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.
The provisions of this article shall apply to:
A.
New buildings greater than 50,000 square feet;
B.
Existing buildings over 50,000 square feet when modifications, alterations
or repairs exceed 50% of the value of the existing building(s) and
are made within any twelve-month period or the usable floor area is
expanded or enlarged by more than 50%; and
C.
All sublevels, regardless of the occupancy, over 10,000 square feet.
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 firefighters and police officers.
B.
The City's Fire and Rescue Department, with consideration of the
appropriate police, fire and emergency medical department services,
shall determine the frequency range or ranges that must be supported.
C.
For the purpose of this article, adequate radio coverage shall constitute
a successful communications test between the equipment in the building
and the communications centers for all appropriate emergency service
providers for the building.
A.
The minimum average in-building field strength shall be 2.25 microvolts
(-100 dBm) for analog and five microvolts (-93 dBm) for digital systems
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.
B.
If the field strength outside the building where the receive antenna
system for the in-building system is located is less than -100 dBm
for analog or -93 dBm for digital systems, 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, 85% coverage or reliability means the radio
will transmit 85% of the time at the field strength and levels as
defined in this article.
A.
The minimum average signal strength shall be 112 microvolts (-6 dBm)
for analog and 250 microvolts (+1 dBm) for digital systems 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.
B.
FCC authorization. If amplification is used in the system, all FCC
authorizations must be obtained prior to use of the system. A copy
of these authorizations shall be provided to the City's Fire and Rescue
Department.
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 radio coverage:
radiating cable system(s), internal multiple antenna system(s) with
an acceptable frequency range and an 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 on 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 code. The area where the amplification equipment is located also
must be free of hazardous materials such as fuels, asbestos, etc.
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 to the Fire and Rescue
Department by the builder:
(1)
A blueprint showing the location of the amplification equipment and
associated antenna systems which includes 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 Fire and Rescue Department. 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 three db between the instruments
will be allowed; and
(5)
If measurements in one location are varying, then average measurements
shall be used.
[Amended 2-12-2020 by Ord. No. 2020.01.08-001]
A.
All testing shall be done in the presence of a Fire and Rescue Department
representative 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.
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. The retesting will be done at
no expense to the City or the appropriate emergency services department
as required in the original testing procedures.
Police 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. Certificates of occupancy may
be denied for new and existing buildings for failure to comply with
these requirements.
[Amended 2-12-2020 by Ord. No. 2020.01.08-001]
Any person, persons, firm, corporation or partnership who or
which shall violate any provision of this article shall be guilty
of a violation punishable by a fine as provided in the City Fine Schedule.
Each day that the violation continues to exist shall constitute a
separate offense.
