zoning Official. The Building Official shall be responsible to the Community Development Director for the enforcement of the Plumbing Codes, and such other ordinances as shall assign the Building Official that function, and shall perform such other duties as may be required by the Community Development Director or by any classification plan adopted by the City. Additional responsibilities of the Building Official shall be assigned as required per Chapter 155 of the City of Altoona, Code of Ordinances.”
2. PERMIT ISSUANCE. Section 106.5 shall be added to the end of the section to state as follows:
1. Permits are not transferable. Plumbing work performed under the provisions of this chapter must be done by a contractor meeting the licensing provisions as set forth by the Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board in accordance with Iowa Code Chapter 105 unless the provisions of Section 155.13 of the Municipal Code are met. A plumbing contractor licensee by the State of Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board as a “Master” may sign and obtain a permit for the contractor for which they are employed only when said “Master” has provided proof of employment by said licensed plumbing contractor. Any permit required by the provisions of this code may be revoked by the Building Official upon the violation of any provision of this code.
2. A State of Iowa licensed Plumbing contractor shall be allowed only to secure permits for himself or herself, or for a single firm or corporation. When a State of Iowa licensed Plumbing contractor has secured such a permit, only the employees of such contractor when meeting the provisions of Iowa Code Chapter 105 shall perform the work for which the permit was obtained.
3. For purposes of this section, an “employee” shall be one employed by the contractor, firm or corporation for a wage or salary. A contractor may be required by the Building Official to show positive evidence as to the employee status of workers on the job. Such evidence shall be in the form of payroll and time records, canceled checks, or other such documents.
4. The contractor may also be required to show the agreement or contract pertaining to the work being questioned as evidence that said contractor is, in fact, the actual contractor for such work. Failure or refusal by the contractor to make available such employee or contractual records within 24 hours from demand therefor shall be grounds for immediate revocation of any permit for the work in question.
3. EXPIRATION. Section 106.5.3 shall be amended by deleting the section and replacing with the following:
106.5.3 Expiration. Every permit, issued by the building official under the provision of the plumbing code shall expire under any one of the following conditions:
1. Failure to begin work authorized within 180 days after issuance of the permit.
2. Suspension or abandonment of work for 120 days after commencement of the work. Time of occurrence of suspension or abandonment of work shall be computed from the date of the most recent inspection since which no progress has been made.
3. Failure to complete work on a structure designed for residential uses within one year after issuance of a permit.
4. Failure to complete work on a structure designed for commercial or industrial uses within two years after issuance of a permit. For permits with a building valuation exceeding $10,000,000.00 work shall be completed within three years after issuance of a permit.
Any permittee holding an unexpired permit may apply for an extension of the time within which he or she may commence or continue work. The building official is authorized to grant, in writing, for periods not more than 180 days each, two extensions. The extension shall be requested in writing and justifiable cause demonstrated. Any of the extensions may be further extended by action of the City Council. In all cases, when a renewal is granted the structure for which the permit is required shall comply with code requirements in effect at the time the permit is renewed.
4. PERMIT FEES. Section 106.6 shall be amended by deleting the section and replacing with the following:
1. Permit Fees:
A. A fee for each plumbing permit shall be paid to the building official in the amount set in the Schedule of Fees adopted by the City Council. No plumbing permits shall be issued to any person who has fees outstanding as required by this code or any other laws or ordinances of the City.
B. If a permit is issued for a specific amount of work and, upon inspection, it is determined that more work was performed than was authorized by the permit, the permittee shall amend the permit or obtain another permit to include all additional work and shall pay a new base fee and any unit fees as described in paragraph A above.
2. Additional permit fees are as follows:
A. Double Fee. Except in emergency situations, as determined by the Building Official, where work for which a plumbing permit is required by this code is started or proceeded with by any person prior to obtaining a required permit, the fees specified as set forth in the amount set in the Schedule of Fees as adopted by the City Council shall be doubled. The payment of such double fee shall not relieve any person from fully complying with the requirements of this code in the execution of the work or from any other penalties prescribed herein. No additional permits of any type shall be issued to any person who owes the City the double fee described in this subsection. However, no double fee shall be imposed upon any person who starts without a permit if:
(1) The work is started on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, or during any other day when the Building Department is not normally open for business; and
(2) The person secures the proper permit on the next Building Department working day.
B. Refunds. If, within 30 days of the date of issuance, the holder of a plumbing permit decides not to commence the work described in said permit, said person may, upon application to the Building Official, be refunded that portion of the permit fee which is in excess of the permit refund fee as set forth in the Schedule of Fees as adopted by the City Council.
