Chapter 14
ELECTRICITY¹

Sec. 14-1. Adoption of National Electrical Code.

(a) The 2005 edition of the National Electrical Code as adopted by the city council and as amended herein, published by the National Fire Protection Association, is hereby adopted by reference and made a part of this chapter, as though fully set forth herein.

(b) Three (3) copies of the National Electrical Code, duly certified by the city clerk, shall be kept on file in the office of the city clerk and shall be available for use and examination by the public during normal business hours. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99; Ord. No. 4456, § 1, 1-8-07)

State law reference – Authority to incorporate codes by reference, Idaho Code, § 50-901.

Sec. 14-2. Permits required.

No person shall commence the placing or construction of electrical wires, electrical appliances or machinery or the repair thereof in any building within the city without first obtaining a permit so to do and paying the charges specified in this chapter for inspecting such work. Any permit issued pursuant to this section shall be valid for period of one hundred eighty (180) days unless otherwise noted on the face of the permit. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-3. Electrical contractor’s license required.

No permit for the installation, alteration, maintenance or repair of any electrical work or wiring shall be issued to any person, unless such person is licensed by the state to engage in business as an electrical contractor; provided, however, that such license shall not be required of a person doing installation, alteration, maintenance or repair of any electrical work or wiring in a single- or duplex-family dwelling of which he is the owner or contract purchaser; provided, further, that such person shall comply with all of the standards, rules and regulations applicable to electrical work under this code. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-4. Competency of electrical contractor.

No permit to do electrical work shall be issued until the applicant therefor shall have demonstrated to the city, that the applicant has a state of Idaho electrical contractor’s license; provided, however, that the requirements of this section shall not apply to a person doing installation, alteration, maintenance or repair of any electrical work or wiring in a single- or duplex-family dwelling of which said person is the owner or contract purchaser; provided, further, that such person shall comply with all of the standards, rules and regulations applicable to electrical work under this code. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-5. Standards – Electrical work.

No certificate of inspection shall be issued unless the electric light, power and heating installations requiring such certificate are in strict conformity with the provisions of this chapter, the regulations in the National Electrical Code and NFPA 70. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-6. Inspection of wiring required.

No electrical work or wiring for which a permit is issued or required shall be put to use or connected to service wires or any sources of electrical energy unless inspected and approved by the building official. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-7. Same – Notification of building official; concealed wiring not to be covered.

(a) Upon the completion of the wiring of any building, it shall be the duty of the person installing the same to notify the building official, who shall inspect the installation within forty-eight (48) hours, not including Sundays and holidays, of the time such notice is given.

(b) If such wiring is found to be fully in compliance with this chapter and does not constitute a hazard to life and property, he shall attach a notice of approval.

(c) All wires which are to be hidden from view shall be inspected before concealment and any person installing such wires shall notify the building official, giving him twenty-four (24) hours in which to make the required inspection before such wires are concealed. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-8. Alterations required by building official to be made promptly.

(a) All alterations to electrical installations required by the building official shall be made promptly and without any unnecessary delay.

(b) Such changes shall be subject to a reinspection charge every twenty-four (24) hours until such changes are made. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-9. Plans and specifications of proposed work to be furnished building official.

Applicants for an electrical permit shall furnish such plans and specifications of proposed electrical work as may be deemed necessary by the building official before any permit for the same shall be issued. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-10. Reinspection.

(a) The office of the building official shall provide a qualified electrical inspector who shall periodically make thorough reinspection of the installation of buildings of all electrical wiring, electrical devices and electrical material now installed or that may hereafter be installed, within the city; and when the installation of any such wiring, devices and material is found to be in a dangerous or unsafe condition, the person, firm or corporation owning, using or operating the same shall be notified and shall make the necessary repairs or changes required to place such wiring, devices or material in a safe condition and have such work completed within fifteen (15) days, or any longer periods specified by the electrical inspector in the notice.

(b) The electrical inspector is hereby empowered to disconnect or order the discontinuance of any electrical service to such wiring, devices and material so found to be defectively installed until the installation of such wiring, devices and material has been made safe as directed by the electrical inspector. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-11. Fees.

(a) Permit fees. All electrical fees shall be assessed as set forth in the electrical fee schedule adopted by resolution from time to time by the city council. Beginning October 1, 2006, and each succeeding October 1st, thereafter, electrical permit fees shall be increased by the same percentage as the increase in the consumer price index as published by the United States Department of Labor or other federal agency for the preceding twelve (12) months ending on the prior May 31st.

