[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Menands 10-7-2002
by L.L. No. 3-2002. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention and building construction — See Ch. 90.
This chapter shall be known as the "Emergency Access Systems Local Law
of the Village of Menands."
The Village of Menands has recognized the importance of providing the
Village's and the Town of Colonie's emergency services rapid
entry into locked buildings. An emergency access systems local law provides
for the placement in secured locked containers of keys to important areas
within a structure and information that may be vital and necessary to the
health, safety and welfare of the occupants and responding emergency crews.
The delay in gaining entry can result in substantial property damage, delays
in providing lifesaving or medical procedures, and increased danger for emergency
services personnel and the building occupants. To assist the emergency service
providers in gaining rapid entry, the Village of Menands adopts an emergency
access systems local law.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
A system or assembly of piping, valves, controls and sprinklers which
are designed and installed to comply with the National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA) standards, which utilize water, foam, carbon dioxide or other gas to
automatically react to and suppress fire.
Any device designed to alert police, fire or emergency medical personnel
to an emergency condition requiring attention and to which police, fire or
emergency medical service units are expected to respond. This definition shall
include alarms that terminate at an answering service, as well as those that
emit an audible or visible signal.
An alarm signal from an emergency alarm or notification by an emergency
alarm answering service which calls for an emergency response from the Village
of Menands Police Department, fire services or the Town of Colonie emergency
medical services where an emergency situation does not in fact exist. The
term "false alarm" shall not include an alarm signal caused by testing or
repairing of telephone or electrical lines or equipment outside of the premises,
an attempted illegal entry of which there is visible evidence, violent conditions
of nature or other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control
by the alarm user or alarm supplier.
A high security key vault of UL type approved by the Town of Colonie
Office of Fire Prevention and Control, master keyed with a Medco Biaxial Level
7 or equivalent lock. Locks shall be keyed to the key configuration provided
by the Town of Colonie. Such vaults shall have weatherproof gaskets, shall
have a covered lock opening and shall be highly resistant to drilling or vandalism.
A high-security steel plate vault, a minimum of 14 inches high by
12 inches wide by two inches deep, constructed to the same standards as the
lock box, for the storage of documents.
Town of Colonie Department of Fire Prevention and Investigation,
347 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham, N.Y. 12110.
This chapter shall be applicable to:
One- and two-family dwellings and buildings having a twenty-four-hour,
seven-day-per-week guard system shall be specifically exempted from the requirements
for a key box.
A.
The key box shall be installed on the front of the building,
near the main entry door and between six and eight feet above the ground,
unless approved for another location or at a higher or lower level by the
Office of Fire Prevention and Investigations. That Office must approve all
installations.
B.
Keys within the lock box shall be labeled for easy identification
either by the tenant name or indexed to a floor plan of the building and shall
be kept current.
C.
The key box shall contain the following:
(1)
Unless otherwise agreed upon with the local Fire Chief, key(s) or magnetic cards for the exterior doors, the keys or magnetic cards for all the interior doors identified in Subsection C(2) to (5) below within the building, and a scaled floor plan of the building. Mixed occupancies and strip shopping center keys shall be provided only for occupancies where system control valves or fire alarm system panels exists.
(2)
Keys or magnet cards to locked mechanical equipment and
sprinkler control rooms.
(3)
Keys or magnet cards to locked electrical rooms or panels
or fire alarm control panels.
(4)
Keys or magnet cards to locked elevator rooms or controls,
and elevator keys, if required.
(5)
Keys or magnet cards to other areas as directed by the
Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
(6)
Access codes to digital fire alarm keypads.
D.
The key box document vault shall contain those items
required to be stored in a key box and, unless the local Fire Chief otherwise
agrees, the following additional items:
(1)
A current list of facility personnel knowledgeable about
safety procedures of the materials on site, complete with the telephone numbers
for each person.
(2)
A current emergency and hazardous chemical inventory
form and binder containing the material safety data sheets (MSDS) or, in the
event that the volume of MSDS sheets is too great to keep practically in the
document vault, the locations of on-site MSDS, and those MSDS shall be readily
available for use by emergency response personnel.
(3)
A facility site plan showing the location of storage
and use of hazardous materials on site, and any other building floor plan
deemed necessary by the Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
A.
All existing buildings covered by this chapter shall
comply within 18 months of the effective date of this chapter.
B.
All new construction covered by this chapter, including
buildings currently under construction as of the effective date for which
no certificate of occupancy has been issued, shall comply immediately.
[Amended 2-5-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007]
A.
Any person who shall fail to comply with any of the applicable
provisions of this chapter or any lawful order, notice, directive, permit
or certificate of the Office of Fire Prevention and Control or the Village
of Menands Building Department made hereunder shall be punishable by a fine
of $100 for the first offense and by a fine of $250 for any offense thereafter.
Each month that a violation continues shall be deemed a subsequent offense.
B.
In lieu of said fine, any person charged with violating
the provisions of this chapter shall immediately install and maintain a key
box or key box document vault subject to approval of the Office of Fire Prevention
and Control.
C.
It shall be unlawful for any person to tamper, meddle,
deface, vandalize or interfere in any way with an emergency access system.
D.
Except as provided otherwise by law, such a violation
shall not be a crime, and the penalty or punishment imposed therefor shall
not be deemed for any purpose a penal or criminal penalty or punishment.
The Office of Fire Prevention and Investigation and the Village of Menands
and Town of Colonie Building Departments shall administer the provisions of
this chapter. The Office of Fire Prevention and Investigation and the Village
of Menands Police Department shall enforce the provisions.
