The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-10-21
PERMITS FOR ALL BUILDINGS
Ordinance Will Make Possible the En-
forcement of Electrical Inspection in
the City Without Great Additional
Cost.

A new effort is being made to safe
guard building in Kenosha. It is di-
rected along the lines of electrical in
spection and if an ordinance now in
the hands of the city clerk is adopted
by the common council the proposed
electrical inspection will be made eff
fective without any great increase of
the cost of building to the builder or
to the city at large. The new ordi-
nance was drawn at the suggestion of
people who have taken an interest in
recent inspections made in Kenosha
which indicated that the city is far
behind other cities in the state in
throwing proper safeguard about cleo
trio wiring.
The new ordinance will provide that
the chief engineer Of the Kenosha fire
department. shall be known as 'olec-
trical inspector and that the electri-
cian of the department shall have con-
ferred upon him the title of F" Assistant
Electrical Inspector
The new ordinance provides that no
electric current shall be used for light,
heat or power purposes save as is pro-
vided in the ordinances.
1t holds that all electrical installa-
ton in Kenosha buildings in the future
shall be in keeping with the rules laid
down in the code Of the National Fire
Underwriters and provides that it is
unlawful for any person, firm, or cor
poration to make an electric installa-
ton in any building in the city with
out first securing a permit for the
work from the electrical inspector. All
work of this kind must be inspected by
the inspector or his assistant and a
final certificate of inspection shall be
, issued only when the work meets the
demand of the code named in the ordi-
nance. The inspectors are given full
power to enter and inspect buildings
and to issue orders for changes in work
where it is found that the work as in
stalled fails to meet the demands of
the ordinances.
The fees for the inspection of wiring
and for the issuance of permits are not
fixed by the new ordinance, this being
left to the discretion of the members
of the common council. The ordinance
provides that all fees so collected shall
be paid into the city treasury and
placed in the general funds of the city.
Violations of the ordinances are to
be punished with fines of from FIVE to
hundred dollars for each offense.
The ordinance seems to meet with
the support of many of the members Of
the council who have for some time
sought to find some way to secure
adequate electrical inspection without
making a demand for larger expendi-
lures on the part Of the city. It is de-
clared that this work may be easily
handled under the direction Of the
chief Of the fire department. and his
assistants. These men are now in close
touch with every provision of the
code along this line and they are also
pretty well acquainted with the faults
of present electric installations in the
city. The state fire marshal has been
strongly urging the adoption of some
plan for the examination of electric
work done in the city and it is thought
that the ordinance now proposed will
meet all of the demands Of the depart
ment. The formal ordinance will be
presented to the council at the next
regular meeting and it is thought that
it will be enacted into a law which
will become effective before the open
ing of "a new building season in
Kenosha.