(b) Plan review fees. When submittal documents are required a plan review fee shall be paid upon application for a permit. Said plan review fee shall be twenty-five (25) percent of the electrical permit fee as shown in the fee schedule. Plan review fees specified in this section are separate fees from the permit fees and are in addition to the permit fees. When submittal documents are incomplete or changed so as to require additional plan review an additional plan review fee shall be charged as shown in the fee schedule.

(c) Refunds. Upon written application within one hundred eighty (180) days of permit issuance, the building official may refund up to eighty (80) percent of the permit fees paid pursuant to this section if no work is performed on the permit. (Ord. No. 4456, § 2, 1-8-07)

Sec. 14-12. Counter top receptacle spacing.

Where convenience receptacles are required to be installed on peninsula or island counters, the receptacles shall not be installed in such locations which require appliance cords to extend over any edge of the counter. On peninsulas, the counter may extend nine (9) feet from a receptacle where a 4-plex receptacle is installed in an approved location. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-13. Residential service entrance conductors.

Residential service entrance conductors shall be installed as follows:

(1) For new service for any dwelling for single-family occupancy, service entrance conductors shall be installed in a raceway of two (2) inch minimum rigid conduit using an approved two hundred (200) ampere meter socket and two hundred (200) ampere wiring of copper or aluminum, such raceway to terminate in a suitable cabinet or gutter of a two hundred (200) ampere panel. When approved by the building official, a conduit of less than two (2) inches in diameter may be used when the wire type complies with Article 310 of the National Electrical Code and the service entrance conduit complies with Article 230 of the National Electrical Code.

(2) When approved by the building official, the service may be one hundred twenty- five (125) ampere if the total area of the dwelling is less than one thousand (1,000) square feet. All masts, when used for attachment and support of the service drop, shall meet the requirements of Article 230 of the National Electrical Code. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-14. Working clearance – Definition.

As applied by the city of Lewiston, the term working clearance shall be defined as a clear working space, free of all obstructions, including architectural projections, partitions, dividers, door swings or equipment. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

Sec. 14-15. Violations.

(a) No work may be undertaken by any person without compliance with this section. A violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by six (6) months’ imprisonment and a fine of up to five hundred dollars ($500.00), or both. Each day the violation occurs shall be a continuing violation.

(b) Any person who shall commence any work for which a permit is required without first having obtained a permit shall pay, in addition to the cost of any permits, an investigation fee in the amount of forty dollars ($40.00) or the amount equal to the cost of the permit which should have been obtained, whichever is greater.

(c) Any person who shall commence any work for which a permit is required without first having obtained a permit and within twelve (12) months preceding said violation having committed a similar offense shall pay, in addition to the cost of any permits, an investigation fee in the amount equal to two (2) times the cost of the permit which should have been obtained, or eighty dollars ($80.00), whichever is greater. (Ord. No. 4233, § 2, 6-21-99)

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Footnotes

¹Cross references – Buildings and building regulations, Ch. 10; fire protection and prevention, Ch. 15; gas, Ch. 18; manufactured homes, manufactured home parks and tourist facilities, Ch. 23; plumbing, Ch. 27; public right-of-way, Ch. 31; subdivisions, Ch. 32; water and sewers, Ch. 36; zoning, Ch. 37.

Editor’s note – Ord. No. 4233, § 1, adopted June 21, 1999, repealed former §§ 14-1 – 14-28 and replaced them with §§ 14-1 – 14-15. The deleted sections contained electrical system regulations currently covered under the provisions of the adopted electrical code. These sections derived from 1960 Code Chapter 9, as amended by Ord. No. 2031, §§ 1 – 4, 6, 8, 9, 12 and 13, Ord. No. 2831, § 1, adopted Nov. 9, 1970, Ord. No. 2855, § 1, Ord. No. 3003, § 1, adopted Nov. 16, 1970, Ord. No. 3028, §§ 1 and 2, adopted July 12, 1971, Ord. No. 3037, § 2, adopted July 6, 1971, Ord. No. 3074, § 1, adopted March 27, 1972, Ord. No. 3075, § 1, adopted April 10, 1972, Ord. No. 3593, § 1, adopted Oct. 26, 1981, Ord. No. 3663, § 1, adopted Aug. 2, 1982, Ord. No. 3786, §§ 5 and 8, adopted Aug. 26, 1985, Ord. No. 3840, § 1, adopted Nov. 3, 1986, Ord. No. 3889, § 5, adopted Dec. 7, 1987, Ord. No. 3898 §§ 5 – 10 and 12, adopted Jan. 4, 1988, Ord. No. 3946, §§ 1, 2 and 4, adopted July 24, 1989, Ord. No. 3959, § 1, adopted Jan. 15, 1990, Ord. No. 4087, § 1, adopted Jan. 3, 1994, and Ord. No. 4176, §§ 2, 3 and 4, adopted Dec. 2, 1996.