PRINTER'S NO. 3621
No. 2736 Session of 1980
INTRODUCED BY PITTS, BRANDT, GEIST, DeWEESE, M. H. GEORGE AND
PETRARCA, JUNE 18, 1980
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, JUNE 18, 1980
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of February 1, 1966 (1965 P.L.1656, No.581),
2 entitled "An act concerning boroughs, and revising, amending
3 and consolidating the law relating to boroughs," providing
4 for special building permit fees and disposition thereof to
5 certain volunteer fire companies.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Clause (24) of section 1202, act of February 1,
9 1966 (1965 P.L.1656, No.581), known as "The Borough Code,"
10 amended October 9, 1967 (P.L.399, No.181), is amended to read:
11 Section 1202. Specific Powers.--The powers of the borough
12 shall be vested in the corporate authorities. Among the specific
13 powers of the borough shall be the following, and in the
14 exercise of any of such powers involving the enactment of any
15 ordinance or the making of any regulation, restriction or
16 prohibition, the borough may provide for the enforcement thereof
17 and may prescribe penalties for the violation thereof or for the
18 failure to conform thereto:
19 * * *
1 (24) Building, housing and plumbing regulations. To enact
2 and enforce ordinances relating to buildings and housing, their
3 construction, alteration, extension, repair and maintenance and
4 all facilities and services in or about such buildings or
5 housing, to require that, before any work of construction,
6 alteration, extension, or repair of any building is begun,
7 approval of the plans and specifications therefor be secured; to
8 provide for the inspection of such work of construction,
9 alteration, extension and repair, including the appointment of
10 one or more building inspectors and/or housing inspectors; to
11 prescribe limits wherein none but buildings of noncombustible
12 material and fireproof roofs shall be erected, or substantially
13 reconstructed, or moved thereinto; to provide for enforcement of
14 such regulations by a reasonable fine, and by instituting
15 appropriate actions or proceedings at law, or in equity, to
16 effect the purposes of this provision and ordinances enacted
17 thereunder. Any building or housing or part thereof erected,
18 altered, extended, reconstructed or removed, contrary to any of
19 the provisions of any ordinance passed for any of the purposes
20 specified in this clause is declared to be a public nuisance and
21 abatable as such.
22 Any such ordinance may be adopted by reference to a standard
23 building code or housing code, or to parts thereof, determined
24 by council, or the provisions of the ordinance may be supplied
25 by reference to a typed or printed building code, or housing
26 code, prepared under the direction of or accepted by council, or
27 the provisions may consist of a standard building code or
28 housing code, or parts thereof, and also further provisions
29 typed or printed as aforesaid. Such building code or housing
30 code shall not be advertised either in advance of or following
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1 enactment, by publication of the full text thereof, and, in
2 place of such complete advertisement, an informative notice of
3 intention to consider such proposed building code or housing
4 code, and a brief summary, setting forth the principal
5 provisions of such proposed building code or housing code in
6 such reasonable detail as will give adequate notice of its
7 contents and a reference to the place or places within the
8 borough where copies of such proposed building code or housing
9 code may be examined or obtained shall be published once in one
10 newspaper of general circulation in the borough at least one
11 week and not more than three weeks prior to the presentation of
12 the proposed building code or housing code to council. No
13 further advertisement or notice need be published following
14 enactment of the building code or housing code. Copies of the
15 building code or housing code thus adopted by reference shall be
16 made available to any interested party at the cost thereof, or
17 may be furnished or loaned without charge. Such building code or
18 housing code need not be recorded in or attached to the
19 ordinance book, but it shall be deemed to have been legally
20 recorded if the ordinance by which such building code or housing
21 code was adopted by reference shall have been recorded, with an
22 accompanying notation stating where the full text of such
23 building code or housing code shall have been filed. The
24 procedure set forth relating to the adoption of the building
25 code or housing code, by reference, may likewise be adopted in
26 amending, supplementing or repealing any of the provisions of
27 the building code or housing code.
28 To enact suitable ordinances relating to plumbing, in the
29 same manner and to the same effect as herein provided for
30 building and housing codes. The building code, the housing code
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1 and the plumbing code may be combined or separately enacted.
2 Any housing ordinance previously enacted by a borough which
3 provides for the purposes authorized by this clause is hereby
4 validated.
5 The ordinance or resolution regulating buildings and
6 alterations thereto shall provide for a special building permit
7 fee for each new dwelling unit of fifty dollars ($50) per
8 dwelling, apartment or comparable nonresidential unit, which
9 amount shall be paid to the volunteer fire company providing
10 primary fire protection to the building or unit thereof for
11 which the permit is issued. No such special building permit
12 shall be required for alterations, repairs or improvements to
13 existing dwellings unless they result in a new dwelling unit.
14 * * *
15 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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