Virginia Administrative Code › Title 13 - HOUSING › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT › Chapter 31 - VIRGINIA AMUSEMENT DEVICE REGULATIONS › Part I - General Provisions › Section 13VAC5-31-20 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. The
				  following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following
				  meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Amusement device" means
(i) a device or structure open to the public
				  by which persons are conveyed or moved in an unusual manner for diversion, but
				  excluding snow tubing parks and rides, ski terrain parks, ski slopes, and ski
				  trails, and
(ii) passenger tramways.
				  For the purpose of this definition, the phrase "open to the public" means that
				  the public has full access to a device or structure at an event, irrespective
				  of whether a fee is charged. The use of devices or structures at private events
				  is not considered to be open to the public.
"Bungee cord" means the elastic rope to which the jumper is
					 attached that lengthens and shortens to produce a bouncing action.
"Carabineer" means a shaped metal device with a gate used
					 to connect sections of a bungee cord, jump rigging, equipment, or safety
					 gear.
"Certificate of inspection" means the certificate or
					 sticker for amusement devices distributed by DHCD.
"DHCD" means the Virginia Department of Housing and
					 Community Development.
"Gravity ride" means a ride that is installed on an
					 inclined surface, that depends on gravity for its operation to convey a
					 passenger from the top of the incline to the bottom, and that conveys a
					 passenger in or on a carrier tube, bag, bathing suit, or clothes.
"Ground operator" means a person who assists the jump
					 master to prepare a jumper for jumping.
"Harness" means an assembly to be worn by a bungee jumper
					 to be attached to a bungee cord. It is designed to prevent the wearer from
					 becoming detached from the bungee system.
"Institutional trampoline" means a trampoline intended for
					 use in a commercial or institutional facility.
"Jump master" means a person who has responsibility for the
					 bungee jumper and who takes the jumper through the final stages to the actual
					 jump.
"Jump zone" means the space bounded by the maximum designed
					 movements of the bungee jumper.
"Jumper" means the person who departs from a height
					 attached to a bungee system.
"Landing area" means the surface area of ground or water
					 directly under the jump zone, the area where the lowering device moves the
					 bungee jumper to be landed away from the jump space, and the area covered by
					 the movement of the lowering device.
"Local building department" means the agency of the
					 governing body of any city, county, or town in this Commonwealth charged with
					 the enforcement of the USBC.
"Operating manual" means the document that contains the
					 procedures and forms for the operation of bungee jumping equipment and activity
					 at a site.
"Passenger tramway" means a device used to transport
					 passengers uphill, and suspended in the air by the use of steel cables, chains
					 or belts, or ropes, and usually supported by trestles or towers with one or
					 more spans.
"Platform" means the equipment attached to the structure
					 from which the bungee jumper departs.
"Private inspector" means a person performing inspections
					 who is independent of the company, individual, or organization owning,
					 operating, or having any vested interest in an amusement device being
					 inspected.
"Serious injury or illness" means a personal injury or
					 personal illness that results in death; dismemberment; significant
					 disfigurement; permanent loss of the use of a body organ, member, function, or
					 system; a compound fracture; or other significant injury or illness that
					 requires immediate admission and overnight hospitalization and observation by a
					 licensed physician.
"Small mechanical ride" means an amusement device, other
					 than an inflatable amusement device, where (i) the assembly time for the device
					 is two hours or less, (ii) the revolutions per minute of any rotation of the
					 components of the device is not greater than seven, (iii) the device has a
					 footprint of less than 500 square feet, and (iv) the device does not invert a
					 patron or lift a patron more than three feet in the air, measured from the
					 ground to the bottom of the patron's feet when the device is operating.
"Trampoline court" means a defined area comprising one or
					 more institutional trampolines or a series of institutional trampolines.
"Ultimate tensile strength" means the greatest amount of
					 load applied to a bungee cord prior to failure.
"USBC" means the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code
					 (13VAC5-63).