Chapter 5.38 — MATTRESSES

The term "mattress" as used in this chapter shall be construed to mean and include any quilted pad, comforter, mattress, mattress pad, bunk quilt or cushion, stuffed and filled with wool, hair or other soft material, to be used on a couch or other bed for sleeping or reclining purposes.

(Prior code § 5-13.05)

It is unlawful for any person to maintain or operate, or engage in, the business of making or remaking, and the sale of, mattresses within any building, room, apartment, dwelling, basement or cellar or any other premises within the city, without having first obtained a certificate issued by the Health Department after duly inspecting such premises, and signed by the Health Officer of the city, that the premises are in a sanitary condition and that all arrangements for carrying on the business without injury to public health have been complied with in accordance with the provisions of this code and other ordinances of the city, and that all provisions of law pertaining to the conduct of such establishments have been complied with. Said certificate, when issued, shall be kept displayed in a prominent place on the said premises and shall be varied for a period of one year from the date of issue, at the end of which time a new certificate must be procured as herein provided.

Such certificate may at any time be revoked, for cause, upon recommendation of the Health Officer and in accordance with the provisions set forth in Section 5.02.080.

(Prior code § 5-13.06)

It is unlawful for any person to employ or use, or permit to be used, in the making, remaking or renovating of any mattresses, or to sell, offer to sell, deliver or consign, or have in his or her possession with the intent to sell, deliver or consign, any mattress in which there has been used in making, remaking, or renovating the same, any material of any kind that has been used in, or has formed a part of, any mattress used in or about any public or private hospital or institution for the treatment of persons suffering from disease, or for or about any person having any infectious or contagious disease, or any material known as "shoddy" and made in whole or in part from old or worn-out clothing, carpets or other fabric or material from which "shoddy" is constructed, or any material whatsoever of which prior use has been made, unless all of the said material has been thoroughly sterilized and disinfected by a process approved by the Health Department of the city.

(Prior code § 5-13.07)

It is unlawful for any person to cause or permit to be renovated or remade, bought, sold or offered for sale, or to have in his or her possession with intent to sell, any renovated or remade or used or secondhand mattress unless the same has been sterilized and has thereto attached, or upon a muslin or linen tag not smaller than three inches square, permanently attached to the covering thereof, a statement, in the English language, setting forth, in type not smaller than twenty (20) point, the following facts:

This is a (renovated) (used) mattress and has been sterilized with _____(material used) on

---

(day)  (month)  (year)

BY _____

(firm's name)

Health Department's Certificate No._____.

(Prior code § 5-13.08)

It is unlawful for any person to sell, or offer for sale, or deliver or consign, or to permit to be sold or offered for sale or delivered or consigned, or to have in his or her possession with intent to sell, deliver or consign, any material which has been previously used as, or formed a part of, any mattress unless the same has been sterilized in a manner satisfactory to the Health Department.

(Prior code § 5-13.09)

It is unlawful for any person to directly or indirectly, at wholesale or retail, or by public auction or otherwise, sell, offer for sale, deliver or consign or auction, or cause or permit the same to be done, or have in his or her possession with intent to sell, deliver or consign, any mattress that shall not have plainly and indelibly stamped or printed thereon, or upon a muslin or linen tag not smaller than three inches square, permanently attached to the covering thereof, a statement, in the English language, setting forth the kind or kinds of materials used in filling the said mattress, and whether the same are, in whole or in part, new or old, or secondhand or shoddy, and the name and address of the manufacturer and/or the vendor thereof, together with the tag required by the provisions of Section 5.38.040, which statement of materials shall be in substantially the following form:

MATERIALS USED IN FILLING

---

---

Vendor _____

Address _____

This Article is made in compliance with the Oakland Municipal Code.

(Prior code § 5-13.10)

In making the statement required by Section 5.38.060 relative to the use of materials in mattresses, or in otherwise representing or defining materials used in any mattress offered for sale in the city, it is unlawful to use the word "felt" as applied to cotton unless it shall be designated whether said "felt" is "felted cotton" or "felted linters"; or to use the word "floss" or words of like import, if there has been used in filling said mattress any materials which are not termed as "Kapok"; or to use the word "hair" unless said mattress is entirely manufactured of animals' hair; or to use any misleading terms or designation; or any term or designation likely to mislead.

Any mattress made from more than one new material shall have stamped upon the tag attached thereto the percentage of each material so used. Any mattress made from any material of which prior use has been made shall have stamped or printed upon the tag attached thereto, in type not smaller than twenty (20) point, the words "second-hand material." Any mattress made from material known as "shoddy" shall have stamped or printed upon the tag attached thereto, in type not smaller than twenty point, the words "shoddy material."

(Prior code § 5-13.11)

Any person who shall remove, deface or alter, or in any manner attempt the same, or shall cause to be removed, defaced or altered, any mark or statement placed upon any mattress under the provisions of this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Prior code § 5-13.12)

The Health Department of the city shall from time to time adopt such rules and regulations governing the sanitation, disinfection and sterilization of mattresses as it may deem necessary and proper to give effect to the provisions of this chapter relative to the manufacture and sale of mattresses, and said department shall have the power to enforce such rules and regulations so made.

(Prior code § 5-13.13)

The unit for a separate and distinct offense in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, shall be each and every mattress made, remade, renovated, sold, offered for sale, delivered, consigned, or possessed with intent to sell, deliver or consign, contrary to the provisions of this chapter.

(Prior code § 5-13.14)