Chapter 265, Acts of 1897. An Act Relative to the Licensing of Gas Fitters and to the supervision of the business of gas Fitting in the City of Boston

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

License Required - "Journeyman" Means

Section 1. No person, firm or corporation shall engage in or work at the business of gas fitting in the city of Boston after the first day of October in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, either as employer or as a journeyman, unless such person, firm or corporation has received a license therefor in accordance with the provisions of this act. The word "journeyman," as used in this act, shall be deemed to mean one who personally does any gas fitting or any work in connection therewith which would be subject to inspection under the provisions of this act.

.Examination Required - As to Qualifications

Sect. 2. Every person, firm or corporation desiring to engage in the business of gas fitting in the city of Boston shall make application therefor to the building commissioner, and shall at such time and place as may be designated by the board of examiners hereinafter provided for, to whom such application shall be referred, be examined as to his qualifications for such business.

Board of Examiners

Sect. 3. The board of examiners shall consist of the building commissioner, the chairman of the board of health, who shall be ex officiis members of said board and serve without compensation, and a third member, to be chosen by the board of health, who shall be a practical gas fitter of at least five years' continued practical experience during the years next preceding the date of appointment. Said third member shall be chosen within thirty days after the passage of this act, for a term ending on the first day of May in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and thereafter annually; and he shall be allowed a sum not exceeding five dollars for each day of actual service, to be paid from the treasury of the City of Boston.

Date and Places for Holding Examinations

Practical Knowledge Required

Licenses - Fees for Same

Sect. 4. Said board of examiners shall, as soon as may be after the appointment of said third member, meet and organize by the selection of a chairman and clerk, and shall then designate the times and places for the examination of all applicants desiring to engage in or work at the business of gas fitting in the city of Boston. Said board shall examine said applicants as to their practical knowledge of gas fitting, shall submit the applicant to some satisfactory form of practical test, and, if satisfied of the competency of the applicant, shall so certify to the building commissioner, who shall thereupon issue a license to such applicant, authorizing him to engage in or work at the business of gas fitting, first requiring him to register in the office of the said building commissioner his name, place of business or residence, license number, date of examination, and in what capacity licensed. In case of a firm or corporation, the examination of one member of the firm, or of the manager of the corporation, shall satisfy the requirements of this act. The fee for the license of any employing gas fitter shall be two dollars, and for a journeyman, fifty cents; and said license shall continue in force until revoked or cancelled, but shall not be transferable.

Inspectors of Gas Fitting

Duties - Compensation - Cause of Removal

Sect. 5. The building commissioner shall appoint, after the first day of October in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, such a number of inspectors of gas fitting as the board of examiners may from time to time determine. Said inspectors shall be practical gas fitters of at least five years' continued practical experience, and shall, before appointment, be subject to an examination before the civil service commissioners. The compensation of said inspectors shall be determined by the building commissioner, subject to the approval of the mayor; and such inspectors shall hold office until removed by said commissioner, with the approval of the mayor, for malfeasance, incapacity or neglect of duty. Said inspectors shall inspect all new work relating to gas fitting in new and in old buildings, the connections and use of such work, and shall report all violations of this act or of any act or ordinance relating thereto, which now exists or may be hereafter enacted or ordained; and they shall also perform such other appropriate duties as may be required by the building commissioner.

License Number to be Displayed at Place of Business

Sect. 6. Every licensed gas fitter shall display his license number conspicuously at his place of business.

Application to be Filed and Permit Required

Materials and Workmanship Subject to Regulations

Sect. 7. On and after the first day of October in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven no building shall be piped or fitted for gas, nor shall any repairs be made in such pipings or fittings, nor fixtures placed, unless a permit shall be granted therefor by the building commissioner. Every licensed gas fitter desiring to perform any work relating to piping or fitting a building for gas, or to repair gas piping or fittings, or to place fixtures therein, shall file an application therefor at the office of the building commissioner, giving the correct location, name and address of the owner, the intended use and material of the building and a full and complete statement of the work proposed and material to be used, and shall, if required by said building commissioner, furnish a plan thereof, which shall be subject to his approval. All materials used and work performed under the provisions of this section shall be subject to such regulations as shall be made by the board of health and the building commissioner.

Timbers, Beams or Girders Not to be Cut Into.

Meter to be Removed Only by Gas Company

Sect. 8. No gas pipe which may be introduced into any building shall be let into the timbers, beams or girders, unless the same is placed within thirty-six inches of the end of said timber, beam or girder, and in no building shall the said pipes be let into the timbers, beams or girders more than two inches in depth. No person shall disconnect or remove any gas meter, except the duly authorized representative of the gas company owning such meter.

Gas Brackets

Sect. 9. All gas brackets shall be placed at least three feet below any ceiling or woodwork, unless the same is properly protected by a shield, in which case the distance shall not be less than eighteen inches. Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect the operations of any gas company upon its own premises or upon its mains and surface pipes.

Board of Health to Inspect Gas Fixtures and Appliances in Buildings. Sect. 10. The Board of Health of said city by its inspectors shall from time to time, as it deems proper, inspect the gas fixtures and appliances in any building and shall make such requirements relating thereto as it deems the public health requires, and the owner of such building shall comply with such requirements.

Penalty for Violation of this Act. Sect. 11. Any person violating any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not exceeding one hundred dollars for each offence, and if such person has received a license under this act his license may be revoked by the building commissioner.

Annual Report Sect. 12. The building commissioner shall include in his annual report to the city council a report of the proceedings of the building department under this act, and shall include therein a report of the board of examiners appointed under this act, giving their proceedings during the year ending on the first day of February.

Repeals. Sect. 13. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

Sect. 14. This act shall take effect upon its passage, except so far as is hereinbefore otherwise provided.

[Approved April 10, 1897.]