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Ordinance No. 3,527PUBLISHED: THE BAYTOWN SUN Tuesday, Dec. 14, 1982 21209 -1 Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1982 ORDINANCE NO. 3527 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF HOUSE LEVELING; REQUIRING BOND OR INSURANCE OF HOUSE LEVELERS; PROVIDING A PERMITTING PROCEDURE; CONTAINING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; REPEALING CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PRESCRIBING A MAXIMUM PENALTY OF TWO HUNDRED & N01100 ($200.00) DOLLARS; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. Section 1: That the Code of Ordinances of the City of Baytown, Texas is hereby amended by adding a new Article to Chapter 7 "Buildings ", to be numbered Article V, which shall read as follows: ARTICLE V. HOUSE LEVELING Sec. 7 -47. Definition. (a) For the purposes of this article, a "house leveler" is a person who levels a house or any other type of building that is on a slab, by adjusting or repairing same, or by reinforcing the foundation of a house or building, by any method or means used. (b) Any person who is contracted, hired or obtained by any method, or by any system, to obtain the services of a "house leveler" shall be deemed to be a "house leveler" and shall be regulated by this article. (c) A "house leveler" or any person so defined in this section shall be referred to as a "leveler" in this article. Sec. 7 -48. Violations of article. Any violation of any provision of this article shall be deemed a misdemeanor and each and every day that such violation continues shall be a separate violation. Upon conviction, any person guilty of such violation shall be fined not less than One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars nor more than Two Hundred ($200.00) Dollars. Sec. 7 -49. Permit required; permit fee. Any leveler shall be required to obtain a permit from the department of building inspection before any work is done on the proposed site. A forty -five dollar ($45.00) fee shall be required for such permit. Sec. 7 -50. Leveler's bond or insurance. (a) When a leveler applies for a permit to level a house or building, or repair the foundation of a house or building, he shall submit to the department of building inspection a good and sufficient surety bond or insurance policy (in the event of a bond, to be executed by some good solvent bonding company authorized to do business in this state, and in the event of an insurance policy, to be executed by some good solvent insurance company authorized to do business in this state). Such surety bond or insurance policy shall be in the sum of at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) and shall be conditioned that the obligor therein will pay, to the extent of the face amount of such surety bond or insurance policy, all judgments which may be 21209 -1a recovered against the leveler by reason of the wrongful, illegal or negligent acts of the leveler, or his servants, officers, agents or employees, that are committed in the performance of their duties. Such surety bond or insurance policy shall be further conditioned that such person so injured shall have the right to sue directly upon the bond or policy in his own name, and the same shall be subject to successive suits for recovery until a complete exhaustion for the face amount thereof. (b) Such bond or insurance policy shall be further con- ditioned that if the leveler abandons or wholly fails to carry out the provisions of any contract with a subscriber for his services, the same shall be prima facie evidence of the right of the subscriber to demand and recover upon to the full face amount of such bond or insurance policy as liquidated damages for such failure to provide the service as contracted. (c) Such bond or insurance policy shall be further con- ditioned that it shall not expire for at least six (6) months after the job for which a permit is sought is completed. (d) In addition to the above described bond or insurance policy, a leveler shall also submit to the City of Baytown a cash bond, surety bond, or insurance policy in an amount of not less than Twenty Thousand and No /100 ($20,000.00) Dollars, that shall insure the City of Baytown against any loss it may suffer as a result of the leveler damaging, destroying, or rendering unusable any city property, including but not limited to water and sewer lines of the City. Sec. 7 -51. Plans and specifications. When a leveler requests a permit to level a house or building, or repair a foundation, he shall submit to the depart- ment of building inspection two (2) copies of plot plans or specifications, which shall reveal the dimension of the house or building and that portion of the house or building that needs leveling. If the slab foundation is cracked, the location of the area in which the foundation is cracked shall be marked on the plans or specifications. One ( 1 ) copy of such plans or speci- fications will be returned to the leveler when his permit is issued, and the department of building inspection will retain the other copy. Sec. 7 -52. Inspection of work; plank requirements. When the leveler to whom a permit is issued under this article has excavated and has placed the jack or plank (which plank shall not be less than a good 4" by 4" wooden plank) in position, the leveler shall call the building official to the site for inspection of same. Sec. 7 -53. Correction of rejected work; new permit required. If the building official rejects a job inspected under this article due to the leveler's failure, in the judgment of the building official, to comply with the minimum standards for such work, the leveler must make the necessary corrections and it shall be necessary for him to obtain another permit, with the same fees, before the building official will return to the site and make another inspection. Section 2: All ordinances or parts of ordinances incon- zistent with the terms of this ordinance, are hereby repealed 2 21209 -1b provided, however, that such repeal shall be only to the extent of such inconsistency and in all other respects this ordinance shall be cumulative of other ordinances regulating and governing the subject matter covered by this ordinance. Section 3: If any provision, section, exception, sub- section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance or the application of same to any person or set of circumstances, shall for any reason be held unconstitutional, void or invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this ordinance or their application to other persons or sets of circumstances and to this end all provisions of this ordinance are declared to be severable. Section 4: Any person who shall violate any provision of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than One and No /100 ($1.00) Dollar nor more than Two Hundred and No /100 ($200.00) Dollars. Each day of the continuance of such violation shall be considered a separate offense and each and every day shall constitute a separate violation. Section 5. This Ordinance shall take effect from and after ten (10) days after its passage by the City Council. The City Clerk is hereby directed to give notice hereof by causing the caption of this ordinance to be published in the official newspaper of the City of Baytown at least twice within ten (10) days after the passage of this ordinance. INTRODUCED, READ and PASSED by the affirmative vote of the City Council of the City of Baytown on this the 9th day of December, 1982. EMMETT UTTO, Mayor 3 21209 -1c ATTEST: EILEEN P. HALL, City Clerk APPROVED: RANDALL B. STRONG, Ci ttorney