(a) The City of Williamsport hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, 35 P.S. §§ 7210.101 et seq., as amended from time to time, and its regulations.
(b) The Uniform Construction Code, contained in 34 Pa. Code Ch. 401 through 405, as amended from time to time, is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the municipal building code of the City of Williamsport.
(c) Administration and enforcement of the Code within the City of Williamsport shall be undertaken in any of the following ways as determined by the City Council of the City of Williamsport from time to time by resolution.
(1) By the designation of an employee of the City of Williamsport to serve as the municipal code official to act on behalf of the City of Williamsport;
(2) By the retention of one or more construction code officials or third-party agencies to act on behalf of the City of Williamsport;
(3) By agreement with one or more other municipalities for the joint administration and enforcement of this Act through an inter-municipal agreement;
(4) By entering into a contract with another municipality for the administration and enforcement of this Act on behalf of the City of Williamsport;
(5) By entering into an agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry for plan review, inspections and enforcement of structures other than one-family or two-family dwelling units and utility and miscellaneous use structures.
(d) A Board of Appeals is hereby established in conformity with the requirements of the relevant provisions of the Code, as amended from time to time, and for the purposes set forth therein. If at any time enforcement and administration is undertaken jointly with one or more other municipalities said Board of Appeals shall be established by joint action of the participating municipalities.
(1) The Board of Appeals shall consist of five members appointed by City Council. A member of the Board shall be qualified by training and experience to pass on matters pertaining to building construction. Training and experience may consist of licensure as an architect or engineer, experience in the construction industry and training or experience as an inspector or plan examiner.
(2) Each member serves without compensation.
(3) The terms shall be one for five years, one for four years, one for three years, one for two years and one for one year. Thereafter, each new member shall serve for five years or until a successor is named.
(4) City Council shall appoint two alternate members who shall serve for a period of five years, and called on to hear appeals during the absence or disqualification of a member. There shall be an alternate one and an alternate two the alternate one being called on first.
(5) When five members are not present to hear the appeal, either the appellant or the representative shall have the right to a postponement of the hearing.
(A) All building code ordinances or portions of ordinances, which were adopted by the City of Williamsport on or before 7-1-1999, and which equal or exceed the requirements of the Code shall continue in full force and effect until such time as such provisions fail to equal or exceed the minimum requirements of the Code, as amended from time to time.
(B) All building code ordinances or portions of ordinances, which are in effect as of the effective date of this ordinance and whose requirements are less than the minimum requirements of the Code are hereby amended to conform with the comparable provisions of the Code.
(C) All relevant ordinances, regulations and policies of the City of Williamsport not governed by the Code shall remain in full force and effect.
(f) Fees assessable by the City of Williamsport for the administration and enforcement undertaken pursuant to this article and the Code shall be established by the City Council by ordinance from time to time.
(g) This article shall be effective 20 days after the date of passage of this ordinance.
(h) If any section, subsection, sentence or clause of this ordinance is held, for any reason, to be invalid, such decision or decisions shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.
(i) (1) Violation of act.
(A) Any individual, firm or corporation that violates any provisions of this act commits a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and cost.
(B) Each day that a violation of this act continues shall be considered a separate violation.
(2) Disposition of penalties. The amount of the penalty shall be forwarded to the entity with enforcement jurisdiction.
(Ord. 5948, approved 4-15-2004; Ord. 6413, approved 4-29-2021)