Numerous persons currently transmit fire alarms
to the Township by one or more various means referred to as "systems"
in this article. By transmitting fire alarms to the Township, such
persons engage in a relation with the Township, which relation imposes
reciprocal duties, responsibilities and obligations on such persons.
The number of false alarms transmitted by these fire alarm systems
is troublesome, burdensome and costly to the Township, its fire district,
its fire-fighting personnel and its taxpayers. A need exists to curtail
such false alarms. Local regulations by way of this article will serve
to do so.
The purpose of this article is to provide for
regulation of the installation, operation and maintenance of certain
fire alarm systems within the Township, to regulate related conduct,
to provide for enforcement and to provide administrative charges and
other effective sanctions for false alarms and penalties for violations
of this article.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
An independent alarm-monitoring system, which has not been
disapproved by the Evesham Fire District as capable of verifying alarms,
identifying actual fire alarms and distinguishing them from noise,
movement, radiation, other kinds of emanations and signals and other
kinds of alarms, and which has agreed, in writing, with the enforcing
agency to retransmit only verified fire alarms and only to the fire
communications central dispatch.
A device which emits an audible signal from the premises
the device is designed to protect.
A device connected to an independent alarm-monitoring firm
or entity and requiring further telephone communication for fire response.
A device which, when actuated, causes a recorded message
to be transmitted, via telephone, to the Township's designated fire
communications central dispatch requesting fire response.
Evesham Fire District No. 1, Fire Prevention Division.
Either a signal, message or warning transmitted to the Township's
fire communications central dispatch indicating a fire condition,
or an emission of an audible, visual or electronic transmission of
any signal, message or warning intended to summon the services of
Township fire-fighting personnel or apparatus, which signal, message
or warning is activated by a cause other than one for which the transmitting
system is specifically designed to respond, at a time when no fire
exists.
Performs installation, service, repair and/or maintenance
on a fire alarm system and its component parts and is certified by
the Division of Fire Safety, State of New Jersey.
Any mechanical, electrical or electronic device which is
designed or used for alerting others about the existence of any condition
requiring the response of fire personnel and which emits and/or transmits
a signal or message to one or more locations off the premises when
actuated. Alarm systems include, but are not limited to direct-dial
alarms, audible alarms, central station alarms and subscriber alarms.
The Burlington County Central Communications and such other
future agency as the Township may utilize.
The duly appointed Chief of the Evesham Fire Department.
Any duly appointed line officer of the Evesham Fire Department.
The Evesham Fire District No. 1.
The duly appointed Fire Official/Fire Marshal pursuant to
Township ordinances; manages the daily affairs of the enforcing agency
(Fire Prevention Division).
Inhabited by one or more individuals, whether on a continual
or an occasional basis, and includes times when no individual is upon
or within premises occasionally inhabited.
An individual, corporation, partnership or other entity.
The Evesham Township Police Department.
The Township of Evesham in the County of Burlington.
The procedure of initiating telephone contact upon receipt
of a fire alarm with the protected premises to ascertain whether the
fire alarm is authentic or is caused by accidental activation or alarm
equipment failure or malfunction. If telephone contact by the approved
central station with the protected premises cannot be made within
four telephone rings, or if telephone contact is made but authentication
of a fire alarm cannot be made within 45 seconds, then the approved
central station shall immediately retransmit the fire alarm to the
fire communications central dispatch.
A.
Every person intending to install or cause to be installed,
whether upon his premises or upon the premises of another, a fire
alarm system within the Township shall file with the applicable enforcing
agency, upon a form provided by the enforcing agency, an application
for a certificate of registration for the fire alarm system. Each
application shall include at least the following information and such
additional information as the enforcing agency may prescribe:
(1)
The name, street address, mailing address and telephone
number of the applicant.
(2)
If the applicant is an incorporated or unincorporated
entity, the name, street address, mailing address and telephone number
of the employee responsible for the installation and maintenance of
the fire alarm system.
(3)
A description of the place where the fire alarm system
is to be installed, including the street address and the location
within the building.
(4)
The name, address, and telephone number of the person
who will install the fire alarm system.
(5)
The name, address and telephone number of the person
who will maintain and service the fire alarm system. A copy of every
service agreement and every maintenance agreement shall be furnished
to the enforcing agency before a certificate of registration will
be issued.
(6)
The name, residential addresses and residential telephone
numbers of at least two persons who will respond upon notification
to alarms outside of usual business hours.
B.
