[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Colonie 2-26-2002 by L.L. No. 2-2002. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction and fire prevention — See Ch. 79.
Unsafe buildings — See Ch. 85.
This chapter shall be known as the "Emergency Access Systems Local Law of the Village of Colonie."
The Village of Colonie has recognized the importance of providing the Village'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 other 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 Colonie adopts an emergency access systems local law.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTOMATIC
As applied to fire protection devices, a device or system providing an emergency function without the necessity for human intervention and activated as a result of a predetermined temperature rise, rate of temperature rise or combustion products.
[Added 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
AUTOMATIC FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM
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.[1]
AUTOMATIC SMOKE DETECTION SYSTEM
A fire alarm that has initiation devices that utilize smoke detectors for the protection of an area such as a room or space with detectors to provide early warning of fire.
[Added 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER SYSTEM
An automatic sprinkler system, for fire protection purposes, is as integrated system of underground and overhead piping designed in accordance with fire protection engineering standards. The system includes a suitable water supply. The portion of the system above the ground is a system of specially sized or hydraulically designed piping installed in a structure or area generally overhead and to which automatic sprinklers are connected in a systematic pattern. The system is usually activated by heat from a fire and discharges water over the fire area.
[Added 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
FALSE ALARM
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 Colonie, Colonie Police Department, fire services or 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.
KEY KNOX-BOX®
A high security key vault of UL-type, approved by the Village 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 Village of Colonie. Such vaults shall have weatherproof gaskets, shall have a covered lock opening and shall be highly resistant to drilling or vandalism.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
KEY KNOX-BOX® DOCUMENT VAULT
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.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
OFFICE OF FIRE PREVENTION AND INVESTIGATION
Village of Colonie Department of Fire Prevention, Village Hall, 2 Thunder Road, Colonie, NY 12205.
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "emergency alarm," which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019.
This chapter shall be applicable to:
A. 
All buildings located within the Village of Colonie having an automatic fire alarm system or a fire sprinkler system shall be equipped with a Knox-Box® or Knox-Box® document vault.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
B. 
Any building having three or more false alarms within a six-month period.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
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 Knox-Box®.
A. 
The Knox-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. That Office must approve all installations.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
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 Knox-Box® shall contain the following:
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
(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 C(S) 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 panel 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.
(6) 
Access codes to digital fire alarm keypads.
D. 
The Knox-Box® document vault shall contain those items required to be stored in a Knox-Box®, and, unless the local Fire Chief otherwise agrees, the following additional items:
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
(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 location 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.
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.
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, or of the Village of Colonie Building Department made hereunder shall be punishable by a fine of $250. Each month that a violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
B. 
In lieu of said fine, any person charged with violating the provisions of the chapter shall immediately install and maintain a Knox-Box® or Knox-Box® document vault subject to approval of the Office of Fire Prevention.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
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 the Village of Colonie Building Department shall administer the provisions of this chapter. The Office of Fire Prevention and the Village of Colonie Building Department shall enforce the provisions.
If any clause, sentence or provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the invalidity thereof shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of the provisions of this chapter or the application thereof to other persons and circumstances.
This chapter shall take effect upon filing in the Office of the Secretary of State.