1. No person shall operate or cause to be operated, any boiler plant or ammonia refrigeration plant unless there is an appropriately licensed engineer operating such plant.

    2. Every boiler and ammonia refrigeration plant regulated by this chapter must be inspected at least once in every twenty-four hour period by a person holding an appropriate license.  

    3. No boiler or ammonia refrigeration plant shall be left unattended for a period longer than two hours, unless such plant complies with the following:

        a. Boiler plant

            1) A boiler plant may be left unattended for a period greater than two hours, but less than twenty-four hours, if it is equipped with approved automatic safety controls.

            2) Approval of automatic safety controls is granted by Inspection Services Division, based upon payment of a $10.00 filing fee, the submission of a written application by the owner or operator of such boiler plant, and submittal of documentation by a licensed hydronic heating/cooling contractor, State of Iowa Boiler Inspector, or City Inspector, which verifies that the following controls are in place (if inspection and documentation are provided by the City Inspector, payment of a $45.00 inspection fee per plant inspected, is required):

                a) Controls which will automatically maintain the water level in the boiler and which will extinguish the fire if the steam pressure exceeds a predetermined maximum or the water falls below a predetermined minimum

                b) Controls which will completely shut off the flow of gas or oil when combustion ceases

                c) Controls so designed that gas or oil, upon entering the combustion chamber, will become immediately ignited or else immediately shut off

                d) Controls which cannot be restarted automatically, or remotely, after an emergency shutdown has occurred, but can only be restarted manually (such manual restart shall be performed by a person holding the appropriate engineer’s license, only)

                e) Controls which have been manufactured, tested, and installed in accord with the original manufacturer’s recommendations, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) standards, and UMC (Uniform Mechanical Code) Standards.

            3) Supervision of more than one boiler plant

                a) One appropriately licensed engineer may supervise and provide required inspection of up to five different boiler plants at up to five different locations, provided there is an approved automatic control system, as defined in 2, above, at each plant.

        b. Ammonia refrigeration plant

            1) An ammonia refrigeration plant may be left unattended for a period greater than two hours, but less than twenty-four hours, if it is equipped with approved automatic safety controls.

            2) Approval of automatic safety controls is granted by Inspection Services Division, based upon payment of a $10.00 filing fee, the submission of a written application by the owner or operator of such boiler plant, and submittal of documentation by a licensed hydronic heating/cooling contractor, State of Iowa Boiler Inspector, or City Inspector, which verifies that the following controls are in place (if inspection and documentation are provided by the City Inspector, payment of a $45.00 inspection fee per plant inspected, is required):

                a) Controls which will automatically shut down the plant in the event of a malfunction

                b) Controls which will completely shut off the flow of power to the plant in the event of a malfunction

                c) Controls which cannot be restarted automatically, or remotely, after an emergency shutdown has occurred, but can only be restarted manually (such manual restart shall be performed by a person holding the appropriate engineer’s license, only)

                d) Controls which have been manufactured, tested, and installed in accord with the original manufacturer’ s recommendations, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) standards, and UMC (Uniform Mechanical Code) Standards.

            3) Supervision of more than one ammonia refrigeration plant

                a) One appropriately licensed engineer may supervise and provide required inspection of up to five different ammonia refrigeration plants at up to five different locations, provided there is an approved automatic control system, as defined in 2, above, at each plant.

    4. Remote monitoring systems

        a. Installation of a remote monitoring system on any plant does not alter any of the requirements of this code.

    5. Inspection and compliance

        a. It is the responsibility of Inspection Services Division to establish and maintain a program of periodic inspections of every boiler and refrigeration plant in the City which is within the jurisdiction of this code.

        b. The purpose of such inspection program is to assure that all persons operating such boiler and ammonia refrigeration plants are properly licensed, where required, and that all regulations of this Code are observed.  (Ord. 2000-9646; 90/T-9327)