The certificate of registration for the system will be issued by the enforcing agency when the following items in Subsections B(1), (2) and (3) have been delivered to the enforcing agency and Subsection B(4) shall have been completed:
(1)
Evidence of approval of the application or evidence
of a construction permit issued for the relevant building by the Township
Construction Official.
(2)
A certificate from the installer of the fire alarm system that the components and the system are listed by a recognized agency; the components are compatible with each other; the system has been properly installed and tested by certified technicians; the system is functioning properly in all respects; and the installer has a maintenance or service contract with the owner of the system. A copy of the contract shall have been furnished as provided in Subsection A(5) hereof.
(3)
A written agreement by the owner of the system with
the enforcing agency that the owner will properly maintain the system
or, upon proper order of the enforcing agency, disconnect the portion
of the system which transmits any fire alarm beyond the owner's premises,
and keep in force a valid maintenance or service contract with a New
Jersey Division of Fire Safety-certified fire alarm service company.
(4)
Review and approval of the system plans, operation
and installation by the enforcing agency.
(5)
Documentation that all competent staff and family
members have been trained by the fire alarm installer in the operation
of the fire alarm system, including knowledge of keypad entry codes,
passwords, restoring or re-setting the system after an alarm, procedures
for placing the system in test and precautions to avoid a false alarm.
(6)
Proof of an active telephone land line at the protected
premises separate from any telephone circuit utilized for transmitting
alarm signals.
(7)
Effective January 1, 2006, all persons engaged in
the installation or service of fire alarms systems, kitchen fire-suppression
systems, fire sprinkler systems and special-hazard fire-suppression
systems shall be certified pursuant to the provisions of N.J.A.C.
5:73-2.3(d).
(8)
Every fire alarm system installer, contractor, alarm
service company or licensed electrician maintaining fire alarm systems
in the Township of Evesham shall provide, to the Fire Official a list
of systems maintained in and or monitored within Evesham Township.
Said list shall include the name and address of the customer, the
name of the monitoring company and the last date on which the system
received its annual service. Said list shall be provided on or before
January 1 of each year.
C.
A fire alarm system, its components and devices that
are installed, maintained and monitored in accordance with the applicable
standards published by the National Fire Protection Association, as
are approved by the enforcing agency, may be deemed by the enforcing
agency to be in compliance with the requirements for certification
if it complies in all other respects with this article.
D.
Failure to have and keep in force a valid maintenance
or service contract shall be cause for the enforcing agency to cancel
or withdraw a certificate of registration.
A.
This article applies with equal force and effect to
all fire alarm systems which have been or will be installed, operated
or otherwise placed in service within the Township effective from
the date of this article's adoption.
B.
Neither an application nor a certificate of registration
or adherence to the regulations adopted herein is required for any
existing fire alarm system, except as follows:
(1)
A fire alarm system in an inhabited building upon
and after the receipt of the first false alarm which does not meet
the regulations as adopted herein. The application for a certificate
of registration shall be filed with the Fire Official in accordance
with the requirements of this article.
(2)
A fire alarm system, which is to be expanded, reduced,
modified or replaced.
(3)
A fire alarm system in an existing building or other
structure, including all dwelling occupancies, prior to the transfer
of ownership or title. The timely application shall be the responsibility
of both the transferor and the transferee and shall also be a condition
of continuing occupancy.
(4)
A fire alarm system which is required to be maintained
in vacant or otherwise noninhabited structures as provided in the
New Jersey Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.14) or the New
Jersey Uniform Fire Prevention Code (N.J.A.C. 5:18-3.1).
The enforcing agency shall:
A.
Be responsible for the administration and enforcement
of this article, including making reasonable on-site inspections and
examinations of buildings and other premises.
B.
Develop and promulgate regulations for the installation,
maintenance, service and monitoring of fire alarm systems.
C.
Develop and promulgate regulations for the operation
of fire alarm systems during construction, renovation, alteration
and repair to the premises at and for which they are located.
D.
Review and approve plans and specifications for the
fire alarm systems and their installations after such plans have been
reviewed and approved by the Township Fire Subcode Official.
E.
Pass on applications for fire alarm installations
and issue certificates of registration for fire alarm systems.
F.
Issue such oral and written orders as are necessary
to carry out the provisions of this article.
G.
Make, keep and maintain records of all fire alarm
systems, application and certificates of registration, false alarms,
regulations and changes in regulations, orders issued and similar
information necessary or useful to the administration of this article.
H.
Investigate and ascertain the cause of all false alarms
and maintain records of the same.
I.
Bill for, pursue and receive payment of administrative
charges.
J.
Establish criteria for the approval of central stations.
K.
