[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Washington 12-17-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-14. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to ensure the availability if essential radio communications for all first responders including, but not limited to, police, fire, and emergency medical personnel.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AGENCY
Washington Township Police and Emergency Services.
BUILDING
A combination of materials to form a construction adapted to permanent, temporary or continuous occupancy and having a roof, with the exception of the following:
A. 
Detached single-family or two-family dwelling unit buildings;
B. 
Conventional agricultural buildings and structures erected upon a working farm, including, but not limited to, farm animal buildings, farm machinery buildings and farm stands;
C. 
Commercial buildings 35 feet high or less, provided that said building is not primarily of metal or concrete construction and does not contain below grade storage or parking areas.
MINIMUM RADIO COVERAGE INTO A BUILDING
A minimum signal strength of -95dBm available in all areas of the building when transmitted from the agency's radio system. For purposes of this definition, 90% building coverage is considered to be all areas of the building.
MINIMUM SIGNAL STRENGTH OUT OF A BUILDING
A minimum signal strength of -95dBm received by the agency's radio system when transmitted from all areas of the building. For purposes of this definition, 90% building coverage is considered to be all areas of the building.
A. 
All current and proposed buildings shall be equipped to provide minimum radio coverage into and minimum signal strength out of said buildings as defined in § 17-2.
B. 
Buildings constructed prior to January 1, 2020, shall not be required to comply with § 17-3A unless 51% or more of the building has been or will be renovated, restored or significantly modified after January 1, 2020.
The agency shall maintain a document of technical information specific to their requirements. This document shall contain (as a minimum): the frequencies required, the location and effective radiated power (ERP) of radio sites used by the in-building system, the maximum propagation delay (in microseconds) and other supporting technical information.
A. 
The minimum qualification of the system designer and lead installation personnel shall include:
(1) 
A valid FCC-issued general radio operators license.
(2) 
Certification of in-building system training issued by a nationally recognized organization, school, or a certificate issued by the manufacturer of the equipment being installed.
B. 
The agency may waive these requirements upon successful demonstration of adequate skills and experience that is satisfactory to the agency.
All buildings shall be subject to at least one in-building coverage test as follows:
A. 
For newly constructed buildings, prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
B. 
Whenever structural changes occur (including additions to buildings) that would materially change the original field performance tests.
C. 
When any major repairs or alterations are made to an in-building amplification system.
D. 
Any time a first responder experiences a radio communication failure in responding to any event at a building.
Buildings which cannot support the required level of radio coverage shall be equipped with a radiating cable system and/or a distributed antenna system (DAS) with FCC-certified single boosters (aka bidirectional amplifiers) or systems otherwise approved by the Chief of Police of the Township of Washington, or his designee, including, but not limited to, the Director of Warren County Public Safety in order to achieve the required adequate radio coverage.
A. 
Battery systems. The active components of the installed system or systems shall be capable of operating on an independent battery system for a period of at least 12 hours without external power input. The battery system shall automatically charge in the presence of an external power input.
B. 
Signal booster requirements. If used, signal boosters shall meet the following requirements as well as any other requirements determined by the agency:
(1) 
All signal booster components shall be contained in one NEMA4 type, waterproof cabinet. Permanent external filters and attachments are not permitted.
(2) 
The battery system shall be contained in one NEMA4 type, waterproof cabinet.
(3) 
The system shall include automatic alarming of malfunctions of the signal booster and battery system. Any resulting alarm shall be transmitted to the agency's designated recipient by means specified by the agency including, but not limited to, automatic standard telephone dial-up circuit, TCP/IP network circuit, RS232 interface, etc.
(4) 
FCC certification prior to installation. Pending FCC certification is not acceptable.
(5) 
All signal boosters must be compatible with both analog and digital communications simultaneously at the time of installation. The agency will provide the maximum acceptable propagation delay.
(6) 
Only equipment that is preapproved by the agency may be used. This section cannot be used by the agency to limit equipment to one manufacturer.
C. 
Approval prior to installation. No amplification system capable of operating on frequencies licensed by the FCC shall be installed without prior coordination and approval.
D. 
Acceptance test procedure. When an in-building radio system is required, it will be the building owner's responsibility to have the radio system tested to ensure that two-way coverage on each floor of the building is a minimum of 90% upon completion of installation. 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, the floor may be divided into 40 equal areas in order to be more statistically accurate. A maximum of four nonadjacent areas will be allowed to fail the test. After the 40-area test, if the system continues to fail, it will be the building owner's responsibility to have the system altered to meet the 90% coverage requirement. The test shall be conducted using a calibrated portable radio of the latest brand and model used by the agency talking through the agency's radio communication system. A test location approximately in the center of each grid area will be selected for the test, then the radio will be enabled to verify two-way communications to and from the outside of the building through the agency's communication system. Once the test location 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 the measurements can be verified each year during the annual tests. In the event that the measurement results become lost, the building owner will be required to rerun the acceptance test to reestablish the gain values. As part of the installation, a spectrum analyzer or other suitable test equipment shall be utilized to ensure spurious oscillations are not being generated by the subject signal booster due to coupling (lack of sufficient isolation) between the input and output antenna systems. This test will be conducted at the time of installation and subsequent annual inspections.
E. 
Annual tests. When an in-building radio system is required, it shall be the building owner's responsibility to have all active components of the system, such as signal boosters, power supplies, and backup batteries, tested to a minimum of once every 12 months. Signal boosters shall be tested 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 of a period of one hour to verify that they will properly operate during an actual power outage. If the battery exhibits symptoms of failure within the one-hour test period in the opinion of the agency's representative, the test shall be extended for additional one-hour periods until the integrity of the battery can be determined. All other active components shall be checked to determine that they are operating within the manufacturer's specifications for the intended purposes.
F. 
Field testing. Police and fire personnel shall at any time have the right to enter onto the property to conduct its own field testing to be certain that a required level of radio coverage is present.