[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Lower Pottsgrove 10-4-2004 by Ord. No. 204A (Ch. 13, Part 1, of the 1995 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Construction codes — See Ch. 100.
Licensing of contractors — See Ch. 115.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide regulations and standards applicable to alarm devices, alarm businesses, alarm agents and alarm users as defined in this chapter.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
ALARM AGENT
Any person who is employed by any business, corporation or other commercial entity that is registered hereunder to conduct the business of owning, operating, maintaining, installing, leasing or selling alarm devices, whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing in or on any building, place or premises any alarm device as defined in this chapter, located within the Township of Lower Pottsgrove or connected to the central alarm monitoring facility.
ALARM BUSINESS OR CONTRACTOR
Any business, firm, corporation or other commercial entity which is in the business of owning, operating, maintaining, installing, leasing or selling an alarm device or devices or system of alarm devices, which business, firm, corporation or other commercial entity is, as owner, operator, provider of maintenance service, installer, lessor or seller of said device, devices or system of devices, subject to the registration requirements of this chapter.
ALARM DEVICE
Any device which, when activated by a criminal act or by smoke, fire or other emergency requiring Police or Fire Department response, transmits a signal to a private central alarm station and/or produces an audible or visible signal to which the Police or Fire Department are expected to respond. Excluded from this definition and from the coverage of this chapter are alarm devices which are designed to alert or signal persons within the premises in which the alarm device is installed of an attempted unauthorized intrusion, holdup, fire or other emergency and is not intended to alert persons outside the premises.
ALARM INSTALLATION
Any police, fire or emergency alarm device or aggregation of police or fire alarm devices installed on or within a single building or on or within more than one building or area adjacently located on a common site, at a specific location.
ALARM USER
Any person on whose premises an alarm device is owned, operated, used or maintained.
CENTRAL ALARM STATION
Any facility operated by a private firm that owns or leases a system of alarm devices, which facility is manned by operators who receive, record or validate alarm signals and relay information about such validated signals to police and/or fire headquarters when appropriate.
DIGITAL COMMUNICATOR ALARM
A telephone device that electronically selects a predetermined telephone number and transmits a digital coded signal to the central alarm monitoring facility.
DIRECT ALARM
Any alarm device which transmits a signal over a leased telephone line to the central alarm monitoring facility.
DUAL ALARM
A telephone device or telephone attachment that automatically or electronically selects a telephone line connected to police and/or fire headquarters and reproduces a prerecorded message to report a criminal act or other emergency requiring Police or Fire Department response.
FALSE ALARM
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malicious intent, malfunction, improper installation or the negligence of the owner or lessee of an alarm system or of his or her employer or agents.
LOCAL ALARM DEVICE
Any alarm device not connected to the central alarm monitoring facility or to a private central alarm station which, when activated, causes an audible and/or visual signaling device to be activated on the exterior of the premises within which the device is installed.
MALFUNCTION
A mechanical deficiency or other fault or failure in an alarm device which results in a false alarm.
MANUAL ALARM DEVICE
Any alarm device in which activation of the alarm signal is initiated by the direct action of the alarm user.
POLICE/FIRE/EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
The Montgomery County radio communications room.
A. 
Registration required. All alarm businesses must register within the Township on forms provided (see attached form) by the Township before doing any business in the Township.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Registration forms are available in the Township office.
B. 
Unlawful to operate, maintain, install, lease or sell an alarm device without being registered.
(1) 
It shall be unlawful for any person, business, contractor, firm or corporation to operate, maintain, modify, install, lease or sell an alarm device or devices or system of alarm devices, as defined by the terms of this chapter, without first registering with the Township.
(2) 
Any person engaged in the business of maintaining, repairing, servicing, altering, replacing, removing or installing an alarm device or system of devices shall carry on his person at all times while so engaged a copy of his company's registration.
(3) 
An annual fee of $30 is hereby established in order to register as an alarm contractor with the Township. All registered contractors must provide applicable insurance and workers' compensation documentation as required by the Township. This fee may be amended from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
(4) 
At the time of registration and at each subsequent registration, the contractor shall submit to the Township a list of all systems installed within the Township during the prior year. The Police Department shall be provided and shall maintain a duplicate of all alarm registrations and updates for enforcement purposes.
A. 
The Township assumes no responsibility for such system.
(1) 
Notwithstanding the registration of any alarm business, the Police Department, Fire Department and the Township of Lower Pottsgrove shall be under no obligation whatsoever concerning the adequacy, the operation or maintenance of the alarm device so installed, and the Township of Lower Pottsgrove and its authorized agents hereby assume no liability whatsoever for any failure of any such alarm device or for failure to respond to any such alarm device or system.
(2) 
The alarm user and alarm business, upon registration, hereby agrees to hold and save harmless the Township of Lower Pottsgrove, its agents or employees from any liability whatsoever in connection with any such alarm device or the operation of the same.
B. 
Dial alarm devices; using telephone switchboard for prerecorded voice messages prohibited. No person shall use or cause or permit to be used any dial alarm device that automatically selects a telephone trunk line of the Police or Fire Department of the Township of Lower Pottsgrove and then reproduces any prerecorded voice message to report any robbery, burglary, fire or other emergency. The use of any dial alarm which relays a digital coded signal to the central alarm monitoring facility is permitted under this chapter.
C. 
Intentional false alarm. It shall be a violation of this chapter to intentionally cause a false alarm, and any person who does intentionally cause a false alarm shall be subject to the penalty provisions of this chapter.
D. 
Burglary alarms. Beginning on the 91st day of the installation of a system, any owner or lessee of property having a privately monitored or local alarm device on the property shall pay to the Township a penalty fee of $35 for the second and each subsequent false alarm to which the Township police respond in each calendar year.
E. 
Fire alarms. Beginning on the 91st day of the installation of a system, any owner or lessee of property having a privately monitored or local alarm device on the property shall pay to the Township a charge for a false alarm to which any Township Fire Department responds, as follows:
(1) 
First false alarm in any calendar year: no charge.
(2) 
Second false alarm in any calendar year: $35.
(3) 
Third false alarm in any calendar year: $150.
(4) 
Fourth and subsequent false alarm in any calendar year: $300.
F. 
Alarms without timing mechanisms and recorded voice messages prohibited. After the enactment of this chapter, owners or lessees must equip audible alarms with a timing mechanism that will disengage the audible alarm after a maximum period of 15 minutes. Audible alarms without such a timing mechanism shall be unlawful in the Township and must be disconnected by the owner or lessee within 90 days from the effective date of this chapter.
G. 
Removal of unlawful equipment. In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the Township, whenever it shall have knowledge of the use of any alarm device, cabinet or attachment which is not operated or maintained in accordance with the provisions of this chapter or which is contrary to regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter, may order the disconnection of such device from police and fire headquarters, and it shall be unlawful to disobey such order.
H. 
Rules, regulations, standards and enforcement. The Township shall promulgate rules, regulations and standards applicable to alarm devices, alarm businesses, alarm agents and alarm users which are necessary for the purpose of assuring the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of alarm devices and alarm installations owned, operated, maintained, installed, leased or sold by a registrant under this chapter. The Lower Pottsgrove Township Police Department shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. The aforesaid rules, regulations and standards shall be set forth in writing and copies shall be available for applicants.
The failure of any person, natural or corporate, to register as required by § 80-3, perform or obey any provision of this chapter, or pay any charge pursuant to this chapter within 90 days of date it is levied constitutes a violation punishable by a fine of up to $600 for each such violation. Each day that a violation continues after the expiration of the period allowed for compliance under the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense.