[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of West Hartford 10-9-1973.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
With the exception of those buildings listed in § 153-4, all new buildings and all additions to existing buildings shall be equipped with an automatic sprinkler system. Each such system shall be approved as to layout and as to installation by the New England Insurance Rating Association or its successors and by the West Hartford Fire Marshal. During a period of time that any automatic sprinkler system is inoperative, the certificate of occupancy may be revoked for that portion of the building with an inoperative system.
Sprinkler systems installed within existing buildings shall be approved
as to layout and as to installation by the New England Insurance Rating Association
or its successors and the West Hartford Fire Marshal.
Every sprinkler system installed in new or existing buildings shall
be equipped with at least one hose connection approved by the West Hartford
Fire Marshal. The pipe from the hose connection to the sprinkler system shall
be at least four inches in diameter.
The following classes of buildings shall be exempt from the requirement
for automatic sprinkler systems:
A.
Dwellings with a capacity of fewer than five families
and less than four-story-high buildings.
B.
All buildings smaller than 2,000 square feet.
C.
Any portion of a building housing a process or material
which would interact with water to create a greater fire hazard than without
water, provided that an alternate fire-suppression system is used.
[Added 7-9-2002]
A.
Use and occupancy.
(1)
No building or structure shall be constructed, altered
or changed in occupancy classification until such plans have been reviewed
by the Fire Marshal for compliance with the requirements contained in this
section.
(2)
Except as otherwise provided, no person shall erect,
construct, change the use of, or construct an addition of more than 50% in
gross floor area to any building or structure of Type I or Type II construction
which exceeds 10,000 square feet in gross floor area, including any portions
thereof which may be located below grade, which fails to support adequate
radio coverage. For the purposes of this section, the term "building" shall
be construed to include parking structures and stairwells. The term "adequate
radio coverage" shall be construed to include all of the following:
(a)
A minimum signal strength of one microvolt (-107 dBm)
available in 95% of the area of each floor of the building, including areas
below grade if applicable, when transmitted from the Town of West Hartford
Emergency Reporting Center;
(b)
A minimum signal strength of one microvolt (-107 dBm)
received at the Town of West Hanford Emergency Reporting Center when transmitted
from 95% of the area of each floor of the building;
(c)
The frequency range between 850 and 870 MHz must be supported;
and
(d)
A one-hundred-percent reliability factor.
B.
Amplification system required.
(1)
Buildings and structures subject to the requirements
of this section which do not provide adequate radio coverage shall be equipped
with an internal multiple antenna system with FCC type accepted bidirectional
800 MHz amplifiers as necessary to achieve adequate radio coverage.
(2)
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 automatically
charge in the presence of an external power input. The amplification system,
if powered, will be monitored by the building fire alarm system. If the system
shifts to auxiliary power as stated above, the building fire alarm system
will indicate trouble for that dedicated zone.
(3)
Any person who constructs or develops a commercial or
industrial building or structure shall provide two raceways within the walls
into which the cable needed to support a multiple antenna system could be
laid. Such raceways shall include an opening in the roof which allows for
installation or replacement of an exterior antenna and shall include access
to each floor.
C.
Testing procedures.
(1)
Acceptance test procedure.
(a)
Upon completion of the installation of an in-building radio system required pursuant to Subsection B of this section, the building owner shall have said radio system tested in the manner described herein to ensure that overall two-way coverage within the building, including all areas located below grade, is a minimum of 95%.
(b)
A maximum of two nonadjacent areas on any floor will
be allowed to fail the test. The test shall be conducted using a Motorola
MTS 2000, or equivalent, portable radio, talking through the Town of West
Hartford radio system as specified by the authority having jurisdiction and
conducted under the supervision of the Town of West Hartford Communications
Manager. The center of a grid area will be located for the test. The radio
will be keyed to verify two-way communication to and reception from the West
Hartford Emergency Reporting Center.
(c)
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 the measurement results become lost, the building owner will
be required to repeat the acceptance test to reestablish the gain values.
(d)
Qualifications of acceptance test personnel. All tests
shall be conducted, documented and signed by a person in possession of a current
FCC license, or a current technician certification issued by the Associated
Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO), the Personal
Communications Industry Association (PCIA), or the National Association of
Business and Education Radio (NABER). All test records shall be retained on
the inspected premises by the building owner, and a copy shall be submitted
to the Town of West Hartford Communications Manager.
(2)
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 amplifiers, power supplies and backup batteries, tested
at least once every 12 months. Amplifiers 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 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 the battery exhibits symptoms of failure
in the opinion of the testing technician, 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 manufacturers' specifications for the intended purpose. When possible,
the annual test should be scheduled in conjunction with the annual life safety
code inspection conducted by the Fire Department.
(3)
Field testing. Police and fire personnel, after providing
reasonable notice to the owner or his or her representative, shall be permitted
to enter onto the property to conduct field testing to be certain that the
required level of radio coverage is present.
D.
Modifications. The requirements of this section may be
modified upon a written request of the owner when unique or unusual circumstances
exist within a building or structure which make full compliance with this
section practically infeasible. Upon a unanimous determination by the Building
Official, Communications Manager, Fire Chief and Police Chief that said circumstances
exist and that a lower standard of compliance may be achieved without sacrificing
the general intent of the section, a written waiver may be issued detailing
the permissible variances.
E.
Exemptions. This section shall not apply to residential
structures containing three or fewer dwelling units.
F.
Violations. Any person violating the provisions of this
section shall be fined $90. Each day during or on which a violation occurs
or continues shall constitute a separate offense.
[Amended 7-9-2002]
Any provisions herein that are in conflict with the State Firesafety
Code will be subject to the state regulations.
