[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Atlantic
City as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-3-2007 by Ord. No. 79-2007]
The purpose of this article is to provide minimum standards
to ensure a reasonable degree of reliability for emergency services
communications from within certain buildings and structures within
the City to and from emergency communications centers. It is the responsibility
of the emergency service provider to get the signal to and from the
building site.
A.
The provisions of this article shall apply to:
(1)
New buildings and structures of construction greater than 50,000
square feet or modifications made within any twelve-month period and
exceed 50% of the value of the existing building(s) or structure(s),
or the use of the property is expanded or enlarged by 50%, which have
not received a final inspection prior to the adoption of these provisions;
and
(2)
All basements or sublevel parking structures over 10,000 square feet
where the design occupant load is greater than 50, regardless of the
occupancy.
B.
For the purpose of this section, area separation walls cannot be
used to define separate buildings.
A.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, no person shall erect,
construct or modify any building or structure or any part thereof,
or cause the same to be done, which fails to support adequate radio
coverage for fire fighters and police officers. A final inspection
shall not be approved for any building or structure that fails to
comply with this requirement.
B.
The City's Telecommunications Unit, with consideration of the
appropriate police, fire and emergency medical department services,
at the time the building permit is issued shall determine the frequency
range or ranges that must be supported.
A.
A minimum average in-building field strength of eight micro-volts
(-88 dBm) throughout 85% of the area of each floor of the building
when transmitted from the City's police dispatch center and the
appropriate emergency service dispatch centers which are providing
fire and emergency medical protection services to the building; (-88
dBm equates to 30 dBu at VHF, 40 dBu at UHF and 45 dBu at 888 mhz.).
B.
If the field strength outside the building where the receive antenna
system for the in-building system is located is less than -88 dBm,
then the minimum required in-building field strength shall equal the
field strength being delivered to the receive antenna of the building.
C.
As used in this article, eighty-five-percent coverage or reliability
means the radio will transmit 85% of the time at the field strength
and levels as defined in this article.
A minimum average signal strength of four micro-volts (-95 dBm)
as received by the City's police dispatch center and the appropriate
emergency service dispatch centers which are providing fire and emergency
medical protection services to the building; (-95 dBm equates to 24
dBu at VHF, -33 dBu at UHF and -38 dBu at 88 MHz).
If amplification is used in the system, all FCC authorization
must be obtained prior to use of the system. A copy of these authorizations
shall be provided to the City.
A.
Where buildings and structures are required to provide amenities to achieve adequate signal strength, they shall be equipped with any of the following to achieve the required adequate ratio coverage: radiating cable system(s), internal multiple antenna system(s) with a frequency range as established in §§ 253-4 and 253-5 with amplification system(s) as needed, voting receiver system(s) as needed, or any other City-approved system(s).
B.
If any part of the installed system or systems contains an electrically
powered component, the system shall be capable of operation of an
independent battery or generator system for a period of at least eight
hours without external power input or maintenance. The battery system
shall automatically charge in the presence of external power.
C.
Amplification equipment must have adequate environmental controls
to meet the heating, ventilation, cooling and humidity requirements
of the equipment that will be utilized to meet the requirements of
this article. The area where the amplification equipment is located
also must be free of hazardous materials such as fuels, asbestos,
etc. The location of the amplification equipment must be in an area
that has twenty-four-hour, seven-day-a-week access for the City's
telecommunications personnel. All communications equipment, including
amplification systems, cable and antenna systems, shall be grounded
with a single point ground system of five Ohms or less. The ground
system must include an internal tie point within three feet of the
amplification equipment. System transient suppression for the telephone
circuits, AC power, radio frequency (RF) cabling and grounding protection
are required as needed.
D.
The following information shall be provided by an electrical engineer.
(1)
A blueprint showing the location of the amplification equipment and
associated antenna systems (to include a view showing building access
to the equipment); and
(2)
Schematic drawings of the electrical, backup power, antenna system
and any other associated equipment relative to the amplification equipment
including panel locations and labeling.
A.
Tests shall be made using frequencies close to the frequencies used
by the police and appropriate emergency services. If testing is done
on the actual frequencies, then this testing must be coordinated within
the City's Telecommunications Unit All testing must be done on
frequencies authorized by the FCC. A valid FCC license will be required
if testing is done on frequencies different from the police, fire
or emergency medical frequencies.
B.
Measurements shall be made using the following guidelines:
(1)
With a service monitor using a unity gain antenna on a small ground
plane;
(2)
Measurements shall be made with the antenna held in a vertical position
at three to four feet above the floor;
(3)
A calibrated service monitor (with a factory calibration dated within
24 months) may be used to do the test;
(4)
The Telecommunications Unit representative for the City may also
make simultaneous measurements to verify that the equipment is making
accurate measurements. A variance of 3 db between the instruments
will be allowed; and
(5)
If measurements in one location are varying, then average measurements
shall be used.
A.
All testing shall be done in the presence of or by the City at no
expense to the City or appropriate emergency services department.
B.
Signal strength, both inbound and outbound as defined above, shall
be measured on each and every floor above and below ground including
stairwells, basements, penthouse facilities and parking areas of the
structure. The structure shall be divided into fifty-foot grids and
the measurements shall be taken at the center of each grid. In critical
areas (police substations and fire command posts) the grids shall
be subdivided into four twenty-five-foot grids in place of each fifty-foot
grid.
Annual tests will be conducted by the City's Telecommunications
Unit or appropriate emergency services department. If communications
appear to have degraded or if the tests fail to demonstrate adequate
system performance, the owner of the building or structure is required
to remedy the problem and restore the system in a manner consistent
with the original approval criteria in order to obtain a final inspection
of occupancy. The retesting will be done at no expense to the City
or the appropriate emergency services departments as required in the
original testing procedures.
