(Senate Bill No. 63.) CHAPTER 8. AN ACT creating the office of hotel inspector and providing for the inspection of hotels and restaurants. (Passed February 21, 1913. In effect ninety days from passage. Approved by the Governor February 24, 1913.) What must be provided when erecting hotel three stories high or more. Every hotel must be provided with Keepers shall not knowingly employ Penalty for not disinfecting room or bed occupied by person with infectious disease. What bed, bunk or cot shall be provided with. What shall be done to bed bugs. Persons who operate or let a build- Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia: Sec. 1. The governor shall appoint a hotel inspector to hold office at the will and pleasure of said governor. He shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution, and give bond in the penalty of five thousand dollars, which bond when approved by the governor, shall be filed and recorded in the office of the secretary of state. Said hotel inspector shall have had at least five years' experience in conducting a first class American and European hotel, and receive a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, and his actual traveling expenses. He shall keep an accurate itemized account of such expenses and shall file the same quarterly with the secretary of the state board of health, together with an account of all fees collected from applicants for hotel and restaurant, inspection certificates and of other moneys coming into his hands by virtue of his office. Sec. 2. The state board of health shall make such rules and regulations not inconsistent with law as in their judgment are necessary to carry out the intent of this act, which rules and regulations shall take effect when approved by the attorney general and the governor. The said hotel inspector shall assist in the enforcement of any orders made by the state board of health, and of the laws of the state respecting pure food, so far as they relate to hotels and restaurants. Sec. 3. For the purpose of this act, every house where food and lodging is usually furnished to travelers and payment required therefor shall be deemed a hotel, and every place where food without lodging is usually furnished to guests and payment required therefor shall be deemed a restaurant. Sec. 4. Every person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of conducting a hotel or a restaurant, shall on or before the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred and thirteen, make application as hereinafter prescribed to the hotel inspector for inspection and a certificate thereof, and such inspector, if he shall be unable to make inspection of such hotel or restaurant within thirty days, shall issue to such applicant a temporary permit which shall hold good until a regular inspection is made. After said first day of July, one thousand nine hundred and thirteen, every person, firm or corporation proposing to conduct a hotel or a restaurant, shall apply to the hotel inspector for an inspection and certificate thereof and said inspector shall inspect the premises described in such application as soon thereafter as may be; but if it be impracticable to do so within ten days after receiving such application, said inspector may issue to such applicant a temporary permit as above provided. But one certificate. or permit shall be issued where a hotel and restaurant are combined and conducted in the same building and under the same management. Each certificate or permit shall expire on the thirtieth day of June next following its issuance and no hotel or restaurant shall be maintained and conducted in this state after July first, one thousand nine hundred and thirteen, without the certificate of inspection thereof as herein prescribed, which certificate shall be posted in the main public. room of such hotel or restaurant, and shall show the date of each inspection and the notations relating thereto by the hotel inspector. No such certificate shall be transferable. The fee for such inspection. and certificate or permit shall be for a hotel, two dollars, and twenty-five cents additional for each bed room in excess of seven; and for a restaurant, two dollars, and twenty-five cents additional for each five chairs or stools, or spaces where persons are fed in excess of the first ten, but no fee shall exceed ten dollars. All such fees shall be paid before the inspection is made by the hotel inspector. Such inspector shall, on the first of each month, pay into the state treasury all fees collected for inspections during the preceding month. Every certificate of inspection or permit under this act shall be made and issued in duplicate. Sec. 5. Every such certificate shall show that the hotel or restaurant is equipped and conducted according to law, and shall be kept posted in some conspicuous place in such hotel or restaurant. Every such permit shall show, according to the fact, why it is granted, and that the hotel or restaurant is according to law permitted to be kept, and it shall be kept posted in like manner. Sec. 6. No license to keep a hotel or tavern, eating house or restaurant, and no certificate for such license shall hereafter be authorized or issued unless there be first filed in the county court to which application therefor is made, a certificate of inspection or permit, granted by the hotel inspector as provided in this act. Every such license shall bear on its face a reference to such certificate of inspection or permit. Sec. 7. The applicant for inspection of a hotel or restaurant shall file with the hotel inspector a written application in form to be prescribed by the state board of health and which shall set forth the name and address of the owner of the building or property to be occupied, and of the agent of any such owner; the name and address of the lessee and manager, if any, of the hotel or restaurant: the location of such hotel or restaurant and a full