OtiPICE OP



## THE ATTORNEY 

# GENERAL

Ausmm, TEXAS

PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY

GENERAL January 24, 1948

Mr. C. E. Belk, Administrator, Board of PlumbingExaminers, Austin, Texas OpinionNO. V-481.

Dear Mr. Belk: Re: Applicabilityof the Plumbing License Law of 1947 to the operator of an electric sewer cleaner.

Your letter requestingour opinion states, in part, as follows:

"(We3 have received several inqulr~ies from companies

whose business It is to ma$ntain or clean out drain pipes, sewer pipes and appurtenances

carryingwaste from buildings to the sewer line.
"In a majority of cases no plumbing fixtures,pipes, or jointsare removed,altered, installedor repaired. 'Would you please give us an opinion on the followingquestion: 'Wouldthe operator of an electric sewer cleanerwhich does not require the removal, installationor repair of any fixtures,pipes, .jolnts or plumbing appurtenances, constitutethe operator thereof a person engaging in, working at, or conductingthe business of plumbing, as defined under the PlumbingLicense Law of 1947, being Article 6243-101 of Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes?"' The pertinentprovisionsof Article 6245 101, Vernon'sCivil Statutes,are as follows: 

### 51522Mr...C. E.,Belk - Page.2 (v-481)

. “SBC. 2. (a> The word or term

'plumbing'

,asused in this Act means and shall inc.lude: (1) All piptng, fixtures, appurtenances and.appliances

for a supply of ~water

or gas, or both, for .a11 personal or domesticpurp~oses in and about buIldlngswhere a person or per-. sons live, work.or. assemble;all piping, fixtures,ap'purtenances andappliances out:side

a building connecting'thebuildingwlth the:

sourcs,of

water or gas supply, or both, on the premises;.or the. main in the street,alley or at the curb; all piping, fixtures,appurtenances,appliances,drain or waste pipes carrying. waste water or sewage from or within a building to the sewer servicelateral at the curb or in the street'or alley.or other disposal terminalholding private 'ordomestic sewage; (2) the~installation, repair and maintenanceof. al&.piping, fixtures,appurtenances and appliances in and about buildingswhere a person or persons live, work or assemble;for a supply of gas, water, or both, or disposal of waste water or sewage. . . . "Sec. 

### .3. The followingacts, work and conduct shall be expressly permitted without 'license:

. V
. "(c>. Plumbingwork done by anyone who is regularly employedas or acting as a maintenanceman or maintenanceengineer, incidentalto.and in connection with the business in which he is employedor engaged and who doesnot engage in the occupation of a plumber for the general public;...
"Sec. 14.

. . . no person,whether as a master plumber, e . . employingplumbjourneyman

plumber, or otherwise,shall Ziage.in work at, oft plumb&g or conductthe business

in this state or serve as a plumbing inspectoras herein, defined, except as herein .specifically~exempted from

### 53

Mr. C. E. Belk - Page 

### 3 (V-481)

the provisionsof this Act, unless such person is the holder of a valid license as providedfor by this Act; and

. . . it shall be unlawful for any personto engage in, work at, or conduct the business of plumbingin this state or serve as a plumbinginspectoras herein defined, except as herein specificallyexempted from the provisionsof,thisAct, unless such person is the holder of a valid license issued under the provisions of this Act and provided for~hereby; and it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, ore

corporations

to engage In or work at the business of installing plumbingand,

doing plumbingwork:except as specifically

herein providedunless such installation,

or plumbing or plumbing work be under the supervision and control of a plumber licensed .under this Act. And it Is expressly'provided that the provisionsof Article 122 of the Penal Code of Texas shall apply to violations of this Act, and said Article 122 of the Penal Code and the penalties therein providedare hereby expresslyreferred to." Where a statutedefines a word or group of words, that definitionis binding on the courts (Hurt v. Cooper,Tex. Sup. 110 S. W. (2d) 

### 896 904), for in all Interpretations one should look diligentlyfor the Intentionof.

the Legislature. R.C,S. 1925, Art..lO, Set,. 

### 6, P. C. Art. 

### 7.
In State V. Gottstein, (Mix+) 228 R.W. '221, 125A'.L.R.



### ~715, it was,held,thatone who was engaged In cutting out'

and removing from a house sewer the roots of trees and shrubswhich had gained ,entrance therein and obstructedthe flowof sewage therefrom Into the city sewer,using for the purpose an electricallyoperated cutting instrumentinserted in one of the basement cleanouts in the drainage,system, wafter ~removing

a cleanout cap or cover, the position of the tlles.in the'sewerbeing in no manner disturbed,and there being no alteration or additionmade in the structureof the tiles, could not54 Mr. C. Z. Belk - Page 

### 4 (v-481)

be convictedofviolating an ordinanceof the City of Minneapolis

which made it unlawful for an unlicensed person to "construct, extend, alter.or repair any plumbing

work or house drainage.

