Loading...
(A) The Chief of the Fire Department or any officer or member of the Department designated by him or her for that purpose, is authorized to inspect all property for the purpose of ascertaining and causing to be corrected any conditions likely to cause fire loss, or determining the cause or origin of any fire loss, or discovering any violation of a law or ordinance relating to fire prevention and protection. This authority shall apply to the interior of occupied, private dwellings only when a fire loss has occurred therein or when the officer has reason to believe that unsafe conditions exist in the building. Inspections of property in the territory served by the Fire Department shall be made as often as practicable or as often as the City Council may direct.
(B) A written report of each inspection shall be made and kept on file in the office of the Chief of the Fire Department. Reports of investigations of fire losses conducted by the Fire Department may, in the discretion of the Chief, be withheld from the public.
(KRS 227.370)
(A) Whenever the Chief of the Fire Department or any officer or member of the Department designated by him or her for that purpose finds any property which for want of repairs, lack of sufficient fire escapes, age, dilapidated condition, or any other cause, is especially liable to fire loss, or whenever an officer finds in any property, combustible or explosive matter or inflammable materials likely to result in fire loss, he or she shall order it to be remedied. The order shall forthwith be conformed to by the owner of the property.
(B) The owner may appeal to the State Commissioner of Housing, Buildings, and Construction within ten days following receipt of the order. The Commissioner shall, within 20 days, review the order and file his or her decision. The order shall remain in full force until it is revoked or modified by the Commissioner.
(KRS 227.380)
If any owner fails to comply with an order issued pursuant to § 150.52 or with an order as modified on appeal to the Commissioner of Housing, Buildings, and Construction, the officer may cause the property to be repaired, or removed if repair is not feasible, and all fire hazard conditions remedied, at the expense of the owner. Such expense may be enforced against any property of such owners and the officer and those employed to do the work or who furnish materials or equipment therefor shall have a lien for such expense on the real estate or property involved.
(KRS 227.390)
(A) No owner shall fail to furnish and use reasonable adequate protection and safeguards against fire loss, or fail to adopt and use processes and methods reasonably adequate to render such places safe from fire loss.
(B) No owner shall require or allow the public or any employee to go into or be in any property under his or her control which is not reasonably safe from the fire loss.
(KRS 227.400)
(A) For the purpose of this section the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
(1) “DWELLING UNIT.” Any group of rooms located within a building or structure, including mobile homes, and forming a single housekeeping unit with facilities which are used or designed to be used for living, sleeping, cooking or eating.
(2) “DWELLING.” Any building which contains one or more dwelling units or any rooming unit, rooms or area designated or used for sleeping purposes either as a primary use or use on casual occasions. “DWELLING” shall also include a rooming house, motels, tourist homes, school dormitories, and apartment buildings.
(3) “OWNER.” Any corporation, company, partnership or other association or any natural person, who, alone, jointly, or with several others shall:
(a) Have all or part of the legal title to any dwelling or dwelling unit, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof, or shall have all or part of the beneficial ownership of any dwelling unit and a right to present use and enjoyment thereof, including a mortgage in possession; or
(b) Have charge, care, or control of any dwelling or dwelling unit as owner, executor, administrator, trustee, guardian of the estate, or duly authorized agent of the owner. Any such person thus representing the actual owner shall be bound to comply with the owner’s obligations under this section.
(4) “ROOMING UNIT.” Any room which is designed or used for sleeping purposes. A “ROOMING UNIT” may also include a room in a rooming house, a hotel, a motel, a tourist home, a school dormity, or an apartment building which may, or may not have some additional facilities for eating or cooking contained therein.
(B) (1) Subject to such exceptions and conditions for compliance as stated herein, six months after the effective date of this section, smoke detectors shall be required in all dwellings privately owned or rented for occupancy. It shall be the responsibility of the owner of each new and/or existing occupied dwelling unit to install smoke detectors in each dwelling unit as hereinafter provided. Said smoke detectors shall be capable of sensing visible or invisible particles or combustion and providing a suitable audible (or visual for a deaf or hearing impaired person) alarm.
