§21-3-7 Regulation of operation of steam boilers.
§21-3-7. Regulation of operation of steam boilers.
Any person owning or operating a steam boiler carrying more than fifteen pounds pressure per square inch (except boilers on railroad locomotives subject to inspection under federal laws, portable boilers used for agricultural purposes, boilers on automobiles, boilers of steam fire engines brought into the state for temporary use in times of emergency for the purpose of checking conflagrations, boilers used in private residences which are used solely for residential purposes, any sectional boilers, small portable boilers commonly used in the oil and gas industry about their wells and tool houses, and boilers under the jurisdiction of the United States) in this state shall first obtain a permit to operate a steam boiler from the commissioner of labor, or from an inspector working under his jurisdiction.
Applications for permits to operate a steam boiler must be accompanied by a sworn statement made by the owner or operator of such boiler, setting forth the condition of the boiler and its appurtenances at which time, if the facts disclosed by such statement meet the safety requirements established under this article, the commissioner of labor shall issue a temporary permit, which shall be valid until such boiler has been inspected by a boiler inspector authorized by the state commissioner of labor; thereupon, if the boiler meets the safety requirements established under this article, the commissioner of labor shall issue an annual permit to operate such steam boiler: Provided, That boilers which are insured by an insurance company operating in this state and which are inspected by such insurance company's boiler inspector shall not be subject to inspection by the state department of labor, during any twelve months' period during which an inspection is made by the insurance company's boiler inspector.
The commissioner of labor or state boiler inspector shall have the authority to inspect steam boilers in this state. To carry out the provisions of this section, the commissioner of labor shall prescribe rules and regulations under which boilers may be constructed and operated, according to their class. The commissioner of labor shall be authorized to revoke any permit to operate a steam boiler if the rules prescribed by the commissioner of labor, or his authorized representative, are violated or if a condition shall prevail which is hazardous to the life and health of persons operating or employed at or around the boiler. Any person or corporation who shall operate a steam boiler for which a permit is necessary under the provisions of this section, without first obtaining such permit to operate a steam boiler, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. Every day a steam boiler requiring a permit to operate is operated without such permit shall be considered a separate offense.
The commissioner may charge such fee as he determines reasonable for the inspection of boilers by the department of labor boiler inspector of the commissioner's authorized boiler inspection agency, for the processing of inspection reports from insurance companies, for issuing annual permits to operate boilers and for commissioning insurance company boiler inspectors. Such fees shall be established by a rule promulgated in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. No fee shall be charged for the inspection of boilers used on mobile equipment or vehicles used for occasional entertainment or display purposes.