MINUTES OF MEETING OF BOARD OF ELECTRICAL APPEALS May 9, 2006 - 3:00 p.m. OFFICE OF CENTRAL INSPECTION CITY HALL, 455 NORTH MAIN OCI CONFERENCE ROOM, 7th FLOOR Chairman Roy Meinhardt called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm, with Board members Dale Johnson, John Whittit, Harold Ragland, Dave Urban and Secretary Tom Kerschen present. Also present was Mike Hood elevator inspector. Board member Jerry Addington was absent. The minutes of the March 14, 2006 meeting were read. Board member Whittit made a motion the minutes be approved as written, it was seconded by Board member Ragland and approved. The recent examination results from Experior Assessments for electrical examinations administered by their office for City of Wichita approved applicants were presented to the Board. The results were as follows: APPLICANT APPLICANT EXAMINATION EXAMINATION NAME NUMBER CLASSIFICATION RESULT Bradley Ashcraft 4938 Master Failed Jason Ashcraft 4836 Master Failed Timothy Schmidt 8502 Master Passed Travis Honey 9336 Journeyman Failed Alan Rader 5744 Journeyman Failed William Walker 0600 Journeyman Failed Four (4) Master Electrician and six (6) Journeyman Electrician examination applications were reviewed for approval to be administered the appropriate examination for certification. The results were as follows: NAME NUMBER CLASSIFICATION ACTION Bradley Ashcraft 4938 Master Approved Jason Ashcraft 4836 Master Approved Thomas Glaze 6266 Master Approved Michael Smith 7969 Master Approved William Walker 0600 Journeyman Approved Paul Bohlken 3552 Journeyman Approved Shawn Henry 3313 Journeyman Approved Josha Busselman 0335 Journeyman Approved Kevin Vander Hoff 4039 Journeyman Approved Alan Lee Rader 5744 Journeyman Approved Under part A of the new business section of the agenda, Secretary Kerschen gave the Board a copy of the letter received by Jack Pollock requesting his city master electrical certificate be allowed to be renewed. He stated he has been out of state caring for his mother and did not get his certificate renewed by March 1, 2006. Board member Whittit made a motion that with the extenuating circumstances and that Mr. Pollock is retired, to allow renewal of his master electrical certificate. Board member Ragland seconded the motion and it unanimously passed. Under part B of the new business section of the agenda, the Board welcomed Ben Boesen with Otis Elevator. Otis Elevator is requesting a variance to allow two (2) small Limited Use Limited Access (LULA) elevators to be installed at Intrust Bank, 105 N Main Wichita Kansas. Only the tellers in the drive-up windows would use the LULA elevators. These teller booths are accessed from a highly secure area of the basement in the bank facility via small spiral staircases and over the years there have been close calls and two accidents involving a slip and fall. Mr. Boesen said that in an effort to remove this hazard, and due to structural obstacles and space limitation, the only option available regarding an elevator is a custom size LULA elevator designed specifically to fit within the staircase space accessing the teller booth. The variances requested are to City of Wichita ordinance Title 19 Chapter 24. 1). This elevator would not be installed for disabled persons but for a limited group of authorized tellers. 2). The depth of the car enclosure could only be 41 inches and not the 48 inches required. 3). In place of key operated switches for the elevator, allow for security reading devices so only authorized personnel will have access. 4). Replace required signage with a sign stating "This Elevator For Use By Authorized Tellers Only". The Board thanked Mr. Boesen for his time and explained that they would discuss this variance later in the meeting and Secretary Kerschen would notify him in writing as to the Board's decision. Under part C of the new business section of the agenda, the Board welcomed Larry Weber with Builders Inc. Mr. Weber said they are thinking of doing a modernization of two (2) passenger elevators at the Garvey Center, 250 W. Douglas. With checking to verify all that would need to take place with the modernization they found that the elevator doors do not have labels stating the fire rating of the doors. Mr. Weber stated the doors had a material inside them that was thought to be asbestos but when he had it tested it was not. Mr. Weber continued saying the he talked with Matt Lee, plans examiner for the City of Wichita, and Mr. Lee said the 1967UBC required fire rated doors. Mr. Weber said if the code in 1967 required rated doors and the City approved the building then why would we not accept that today. Mr. Weber also gave the board members a copy of Rule 100 from the 1970 supplement to the A17.1-1965 ANSI code which states in part "The fire-resistance rating of hoistway enclosures, door and door assemblies where fire-resistive construction is required shall be not less than required by local laws and ordinances. NOTE: Where local laws and ordinances do not specify required fire-resistance ratings, it is recommended that these be not less than one hour in fire-resistive buildings and three-quarter hour in non- fire-resistive buildings;" Chairman Meinhardt asked Mr. Weber if he knew what type of material was inside the elevator doors since it was not asbestos and Mr. Weber said it was fiberglass. Mr. Weber said he was also aware that Parklane and the Sedgwick County Courthouse upgraded their elevator equipment in 2000 and was allowed to leave the existing doors on the elevators. The Board stated that no variance was given by them on previous installations and Secretary Kerschen said that the adopted ANSI A17.1 codes previous to the current 2004 code did not give a clear requirement that the doors must be replaced and that replacing the controller did not signal the requirement of replacing or updating the doors. With the adoption of the ANSI A17.1-2004 code the City now has a specific requirement that if the controller is replaced all aspects of the elevator must be updated to the current code. Mr. Weber said they did contact U.L. and they would test the doors for a fee but it would destroy the one door that was tested. The Board thanked Mr. Weber for his time and explained that they would discuss this variance later in the meeting and Secretary Kerschen would notify him in writing as to the Board's decision. This Board continued to discuss this issue in depth and was concerned about the current and future safety of occupants of the building in regards to the elevators. The main concerns were not the labeling on the doors but the actual fire-resistive rating of the doors, did the City have any specific requirements for elevators in 1968 – 1970 when the building was built, were there requirements, not recommendations that the elevator doors be fire-resistive for one and one-half hours and to what specifications did the elevator manufacturers use at that time. As the Board continued to discuss this they felt they did not have enough information to grant a variance. Board member Whittit made a motion to not grant the variance at this time, but if Mr. Weber could provide any documentation as to the fire-resistive rating of the elevator doors or how safety in the building is being improved, the Board would review again at a later time. Board member Ragland seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The Board then continued the discussion of a variance for two LULA elevators at 105 N Main. They reviewed the pictures and information presented by Mr. Boesen and discussed in detail the safety aspect of what is currently in place with the spiral staircase to the safety of the LULA elevator. Board member Ragland made a motion to grant a one-time variance for the installation of the limited use limited access elevator at the drive up teller stations at 105 N Main. The motion was seconded by Board member Whittit and passed unanimously. Chairman Meinhardt asked if there was any other business for the Board and Secretary Kerschen informed the Board of a bill passed by the Kansas Legislature that requires 12 hours biennially of continuing education to renew an electrical certificate. This same bill also requires 2 years field experience before sitting for the journeyman or residential wireman examination and requiring a journeyman certificate for two years before sitting for the master examination. This bill is similar to the one passed last year for plumbing and mechanical certificate holders and would go into affect on July 1, 2006. The City ordinance would require changes to reflect this new law and Secretary Kerschen gave the Board copies of the proposed changes in Title 19 for their review. Also for the Boards review was the proposed changes to Title 19 with the wording changes as requested by the Board at the March 14, 2006 meeting. The Board reviewed a copy of the bill passed by the Kansas Legislature and compared that to the proposed changes in Title 19 and reviewed the other proposed changes in Title 19 of the City ordinance. Board member Ragland made a motion to accept the proposed changes in Title 19 and proceed to present them to City Council. Board member Johnson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. With no other business to conduct, Board member Whittit made a motion to adjourn. Board member Ragland seconded the motion and the meeting adjourned. The time was 5:01 pm. Tom Kerschen, Secretary, Board of Electrical Appeals 1