(a) Criminal Penalties.
(ORC 3737.99(B)) (Ord. 2013-23. Passed 2-13-13.)
(2) Whoever violates Section 1610.05(b) or 1610.06 is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 3737.99(C))
(ORC 3737.99(D))
(ORC 3737.99(E))
(b) Civil Penalties.
(1) Any person who has received a citation for a serious violation of the Ohio Fire Code or any order issued pursuant to it shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each such violation.
(2) Any person who has received a citation for a violation of the Ohio Fire Code or any order issued pursuant to it, and such violation is specifically determined not to be of a serious nature, may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than the following amounts. Violations determined not to be serious violations or cited as less than serious violations shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for severe violations, not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for moderate violations, and not more than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) for minor violations.
(3) Any person who fails to correct a violation for which a citation has been issued, within the period permitted for its correction, may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day during which such failure or violation continues.
(4) Any person who violates any of the posting requirements prescribed by Ohio R.C. 3737.42(C), or a substantially similar Municipal ordinance, shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation.
(5) Due consideration to the appropriateness of the penalty with respect to the gravity of the violation, the good faith of the person being charged, and the history of previous violations shall be given whenever a penalty is assessed under this chapter.
(6) For purposes of this section, a serious violation shall be considered to exist if there is a substantial probability that an occurrence causing death or serious physical harm to persons could result from a condition which exists, or from one or more practices, means, methods, operations or processes which have been adopted or are in use, unless the person did not and could not, with the exercise of reasonable diligence, know of the presence of the violation.
A severe violation shall be considered to exist if the code violation represents a serious safety risk to persons. Examples of these situations include fire systems that are out of service, overcrowding, longstanding uncorrected fire code violations, or locked egress doors. These issues shall be immediately corrected or a plan of action shall, with reasonable and deliberate speed, be submitted to and approved by the Fire Department.
A moderate violation is one that represents a serious safety risk but not an immediate life safety hazard. These types of violations typically require a third party service or testing to correct the problem. The time granted by the inspector to remedy the problem shall be based upon the nature of the violation and circumstances. Examples of these types of violations are out of service or out of date fire protection systems, major electrical or structural issues, blocked suppression systems, or dangerous storage situations.
A minor violation is a violation that does not represent an immediate life hazard and is easily corrective. Such violations should cost less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) in materials to correct and be able to be completed with little or no technical assistance. Examples of these violations include extension cords, exit signs with burnt out batteries, housekeeping issues, missing addresses, held open fire doors, dead emergency light batteries, missing and out of date fire extinguishers, missing ceiling tiles or fire protection breaks, minor electrical issues such as missing face plates and multi-plug adaptors, blocked exit doors and pathways, or other easily correctible fire code violations.
(7) Civil penalties imposed under this chapter shall be paid to the Village Director of Finance for deposit into the General Fund. Such penalties may be recovered in a civil action in the name of the Municipality brought in the Court of Common Pleas.
(Ord. 2018-34. Passed 5-23-18.)