(2) This section shall apply to any and all dwellings or dwelling units, new or existing, which are not otherwise required to have smoke detectors located herein under the provisions of the currently adopted Kentucky Building Code and/or the currently adopted Life Safety Code (LSC 101).
(C) (1) In order to comply with this section, only ionization or photoelectric-type detectors approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory shall be installed. As an alternative to self- contained smoke detectors, under certain limited conditions, an approved fire-detection system or a combination thereof may be installed. Each and every alternative system must be individually approved in written form by the Fire Chief or the Chief Fire Inspector of the City Fire Department.
(2) Smoke detectors in new residential dwellings shall be wired directly (hard wired) to the building. In existing buildings, it is preferred that smoke detectors be wired directly to the power supply; however, said detectors may be powered by self-monitored battery or operated by an electrical plug-in outlet which is fitted with a plug restrainer device, provided that the outlet is not controlled by any switch other than the main power supply.
(3) Smoke detectors shall be placed in accordance with applicable National Fire Protection Act (N.F.P.A.) Standards. Detectors may be ceiling- or wa11-mounted, provided, that if wa11- mounted they shall be within 12 inches, but not closer than six inches to the ceiling.
(4) At least one smoke detector shall be installed to protect each sleeping area. A sleeping area is defined as the area or areas of the dwelling unit in which the bedrooms (or sleeping rooms) are located. Where bedrooms or rooms ordinarily used for sleeping are separated by other use areas (such as kitchens or living rooms, but not bathrooms or closets), they shall be considered as separate sleeping areas for the purposes of this section. In a dwelling unit which contains a well defined sleeping room separated from the other activity areas of the same unit, the detectors shall be located in the corridor within the unit or interior area giving access to the rooms used for sleeping purposes. Where sleeping areas are separated and/or where a single smoke detector will not adequately service all sleeping areas, there shall be a smoke detector installed adjacent to each sleeping area.
(5) In a rooming unit, the detector shall be centrally located on the ceiling.
(6) In a dwelling containing two or more dwelling units or any rooming unit, in addition to the requirements for individual smoke detectors in each dwelling unit or rooming unit, detectors shall be placed in centrally located common areas, so that smoke detectors will adequately service all sleeping areas.
(7) At least one detector shall be installed in or near each stairway leading up to an occupied area in such a manner as to assure that rising smoke is not obstructed in reaching the detector and the detector intercepts rising smoke before it reaches the occupied area.
(D) (1) The owner of a dwelling shall be responsible for supplying and installing in an operable condition the required detector(s) and for providing maintenance and testing in an owner- occupied residence; or for providing the manufacturer’s maintenance and testing instructions to a tenant in the case of rental property.
(2) The owner of a dwelling shall be responsible for maintenance and testing of detectors, in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, which are located in common areas and/or detectors in rooming units where the tenant usually has short periods of occupancy (hotels, motels, rooming or tourist homes).
(3) The tenant shall be responsible for maintaining and testing the detector, in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, which are within his or her exclusive control during the life of the tenancy. The tenant shall be responsible for notifying the owner when a detector becomes inoperable, whereafter the owner has ten days in which to repair or replace in operable condition said detector(s). In the battery-operated detectors, battery replacement shall be the responsibility of the tenant.
(4) At every change of tenancy, it shall be the duty of the owner to test and ascertain that those detectors contained in the unit are in operable condition, and if not, the owner shall be responsible for placing them in operable condition.
(5) At every change of occupancy of every dwelling unit occasioned by or incidental to a sale, lease or sublease of said unit, it shall be the duty of the grantor thereof (i.e., the seller, lessor, or sublessor, as the case may be) to provide, before occupancy by the new occupant thereof, that all smoke detectors which are required by this section (and other applicable laws) are installed and in proper working condition. Failure to comply with this division shall be punishable as set forth herein, provided, however, that this division shall not be construed to violate or render void any contract, lease or sublease subject hereto.
(6) No smoke detector or alternative system shall be directly connected (permanently wired) to the electrical system of a structure without the proper electrical certification.
(E) This section is intended to be used with, and supplemented by, the applicable provisions of the National Fire Protection Standards 72-E and 74 (current edition) which are hereby incorporated herein; however, if there shall be any conflict between this section and the said supplemental standards, this section and any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto shall pervail. All amendments to or changes in N.F.P.A. Nos. 72-E and 74 are adopted and made a part hereof without further reference.
(F) (1) The Fire Chief or the Fire Inspector of the City Fire Department shall be primarily responsible for the enforcement of this section.
(2) The City Inspector shall assist the Fire Chief by making referrals to the Fire Chief as part of its regular inspection and enforcement of all city housing, building and safety codes. No building permits for remodeling or repair of a dwelling unit shall be issued for any dwelling unit not properly equipped with said detectors. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for any new dwelling or dwelling unit not properly equipped with said detectors. Detectors must be operable for the final inspection of the City Inspector and the Fire Chief. Instructions/maintenance booklets must be provided to the owner by the manufacturer as per N.F.P.A. No. 74, and said documentation displayed to the City Inspector or Fire Chief during the final inspection.
(Ord. 1990-4, passed 4-3-90)
(A) The following structures shall be equipped with a key lock box system at or near the main entrance or at any other such location which may be required by the Fire Chief or any other representative of the Fire Department of Bellevue-Dayton:
(1) All newly constructed commercial and industrial structures and places of assembly protected by an automatic fire alarm system or automatic suppression system or any such structure secured in a manner that restricts access during an emergency;
(2) All newly constructed multi-family residential structures that have restricted access through locked doors and have a common corridor for access to the living quarters;
(3) All newly constructed health care facilities; and
(4) All existing structures undertaking additions, alterations or repairs which shall cause the same to conform with the then current provisions of any of the building or property maintenance codes adopted by the city.
(5) All existing structures as described above in this division (A) within three years from the effective date of this section whether or not undertaking additions, alterations or repairs. The Fire Chief shall give notice to the owners of such existing structures immediately upon adoption of this section.
(B) The Fire Chief may exempt any building from the operation of division (A) above upon written determination that such requirement is unreasonable due to design, geographical abnormalities, adequate substitute accommodations, cost or for other good cause shown.
(C) All structures subject hereto shall be required to install a key lock system prior to the issuance of any occupancy permit which shall then be functional at all times thereafter.
(D) The Mayor, be executive order, upon recommendation of the Fire Chief, shall designate the type(s) of key lock box system(s) to be implemented and shall have the authority to require all structures to use the designated system(s).
(E) The owner or operator of any structure subject hereto shall, at all times, keep a key in the lock box that will permit access to the structure.
(F) The owner or operator of any structure subject hereto shall notify the Fire Department of Bellevue-Dayton of any changes to the key lock box system.
(G) The Mayor, by executive order, upon recommendation of the Fire Chief or otherwise, is authorized to implement rules and regulations governing the use of any key lock box system.
(H) The Local Ordinance Code Specialist shall be responsible for the enforcement hereof and shall assist the Fire Department of Bellevue-Dayton by making referrals to them as part of its regular inspections and enforcement of all city housing, building and safety codes.
(I) No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for any structure subject hereto which is not properly equipped with the required key lock box system.
(J) Any such key lock box system must be operational for final inspection by the Local Ordinance Code Specialist and/or Fire Department of Bellevue-Dayton.
(K) Should any violation hereof occur, a written notice shall be given to the property owner mandating compliance. The Local Ordinance Code Specialist and/or Fire Department of Bellevue-Dayton shall thereafter re-inspect the structure to ensure compliance. Failure to allow the inspector re-entry for such purpose shall constitute prima facie evidence of a continued violation and the Local Ordinance Code Specialist shall cause a complaint to be filed against the property owner for the violation.
(Ord. 2007-23, passed 12-4-07) Civil offense, see § 38.15; Penalty, see § 150.99
BLIGHTED AND DETERIORATED PROPERTIES
Loading...