Pennsylvania Statutes Title 53 P.S. Municipal and Quasi-Municipal Corporations § 14853. Defective plumbing or drainage;  inspection;  report;  abatement

Whenever it shall come to the knowledge of the Department or Board or Bureau of Health,  1 or complaint in writing shall be made by any citizen, that the plumbing or drainage in any building has become a nuisance or is contrary to the provisions and requirements of this act or the ordinances of the city, or is of faulty construction and liable to breed disease or endanger the health of the occupants, or upon the request of any owner or occupant of any building fitted with plumbing or drainage prior to the passage of this act, then the Department or Board or Bureau of Health shall direct the proper officer to examine the plumbing or drainage in any such building, and the said officer shall make a drawing of the plan of said plumbing, drainage, and sewer and ventilating-shaft connections.  He shall report his findings, in writing, to the Department or Board of Bureau of Health, and suggest such changes as are necessary to make the same conform to the rules governing such matters.

The Department or Board or Bureau of Health shall thereupon notify the owner or agent of any such building of the changes which are necessary to be made in said plumbing or drainage.  Said changes shall be made within the time fixed by the Department or Board or Bureau of Health;  and upon refusal or neglect to obey such orders, the Department or Board or Bureau of Health shall institute legal proceedings to have such changes made and said nuisance abated, by action before a justice of the peace or court of record;  in which said action the owner or agent of said building may show in defense that the plumbing or drainage was not a nuisance, or was not of faulty construction or out of repair, and in case of a building constructed subsequent to the passage of this act, said plumbing or drainage was not contrary to the provisions and requirements of this act or the ordinances of the city.