. .I' Said the Court: "The work which defendantdid on the occasion in question is not claimed to have been a constructfon, extension, or alterationof any plumbing or house drainage system prohibitedby the ordinance unless done by a licensedplumber. But it is contendedthat it comeswithin the meaning of the word 'repair'in the ordinance. It 'is well known that in ~every

house plumbingand sewage sys--'~ tern there are cleanoutsprovided where by the use of an ordinary wrench the cap or cover may be'removedand entrance made to remove or clean out obstructions. Often a simple contrivance used by one not a licensedplumber may remove the cloggingmatter. Nothing in the system is out of order or in need of repair. Nothing need be done to the tile or pipe in which the obstructionis found other than remove the same, that is, clean.the pipe or tile.

. . . "Cutting off and removingthe roots inside the tile did not make good any defects in the tile itself."
You have further verbally informedus that the electric sewer cleaner Is substantially of the same general characteras the one described in the Gottstein case and is inserted in the sewer system in the manner hereinbefore

described. The only part of the sewer system that is in anywise disturbedis the usual.metalcleanout cap or plug found in the metal part of the sewer line and so fastened or held in place that it may be easily removed or replaced.

Subsection (21, Section 2, of the statute describesthe term "plumbing" as follows: "The installation, repair and maintenance of all piping, fixtures,appurtenances and appliances In and about buildings where a person or persons live, workMr. C. E. Belk - Page 

### 5 (v-481)

or assemble, for a supply of gas, water, or both, or disposal of waste water or, sewage."

person to Section14 makes It a penal offense for any

"engagein, work at, or conduct the business of plumbing in this state.
. . except as specifically exemptedfrom the provisionsof this Act, unless such person is the holder of a valid license as providedby this Act.
It is perfectlyobvious that a personwho removesan obstruction from a sewer pipe or line by a method "which does not require the removal, installation or repair of any fixture,pipes, joints, or plumbing appurtenances," other than the removal and replacement of the usual clean-outcap or plug in the sewer line, does not install or repair any piping, fixtures, joints or plumbingappliances.. State v:Gottstein, supra. '.

The word %aintenance," contained~ln the above quoted statutorydefinitionof "plumbing," is, In our opinion, of no particularsignificance.. That word, as used in the statute, means the same thing as "maintain." These two words are frequentlyused in the sense of keeping a thing in repair. E. R. Kelly.Co.v. United States, 17 C. C. P. Ai, 30, 32: The words 9epair" and "maintain"

have often beenheld by,the courts of'this and other jurisdictions to.mean practicallythe~~same thing. MissouriK. & T. Ry. Co. of Texas v. Bryan, 107 S. W. 572; McChesneyv. Village of Hyde Park, 37 N. E. 858, and authorities there cited. Therefore,we conclude that the words "repair"and Qaintenance,ll as used in this statute,are.synonomous and mean the same thing

- "to restore to a sound or good,stateafter decay, injury, dilapidation, or partial destruction," one of the definitions

given by Webster.
A sewer pipe or line cleaned by the method and in accordance

with the facts stated is neither installed,repairednor maintained. The physical structure of the drainage system is not materiallydisturbed. The only reason why it does not properly function is due to the presencetherein of some substance which obstructs the usual free flow of sewage through it, and not to the decay, injury,dilapidation, or partial destructionof the pipe or line. :' 

### 55

### 56 Mr. C. E. Belk - Page 6 (v-481)

After a careful consideration of the statute, we have concluded that the cleaning of a sewer pipe by a person using an electric sewer cleaner,which does not require the removal, installation or repair of any fixture,pipes er than the i joints, or plumbingapparatus,othremova of the usual clean-outcap or plug of the sewer pipe .for the purpose of insertingthe cleanErwin the pipe and the replacementthereof,does not come within the meaning of *lplumbing,w as that term is defined in the statute. Therefore,the operator of such a cleaner is neither engaged in, working at, or conducting the business of "plumbing" within the purview of The Plumbing License Law of 1947,Article 6243-101, Vernon's Civil Statutes. SUMMARY

The operator of an electric sewer cleanerwhich does not require the removal, installation

or repair of any fixtures, pipes, or plumbing appliances,other than the removal of the usual clean-outcap or plug of the sewer pipe for the purpose of insertingthe cleaner in the pipe and the replacementof the-same, is not engaged in, working at, or conductingthe business 'of "plumbing"

within the meaning of that term as defined in The PlumbingLicense Law of 1947. Art. 6243-101,V.C.S; State V. Gottsteln,228 N. W. 221, 125 A. L. R. 

### 715.
Yours very truly,
ATTORAEY GERRRAL OF TEXAS

WI'B:wb BY Bruce W. Bryant Assistant
APPROVED: