Request By:
Charles G. Franklin, Esq.
24 Court Street
P.O. Box 547
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter raising questions concerning a city's electrical inspector.
You state that Madisonville, a city of the fourth class, appointed a certified inspector as the city's electrical inspector pursuant to KRS 227.480(2). The city's ordinances require that the electrical inspector be a resident of the city and that it is unlawful to make an electrical connection without the approval of the city inspector.
The practice had been for the city to require an electrical inspection of a residence or business prior to the service connection. A tag was placed in the appropriate place by the inspector indicating that the inspection had been completed and approved. The Light and Water Department would then authorize the connection of the residence or business to a power source.
Recently, certified inspectors from other counties have come into the city, performed electrical inspections of residential and commercial buildings and tagged them as inspected and in compliance with the National Electric Code. Questions have arisen as to the exclusive jurisdiction of the city's electrical inspector pursuant to KRS 227.480 and the city's ordinances.
Your first question is as follows:
"Would the city of Madisonville be required to connect power to the service of a structure which was approved by a certified inspector who was not the city inspector under KRS 227.480."
KRS 227.480(1) provides in part that a city shall, when the uniform state building code as it pertains to plan review responsibilities of local governments takes effect, require any person to obtain permits before commencing construction, alteration or repairs of any electrical wiring, and require such inspection as it deems necessary for the safety of life and property. KRS 227.480(2) states in part that a city may appoint and fix the compensation of the city electrical inspectors and may by ordinance fix reasonable fees and establish other requirements for the conduct of electrical inspections within its boundaries. KRS 227.489 requires that electrical inspectors be certified.
KRS 198B.050, pertaining to the Uniform State Building Code, requires that a mandatory uniform state building code be adopted and promulgated and further requires that the code encompass the National Electrical Code. KRS 198B.060 provides that each local government shall employ a building official or inspector and other code enforcement personnel as necessary, or shall contract for such services, to enforce the uniform state building code within the boundaries of its jurisdiction. The Kentucky Building Code became mandatorily effective for most buildings in Hopkins County, except single family dwellings, on August 15, 1981. Single family dwellings, however, are not exempt from the provisions of the National Electrical Code. See KRS 198B.010(4) and (6) and KRS 198B.110.
As we construe the statutes, particularly KRS 227.480 and 198B.060, local enforcement of the National Electrical Code is contemplated. While electrical inspections must be made by certified electrical inspectors, it is the duty and responsibility of the municipal government to employ its own certified inspectors or to enter into an interlocal agreement with another governmental entity, utilizing the inspectors of that entity, to conduct the required inspections. The statutes do not contemplate free lance certified electrical inspectors contracting directly with the owners or occupiers of houses and other buildings to conduct electrical inspections. Now that the Kentucky Building Code is mandatorily effective in the state, the enforcement of the Code within the city, including the National Electrical Code which is part of the Kentucky Building Code, is the responsibility of the city.
Thus a house or other building subject to the requirements of the National Electrical Code and located within the municipal limits is not eligible to receive a hookup to an electric source and electric service from an electric utility until it has been inspected by a certified electrical inspector authorized to perform electrical inspections for the city. Note also the provisions of KRS 227.492 dealing with the misconduct of certified electrical inspectors which, perhaps, could include the activities of inspectors not authorized to make inspections in a particular area.
Your second question asks:
"Could the head of the Light and Water Department, without approval of the city's legislative body, approve a hookup to a structure within the city limits which was inspected by someone other than the city inspector. "
Our response to this question would be the same as the answer given to your first question. A house or other building subject to the requirements of the National Electrical Code and located within the municipal limits should not be hooked up to an electrical source until it has been inspected by a certified electrical inspector authorized to perform electrical inspections for the city. The only exception would be that set forth in KRS 227.460 providing in part that permits shall not be required of:
". . . installations under the exclusive control of electric utilities for the purpose of communication, metering, or for the generation, control, transformation, transmission and distribution of electric energy located in buildings used exclusively by utilities for such purposes or located outdoors on property owned or leased by the utility or on public highways, streets or roads, or outdoors by established rights on private property."
Your third question is as follows:
"Would the city ordinance designating only, one person as the 'city electrical inspector' violate any provisions of the National Electric Code as adopted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the City of Madisonville as being the exclusive inspector for such electrical connections within the city."
The National Electrical Code, 1981 Edition, prepared by the National Fire Protection Association, consisting of about 650 pages, has been incorporated into the Kentucky Building Code. While we have not examined the National Electrical Code in great detail, it does not appear to deal with electrical inspectors and electrical inspection programs but, rather, involves generally the installations of electric conductors and equipment within or on public and private buildings or other structures, installations of conductors that connect to the supply of electricity and installations of other outside conductors on the premises.