Section 2. All and every person, or persons, with three years or more practical experience, engaged or engaging in the business or work of plumbing, house and building drainage in said cities, shall apply in writing to the said director of the department of public safety, department or board or bureau of health, for such certificate or license, and in boroughs, incorporated towns, and townships of the first class, such application shall be made to the Department of Health of this Commonwealth, or such department thereof, or department or board or bureau of health as the said department shall designate; and if, after proper examination made by the department or board or bureau of health of said cities, such person or persons so applying shall be found competent, the same shall be certified to the director of the department of public safety, department or board or bureau of health in the case of cities, and to the Department of Health of this Commonwealth in the case of boroughs and incorporated towns and townships of the first class, who shall thereupon issue a certificate or license to such person or persons, which shall, for the period of one calendar year or fractional part thereof next ensuing the date of such examination, entitle him or them to engage in or work at the business of plumbing, house and building drainage. The mayor of said cities is hereby authorized to appoint a board of examiners, to consist of one member of the board or bureau of health, one plumbing inspector, and two competent plumbers in no wise connected with the city government, who shall examine all applicants for license under the provisions of this act. The Secretary of Health of the Department of Health of this Commonwealth, in the case of boroughs and incorporated towns and townships of the first class, is hereby authorized to appoint a board of examiners, to consist of such master plumbers or journeymen plumbers of ten years experience, as he may designate, who shall examine all applicants for license under the provisions of this act outside of cities. In the performance of this duty he shall divide the State into a convenient number of districts, and appoint separate boards for the several districts, or shall direct that applicants from certain districts shall submit themselves to examination by city boards in certain cities designated by him, and shall also, upon satisfactory evidence, that certain municipalities outside of cities have constituted a competent board of examiners appointed by the council of said borough, direct that the applicants be examined by such board. The said boards shall make all reasonable rules, regulations, and examinations, which shall be approved by the said director of the department or board or bureau of health in the case of cities, and by the Secretary of Health in all other cases. An examination of any one member of a firm or corporation therefor, shall be deemed sufficient. Said person or persons, firm or corporation, engaged or engaging in the business of plumbing or house or building drainage, shall pay for each examination the sum of ten dollars, and each journeyman or person engaged in the work shall pay the sum of five dollars, which sum shall be paid into the State, city or other municipal treasury. The proper officers are hereby authorized to pay to the plumbers acting on said board the sum of ten dollars per day, for each day or session thus actually employed.
The mayor of said cities is hereby authorized and required to appoint a practical plumber of at least ten years experience and not engaged or connected, directly or indirectly, with the plumbing business as plumbing inspector, whose duty it shall be to supervise, superintend, and inspect all plumbing, house and building drainage, in conformity with the provisions of this act. And the several cities are hereby authorized and required to make proper provision for the payment of the salary of the said plumbing inspector, as provided by law. Whenever the mayor of any city of the third class finds it impossible to secure as a plumbing inspector a qualified person who is not engaged in or connected with the plumbing business, he shall have the power to appoint a person who is engaged in or connected with such business, providing such person has the other qualifications herein prescribed. In such event, the mayor shall, as the occasion may arise, appoint a substitute inspector who shall supervise, superintend and inspect the work done by the regular inspector or by the firm with which he is connected in the course of their private business. Such substitute inspector shall be paid for such work reasonable compensation to be fixed by council. (Par. amended Jan. 18, 1952 (1951), P.L.2092, No.592)
In order to afford the opportunity for local administration and enforcement of this law, the council of any borough or incorporated town, or commissioners of a first class township, are hereby authorized, by appropriate municipal action providing therefor, to appoint a practical plumber not engaged or connected, directly or indirectly, with the plumbing business as plumbing inspector, whose duty it shall be to supervise, superintend and inspect all plumbing, house and building drainage, in conformity with the provisions of this act; and to make provisions for the payment of the salary of the said plumbing inspector whenever this is done by such municipality. When this is done, the matter shall be submitted to the Secretary of Health of this Commonwealth by application, setting forth the action taken, and the name of the person or persons selected as inspector, and his qualification. If the Secretary of Health is satisfied that the enforcement of the act can safely be left to the municipality under this action taken, he may commit the same to it. Should, in its administration after being thus committed, the local authorities fail in the proper administration of the law, then the Secretary of Health of this Commonwealth shall revoke such commitment upon reasonable notice and hearing, subject to this provision. In cases outside of cities, the Secretary of Health of this Commonwealth is authorized and required to appoint such number of practical plumbers who are not engaged or connected, directly or indirectly, with the plumbing business as plumbing inspectors for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, whose duty it shall be to supervise, superintend and inspect all plumbing, house and building drainage, under the provisions of this act, and to do any acts necessary for carrying this act into effect. He may, however, at his discretion and upon such terms as he may prescribe, appoint, permit or designate the plumbing inspector of any city or borough to perform these duties within a district or districts convenient. Should the Secretary of Health elect the latter, joint compensation between the several districts shall be effectuated.
Every registered master plumber shall have a bona fide place of business in said cities, in the case of any borough, incorporated town or township of the first class, either within the said municipality or within a distance of one mile from its nearest boundary, and shall display on the front of his or their place of business a sign, "Registered Plumber," bearing the name or names of the person, firm, or corporation, in letters not less than three inches high.
Signs displayed on buildings not occupied as a bona fide place of business (other than advertisements) of any registered master plumber, firm or corporation, must not be construed to permit or allow said registered master plumber, firm or corporation to establish the same privileges or benefits as registered master plumbers, firms or corporations within the limitations of any city or municipality.
No person other than a registered master plumber, as herein provided, shall be allowed to carry on, or engage in, the business, nor shall any person or persons expose the sign of plumbing, house or building drainage, or any advertisement or display pertaining thereto (wholesale show rooms excepted), unless he or they have first secured a license or certificate and been registered in the office of the board or bureau of health of such cities, or in the case of a borough, incorporated town or township of the first class, then register with a board or bureau of health of such municipality, if any functioning, and if none such, then with the Department of Health of the Commonwealth; nor shall any person or persons other than a registered master plumber, or a registered journeyman plumber in his or their employ (registered apprentices excepted) be allowed to alter, repair, or make any connection with, any drain, soil, waste, or vent-pipe, or any pipe connected therewith, or to repair, or alter the location of any waterpipe. (Par. amended May 26, 1939, P.L.232, No.135)
Every registered master plumber, firm, or corporation shall give immediate notice of any change in his, their, or its place of business; and upon his, their, or its retirement from business shall surrender his, their, or its certificate of registry to the board or bureau of health. Every person, firm, or corporation, in registering, shall give the full name, or names, of the person, firm, or officers' names of the corporation, for which he or they shall register.
At the expiration of each calendar year said certificate or license shall be null and void. A licensed master or journeyman plumber desiring to continue in, or work at, the business of plumbing, house and building drainage for the ensuing year, shall, between the first and thirty-first days of December of each and every year, surrender the said certificate or license to the department or board or bureau of health who certified it, and re-register his, their, or its name or names, and business or home address, upon such form or forms as may, from time to time, be furnished by the several departments or board or bureau of health.
A re-examination will not be necessary for re-registration, unless the licensed master or journeyman plumber should have failed to make an application for re-registration at the specified time. The sum of one dollar shall be paid by master plumbers, firms, or corporations, and the sum of twenty-five cents by journeyman plumbers, for re-registration, which sum shall be paid into the State, city or municipal treasury, for their use. A register of all such applicants, and the license or certificates issued, shall be kept in said department, board or bureau of health, which said register shall be open to the inspection of all persons interested therein. Any person, firm, or corporation holding a license or certificate, granted by any city, borough, incorporated town or township of the first class of this Commonwealth, to engage in or work at the business of plumbing and drainage work, desiring to do plumbing or drainage work in any other city, borough, incorporated town or township of the first class than the one in which said license or certificate was granted, shall, without examination, be registered before entering upon such work: Provided, however, that such registration shall be restricted and limited to such plumbing and drainage work as he, they, or it shall have contracted for at the time of registry. On the completion of such contract or contracts the registration of such person, firm, or corporation shall be null and void, and no further permit shall be issued until he, or they, or it shall have first registered his or its name, or their names and address, as hereinbefore provided.
(2 amended Mar. 31, 1937, P.L.168, No.44)