City of Spokane

Spokane Municipal Code

***Note: Many local criminal codes can now be located under Chapter 10.60 SMC while others are now cited under the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), which was incorporated into the municipal code in 2022. (See SMC 10.58.010). Code Enforcement, including Noise Control and Animal Regulations are located in Chapters 10.62 through 10.74.

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Title 17F
Chapter 17F.030
Section 17F.030.020
 

Title 17F Construction Standards

Chapter 17F.030 Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code

Section 17F.030.020 Definitions
  1. “Accident” shall mean a failure of the boiler or unfired pressure vessel resulting in personal injury or property loss or an event which renders a boiler or unfired pressure vessel unsafe to return to operation.
     
  2. “Approved” means approved by the boiler inspector. (SMC 17F.030.150).
     
  3. "ASME Code” is the boiler and pressure vessel code of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers with the amendments thereto made and approved by the council of the society which have been adopted.
     
  4. "Automatic operation of a boiler" means full automatic control of all water, fuel, temperature and pressure within the limits set. Controls must be such that the operation follows the demand without interruption. Manual reset may be required when the burner is off because of low water, flame failure, power failure, high temperatures or pressures.
     
  5. "Board" refers to the board of examiners provided in SMC 4.06.110.
     
  6. "Boiler" means a closed vessel used for heating water or other liquid or for generating steam or vapor by direct application of heat from combustible fuels or electricity.
     
  7. "Boiler code" is the Spokane boiler and pressure vessel code, chapter 17F.030 SMC.
     
  8. “BTU" means BTU input firing rate or the BTU input in British thermal units.
     
  9. "City boiler inspector" means a boiler and pressure vessel inspector employed by the City of Spokane.
     
  10. “Certificate of competency" is a certificate issued by the state board of boiler rules to a person who has passed an examination prescribed by the board, or issued by another state having the same qualification and examination standards as the Washington state board of boiler rules.
     
  11. "Commission" means a commission, issued by the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors issued to a person holding a valid certificate of competency, which authorizes the person to perform inspections of boilers and/or unfired pressure vessels.
     
  12. "Condemned boiler or unfired pressure vessel" means a boiler or unfired pressure vessel that has been inspected and declared unsafe or disqualified by legal requirements by an inspector who has applied a stamping or marking designating its condemnation.
     
  13. “Corrosion” shall mean the destruction or deterioration of a material that results from a reaction with its environment.
     
  14. “Department" means the City of Spokane development services center.
     
  15. "Domestic and/or residential purposes" means serving a private residence or an apartment house of less than six families.
     
  16. "External inspection" is an inspection made while a boiler or vessel is in operation and includes the inspection and demonstration of controls and safety devices required by this chapter.
     
  17. “Historical boilers and unfired pressure vessel” shall mean nonstandard boilers and pressure vessels including steam tractors, traction engines, hobby steam boilers, portable steam boilers, and other such boilers or pressure vessels that are preserved, restored, and maintained only for demonstration, viewing, or educational purposes. They do not include miniature hobby boilers as described in RCW 70.79.070.
     
  18. “Indirect water heater” shall mean a closed vessel appliance used to heat water for use external to itself, which includes a heat exchanger used to transfer heat to water from an external source. The requirements and limits described above shall apply.
     
  19. "Internal inspection" is an inspection made when the boiler or unfired pressure vessel is shut down and the hand holes, manholes or other inspection openings are open or removed for examination of the interior. An external ultrasonic examination of unfired pressure vessels thirty-six inches inside diameter and under constitutes an internal inspection.
     
  20. "Low-pressure boiler" is a steam or vapor boiler operating at a pressure not exceeding fifteen psig or a boiler in which water or other fluid is heated and intended for operation at pressures not exceeding one hundred sixty psig or temperatures not exceeding two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit by the application of energy from the combustion of fuels or from electricity, solar or nuclear energy including lined portable heaters.
     
  21. "Nationwide engineering standard" means a nationally accepted design method, formulae and practice acceptable to the board.
     
  22. "NBIC" means the National Board Inspection Code of the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors with addenda and revisions thereto made and approved by the national board and adopted by the board of boiler examiners for the City.
     
  23. "Nonstandard boiler or unfired pressure vessel" means a boiler or unfired pressure vessel that does not bear the markings of the codes adopted in SMC 17F.030.010 and WAC 296-104-200.
     
  24. “Pool heaters” shall mean a gas, oil, or electric appliance that is used to heat water contained in swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs.
    1. Pool heaters with energy input equivalent to 399,999 Btu/hr (117.2kw) or less shall be manufactured and certified to ANSI Z21.56, UL1261, CSA 4.7 or equivalent manufacturing standards, as approved by the City inspector, and are excluded from the limit and control devices requirements of WAC 296-104-300 through 294-104-303.
    2. Pool heaters with energy input of four hundred thousand Btu/hr and above shall be stamped with an ASME Section IV Code symbol, and the requirements of WAC 296-104-300 through 296-104-303 shall apply.
    3. Pool heaters open to the atmosphere are excluded.
       
  25. "Owner/user" means a person, firm or corporation owning or operating any boiler or unfired pressure vessel within the city.
     
  26. "Place of public assembly" or "assembly hall" means a building or portion of a building used for the gathering together of fifty or more persons for such purposes as deliberation, education, instruction, worship, entertainment, amusement, drinking or dining, or awaiting transportation. The term also includes child care centers (those agencies which operate for the care of thirteen or more children), public and private hospitals and nursing and boarding homes.
     
  27. "Power boiler" ("high-pressure boiler") is a boiler in which steam or other vapor is generated at a pressure of more than fifteen psig for use external to itself or a boiler in which water or other fluid is heated and intended for operation at pressures in excess of one hundred sixty psig and/or temperatures in excess of two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit by the direct application of energy from the combustion of fuels or from electricity, solar, or nuclear energy.
     
  28. "Reinstalled boiler or pressure vessel" means a boiler or unfired pressure vessel removed from its original setting and reset at the same location or at a new location without a change of ownership.
     
  29. "Rental boiler" means any power or low-pressure heating boiler that is under a rental contract between owner and user.
     
  30. "Second-hand boiler or unfired pressure vessel" means a boiler or unfired pressure vessel of which both the location and ownership have changed after its primary installation.
     
  31. "Small high-pressure boiler" means a boiler with an operating pressure exceeding fifteen psig steam, but not exceeding one hundred fifty psig and having less than eight hundred thousand BTU input.
     
  32. “Special design” means a design using nationally or intentionally recognized engineering standards other than the codes adopted in SMC 17F.030.010 and WAC 296-104-200.
     
  33. "Special inspector" is an inspector holding a state of Washington commission identified under RCW 70.79.130.
     
  34. "Standard boiler or unfired pressure vessel" means a boiler or unfired pressure vessel which bears the markings of the codes adopted in SMC 17F.030.010.
     
  35. "Unfired pressure vessel" is a closed vessel such as air tanks, chiller receivers, hot water storage tanks, expansion tanks, steam cookers, etc under pressure excluding:
    1. Fired process tubular heaters;
    2. Pressure containers which are integral parts of components of rotating or reciprocating mechanical devices where the primary design considerations and/or stresses are derived from the functional requirements of the device;
    3. Piping whose primary function is to transport fluids from one location to another;
    4. Those vessels defined as low-pressure heating boilers or power boilers.
       
  36. "Unfired steam boiler" means a pressure vessel in which steam is generated by an indirect application of heat, not including pressure vessels known as evaporators, heat exchangers or vessels in which steam is generated by the use of heat resulting from the operation of a processing system containing a number of pressure vessels, such as used in the manufacture of chemical and petroleum products, which will be classed as unfired pressure vessels.
     
  37. "Water heater" means a closed vessel used for heating water by direct application of heat from combustible fuels or electricity with a nominal water-containing capacity of one hundred twenty gallons or less, having a heat input not exceeding two hundred thousand BTU per hour and operating temperature not exceeding two hundred ten degrees Fahrenheit.

Date Passed: Monday, June 24, 2013

Effective Date: Monday, July 1, 2013

ORD C34995 Section 2