[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of East Bradford 4-12-2016 by Ord.
No. 2-2016.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was originally adopted as Ch.
44 but was renumbered to maintain the organization of the Code.
The Board of Supervisors finds that the ability of all emergency
services providers and personnel to communicate with each other within
buildings and structures, and to communicate from within structures
and buildings to personnel and locations outside the building and
structure, is of vital public importance. A breakdown in communications
among emergency service providers and personnel creates a serious
risk of harm to and is a serious threat to the safety and welfare
of emergency personnel, the citizens of East Bradford Township and
the public in general. Therefore, pursuant to the police power, the
Board enacts this chapter to protect the public health, safety and
welfare.
The following words and terms shall, for the purposes of this
chapter and as used elsewhere in this Code, have the meanings shown
herein.
Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International.
Chester County Department of Emergency Services.
Federal Communications Commission.
National Association of Business and Education Radio.
National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee.
Personal Communications Industry Association.
West Chester Police Department.
A.Â
Except as otherwise provided, no person shall erect, construct, alter,
refit, change the use of, or provide an addition of more than 20%
of the existing floor area to any building or structure or any part
thereof, or cause the same to be done which fails to support adequate
radio coverage for CCDES and the emergency service providers that
serve or are under contract to East Bradford Township, including the
West Chester Police Department. For the purposes of this section,
adequate radio coverage shall include all of the following:
(1)Â
A minimum signal strength of — 95dBm available in 95% of the
area of each floor of the building;
(2)Â
A minimum signal strength of — 95dBm received at the closest
CCDES and WCPD radio communications site when transmitted from 95%
of the area of each floor of the building;
(3)Â
The frequency range which must be supported shall be between 500
MHz and 861 MHz;
(4)Â
A reliability factor of 90%;
(5)Â
Signal strength measurements, for the purpose of measuring the performance
of a bidirectional amplifier, shall be based on one input signal adequate
to obtain a maximum continuous operating output level.
B.Â
The provisions of this section shall become applicable upon notification
to the property owner that unacceptable performance levels exist.
The property owner shall have 90 days from date of notification to
enhance radio coverage and bring it within the acceptable limits of
these provisions.
Buildings and structures which cannot support the required level
of acceptable radio coverage shall be equipped with either a radiating
cable system or an internal multiple-antenna system with or without
FCC-type accepted bidirectional 700/800 MHz amplifiers as needed.
If any part of the installed system or systems contains an electrically
powered component, the system shall be capable of operating on an
independent battery and/or generator system for a period of at least
12 hours without external power input. The battery system shall charge
in the presence of an external power input. If used, bidirectional
amplifiers shall include filters to reduce adjacent frequency interference
at 35dB below the public safety band. Settings used should not attenuate
the rebanded public safety frequencies, and further provided that
they are not more than one MHz from these frequencies.
A.Â
Acceptance test procedure. When an in-building radio amplification
system is required, and upon successful completion of installation,
it will be the building owner's responsibility to have the radio
system tested by an approved vendor by the CCDES and WCPD to ensure
that two-way coverage on each floor of the building is a minimum of
95%. Each floor of the building shall be divided into a grid of approximately
20 equal areas. A maximum of two nonadjacent areas will be allowed
to fail the test. In the event that three of the areas fail the test,
in order to be more statistically accurate, the floor may be divided
into 40 equal areas. In such event, a maximum of four nonadjacent
areas will be allowed to fail the test. After the forty-areas test,
if the system continues to fail, the building owner shall have the
system altered to meet the ninety-five-percent coverage requirement.
The test shall be conducted using the most current in-use portable
radio or its equivalent available to the WCPD and Township emergency
service providers, talking through the CCDES and WCPD systems as specified
by the authority having jurisdiction. A spot located approximately
in the center of the grid area will be selected for the test, then
the radio will be keyed to verify two-way communications to and from
the outside of the building through the CCDES. Once the spot has been
selected, prospecting for a better spot within the grid area will
not be permitted. The gain values of all amplifiers shall be measured
and the test measurement results shall be kept on file with the building
owner so that the measurements can be verified each year during the
annual tests. In the event that the measurements results become lost,
the building owner will be required to rerun the acceptance test to
reestablish the gain values.
B.Â
Annual tests. When an in-building radio system is required, the building
owner shall test all active components of the system, including but
not limited to amplifiers, power supplies and backup batteries, a
minimum of once every 12 months. Amplifiers shall be tested and maintained
to ensure that the gain is the same as it was upon initial installation
and acceptance. Backup batteries and power supplies shall be tested
under load for a period of one hour to verify that they will properly
operate during an actual power outage. If within the one-hour test
period, in the opinion of the testing technician, the battery exhibits
symptoms of failure, the test shall be extended for additional one-hour
periods until the testing technician confirms the integrity of the
battery. All other active components shall be checked to determine
that they are operating within the manufacturer's specifications
for the intended period. A copy of accepted tests shall be made available
to the CCDES Technical Division and the Chief Dispatcher of the WCPD
upon inquiry. All tests shall be completed at the expense of the property
owner.
C.Â
Five-year tests. In addition to the annual test, the building owner
shall perform a radio coverage test a minimum of once every five years
to ensure that the radio system continues to meet the requirements
of the original acceptance test. The procedure set forth above shall
apply to such tests. A copy of accepted tests shall be provided to
the CCDES Technical Division and the Chief Dispatcher of the WCPD.
All tests shall be completed at the expense of the property owner.
D.Â
Qualifications of testing personnel. All tests shall be conducted,
documented and signed by a person in possession of a current FCC technician
license, or a current technician certification issued by the APCO,
NABER, or the PCIA. All test records shall be retained on the inspected
premises by the building owner. A copy of accepted tests shall be
provided to the CCDES Technical Division and the Chief Dispatcher
of the WCPD. All tests shall be completed at the expense of the property
owner.
The CCDES, WCPD and fire personnel, after providing reasonable
notice to the owner or his representative, shall have the right to
enter onto the property to conduct field testing to be certain the
required level of radio coverage is present.
This section does not apply to: structures in Use Groups R-3
and R-4; any building constructed of wood frame; or any building 35
feet high or less, as long as none of the aforementioned buildings
make use of any metal construction or any underground storage or parking
areas. For the purposes of this section, parking structures and stairwells
are included in the definition of "building," and stair shafts are
included in the definition of "all parts of a building," but elevators
may be excluded.
Any nonexempt building or structure existing, under construction, or for which a building permit application is pending or has been approved as of the effective date of this chapter shall comply with the requirements of this chapter if the CCDES, Township emergency service providers, and/or the WCPD determine that adequate radio coverage as set forth in §§ 54-3 through and including 54-5 do not exist in the building or structure. The owner of the building or structure shall be notified in writing of the inadequacy of the coverage and shall have a period of 90 consecutive calendar days from the date of notice to comply with this chapter, including but not limited to enhancing radio coverage and bringing it within the acceptable limits of this section.