description of the building or property to be occupied by it and such other matters as may be required by the state board of health. The fee for inspection shall be paid to the hotel inspector when the application is filed with him. Sec. 8. The hotel inspector shall inspect, or cause to be inspected, at least once annually, every hotel and restaurant in the state. For that purpose he, or any person designated by him, shall have the right of entry and access at any reasonable time to inspect kitchens where food is prepared, pantry and storage rooms pertaining thereto, dining rooms, lunch counters, and every place where articles pertaining to the serving of the public are kept or prepared. The said inspector shall prohibit the use of any articles not in keeping with cleanliness and good sanitary conditions. He shall also have the right to enter any and all parts of a hotel at all reasonable hours to make such inspection, and every person in the management, or control thereof, shall afford free access to every part of the hotel and render all assistance necessary to enable the inspector to make full, thorough and complete examination thereof, but the privacy of any guest in any room occupied by him, shall not be invaded without his consent. Sec. 9. Whenever, upon such inspection, it shall be found that any such hotel or restaurant is not equipped, or being conducted in the manner and under the conditions required by the provisions of this act, the hotel inspector shall notify the owner, manager or agent in charge of such hotel or restaurant of such changes or alterations as in the judgment of the hotel inspector may be necessary to effect a complete compliance with the provisions of this act. Such owner, manager or agent, shall thereupon make such alterations or changes as may be necessary to put such buildings and premises in a condition, and conduct it in a manner that will fully comply with the requirements of this act. Provided, however, that due time after receiving such notice shall be allowed for conforming to the requirements thereof, which time shall be specified in the notice. Should the changes or alterations directed by such notice not be made in the time specified therein, the said inspector shall proceed against the person, or persons, in default in any court having jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this act against him or them. Every person, firm or corporation which shall fail or refuse to comply with the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be subject to a fine of five dollars for each and every day such failure or refusal may continue. If such failure or refusal shall continue for thirty days after the notice from the hotel inspector, the inspector may proceed in the circuit court of the county wherein such hotel or restaurant is, for an order closing it. After such order is issued, the building or property shall not again. be used for a hotel or a restaurant until a certificate or permit therefor shall have been issued by the hotel inspector, and any disobedience of such order shall be punished as other contempts of court. Reasonable notice shall be given of the application for such order. Sec. 10. Every hotel and restaurant in this state, shall be properly lighted by day and by night, shall be properly plumbed and ventilated and shall be conducted in every department with strict regard for the health, comfort and safety of the guests. Such proper plumbing and draining shall be done and maintained according to approved sanitary principles. Such proper ventilation shall be construed to require at least one door and one window in every sleeping room, which window shall permit easy access to the outside of the building, light-well or court. No room shall be used for a sleeping room which does not open to the outside of the building or light-wells, air shafts or courts, and every sleeping room shall have at least one window. Sec. 11. In every city, town or village where a system of water works and sewerage is maintained for public use, every hotel therein shall, within six months after the passage of this act, be equipped with suitable water closets for the accommodation of guests, which water closets shall be connected by proper plumbing with such sewer system, and be provided with the means of flushing such water closets with the water of such system in such manner as to prevent sewer gas or effluvia arising therefrom. All lavatories, bath tubs, sinks, drains, closets and urinals in such hotels must be furnished and equipped in similar manner, both as to methods and time. Sec. 12. In all cities, towns or villages not having a system of water works, every hotel shall have properly constructed privies or vaults to receive the night soil, that shall be kept clean and well screened at all times, and free from all filth of every kind. The privies shall have separate compartments for each sex, each compartment being properly designated. Sec. 13. Whenever it shall be proposed to erect a building three stories or more in height, intended for use as a hotel in this state, it shall be the duty of the owner or proprietor of such hotel to construct the same so that one main hallway on each floor above the ground floor shall run to an opening in the outside wall of the building. Every building used as a hotel after the passage of this act must comply with the provisions of the code of West Virginia pertaining to fire escapes. All fire escapes shall be indicated by a red light and a placard in each hallway leading to such fire escapes. Sec. 14. Every hotel shall be provided with one fire extinguisher of style and size approved by the national board of fire underwriters, on each floor containing twenty-five hundred square feet of floor area; and one additional fire extinguisher on each floor for each additional twenty-five hundred square feet of floor room, or fraction thereof. Every such extinguisher shall be placed in a con |