C. Fees for Permit Renewals as stated in Section 157.09 shall be based on the amount of remaining work to be completed. If the plans are changed enough to warrant a review then the permit fee shall be ½ the cost of the original fee plus any fees as set forth in subsection E of this code section.
* Or the hourly cost to the jurisdiction, whichever is greater. This cost shall include supervision, overhead, hourly wages, and fringe benefits of the employees involved.
D. Reinspections. A reinspection fee may be assessed for each inspection or reinspection when such portion of work for which inspection is called is not complete or when corrections called for are not made. This section is not to be interpreted as requiring reinspection fees the first time a job is rejected for failure to comply with the requirements of this code, but as controlling the practice of calling for inspections before the job is ready for such inspection or reinspection. Reinspection fees may be assessed when the approved plans are not readily available to the inspector, for failure to provide access on the date for which inspection is requested, or for deviating from plans requiring the approval of the building official. To obtain a reinspection, the applicant shall pay the reinspection fee in accordance with the schedule of fees as set forth in the Schedule of Fees as adopted by the City Council. In instances where reinspection fees have been assessed, no additional inspection of the work will be performed until the required fees have been paid.
E. Other Inspections and Fees: See the schedule of fees as adopted by the City Council.
Persons performing work for the Federal Government, the State, the county or city may obtain permits for such work without paying the permit fees described herein; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt payment of permit fees by persons performing work under the direction of the City in connection with the abatement of any public law.
An expired permit may not be reissued without a permit fee except by resolution of the City Council.
5. STOP WORK ORDERS. Section 108.5 shall be amended by deleting the last sentence and replacing with the following: “Any person who shall continue any work on the system 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 be subject to civil penalties as defined in Chapter 4 “Municipal Infractions” of this code of ordinances.
6. FREEZING. Section 305.4 shall be amended by deleting “Exterior water supply system piping shall be installed not less than 6 inches below the frost line and not less than 12 inches below grade.” and replacing with “Exterior water supply system piping shall, whenever feasible, be no less than five (5) feet below the surface of the ground”.
7. DRAINAGE AND VENT AIR TEST. Section 312.3 shall be amended by deleting the first sentence in the paragraph.
8. MINIMUM NUMBER OF REQUIRED PLUMBING FIXTURES. Table 403.1 shall be amended by deleting footnote e and replacing with the following footnote e:
e. For business and mercantile occupancies with an occupant load of 30 or fewer, service sinks shall not be required.
9. SMALL OCCUPANCIES. Section 410.2 shall be amended by deleting the section and replacing with the following:
410.2 Small occupancies. Drinking fountains are not required for an occupant load of 50 or fewer however a bottled water dispenser shall be provided for occupancies with an occupant load between 16 and 49. For occupancies less than 100, individual water bottles that are readily available, offered continuously without fee, and displayed with approved signage within the public area shall be allowed in place of drinking fountains or water dispensers.
10. FLOOR DRAINS. Section 413.3 shall be amended by adding the following to the existing section:
“Unless otherwise approved by the inspector, at least one floor drain shall be provided in each room where an automatic water heater is, or will be installed, and in each mechanical room. When installed in a basement floor, such floor drain shall be at least three inches in diameter”. Every water meter shall be within 8 feet of a floor drain as described per Ordinance section 91.04.”
11. WATER HEATER FLOOR DRAIN. Section 501 shall be amended by adding the following section.
12. SIZE OF WATER SERVICE PIPE. Section 603.1 shall be amended by deleting “The water service pipe shall be not less than ¾ inch in diameter” and replacing with “ The water service pipe shall be not less than 1 inch in diameter”
13. MAXIMUM FIXTURE UNIT LOAD. Section 710.1 shall be amended by adding the following sentence at the end of the section “The minimum diameter for a building sewer shall be four (4) inches.”
14. SEWAGE BACKFLOW. Section 714.1 shall be amended by adding the following sentences at the end of the paragraph:
“The requirement for the installation of a backwater valve shall apply only when it is determined necessary by the Building Official based on local conditions. When a valve is required by the Building Official, it shall be a manually operated gate valve or full- way ball valve. An automatic backwater valve may also be installed, but is not required.
15. ROOF EXTENSION. Section 903.1 shall be amended by deleting “[NUMBER]” located in the second line of the first sentence and replacing with “12 inches.
16. SUBSOIL DRAINS. Section 1111.1 shall be amended by deleting the sentence “The subsoil sump shall not be required to have either a gas-tight cover or a vent.” and replaced with the following: “The subsoil sump shall have a gas-tight cover appropriate to the sump basket attached in an approved manner. The lid shall have an opening with a diameter of 4 inches that is gasketed with a 4 inch pipe stubbed through the lid and capped for the future use of a radon vent. Any system used for the removal of the radon gas shall be in accordance with accepted industry standards.”