Have discretion, in the event an investigation discloses
a failure by the fire alarm system owner to take timely and appropriate
remedial steps to avoid further false alarms or his disregard of related
lawful orders of the enforcing agency, after explicit written notice,
hand delivered, to the fire alarm system owner, or, in the event that
the owner is not present at the property, to such other person as
is in occupancy of the property, including the operator in control,
in accordance with the regulations in this article, with the consent
of the respective Fire Chief, that the respective Fire District not
answer further alarms caused by or originating from such fire alarm
system until such time as that system is recertified by the enforcing
agency upon submission of a completed application.
L.
Issue, or cause to be issued, summons to the Municipal
Court or such other court as may have jurisdiction for failure to
comply with the provisions of this Article.
No person shall:
A.
Turn in, make, cause or knowingly participate in a
false alarm.
B.
Fail to make a timely application required by this
article.
C.
Own, possess, operate or cause to be operated a fire
alarm system for which a certificate of registration has not been
issued and is not in good standing, to the extent one is required
by this article.
D.
Operate or cause to be operated a fire alarm system:
(1)
In a location or manner, or in any other respect,
prohibited or not permitted by this article.
(2)
Which has previously transmitted a false alarm from
an inhabited building, until recertified by the enforcing agency upon
submission of a completed application.
(3)
Which has been expanded, reduced or modified or is
a replacement for a prior system, until certified by the enforcing
agency upon submission of a completed application.
(4)
Whose certificate of registration has been canceled
or withdrawn by the enforcing agency.
(5)
Which uses a smoke detector as a sensing device, wholly
or partially, and which is designed to transmit (or which in fact
transmits) its alarm signal to a destination other than an approved
central station.
(6)
Which uses a carbon monoxide detector to transmit
a fire alarm signal to a destination other than the premises at which
it is installed.
E.
Fail to comply with a lawful regulation or order of
the enforcing agency or fail to pay an administrative charge for a
false alarm.
F.
Obstruct, hinder, delay or interfere by force with
the enforcing agency or its authorized representative in the exercise
of any power or the discharge of any function or duty provided by
or reasonably implied from this article.
G.
If he or she is the owner, tenant or such other person
having a possessory right to the subject building or other premises,
fail after proper request to permit the enforcing agency or its authorized
representative to have prompt entry to such building or other premises
for the purpose of lawful inspection or examination pursuant to this
article.
A.
Upon the first false alarm during any calendar year,
an order to file an application for a certificate of registration
and take corrective action, in accordance with the provisions of this
article, shall be issued and served on the fire alarm system owner
(and to any known possessor or operator of the system, or known occupant
of the premises of the alarm system, if any of them is other than
said owner).
B.
Upon receipt of a second false alarm during a calendar
year, an administrative charge shall be payable as provided under
this article, and the enforcing agency shall deliver to the fire alarm
system owner (and to any known possessor or operator of the system,
or known occupant of the premises of the alarm system, if any of them
is other than said owner) a written warning that the subject communicating
device may be disconnected upon receipt of any further false alarms
or alarms.
C.
In the event that two or more false alarms are received
during the same thirty-day period, or twice within a twenty-four-hour
period, or the Fire Official, Fire Chief, or Fire Officer in charge
may order the disconnection of the transmission apparatus from the
particular fire alarm system which has transmitted such false alarms,
provided that the notice procedures set forth in this article shall
have been first complied with.
D.
In the event false alarm investigation reveals that
the system does not meet the standards, requirements or regulations
prescribed in this article, the Fire Official, Fire Chief or Fire
Officer in charge may order the immediate disconnection of the alarm
system from the fire alarm transmission apparatus.
E.
In the event evidence reveals that the cause of the
alarm is the failure of the registrant building owner's, tenant's
or occupant's alarm company or central monitoring station to take
precautions to prevent the transmission of alarms during testing,
maintenance, service or installation, the alarm company or monitoring
company, as identified as the entity responsible for the unwanted
false alarm, shall be subject to an administrative charge as provided
in this article.
The provisions of this article shall not apply
to:
A.
The general alerting alarms that may be used by fire
companies, emergency squads or emergency management agencies to summon
responses of their members.
B.
Alarm systems affixed to motor vehicles.
C.
Alarm systems installed in public buildings owned
by the Township of Evesham, Evesham Board of Education or the Evesham
MUA.
A.
Single-family dwellings and two-family dwellings.
(1)
Upon a second false alarm during any calendar year,
an administrative charge of $50.
(2)
Upon a third false alarm during any calendar year,
an administrative charge of $100.
(3)
Upon a fourth false alarm and upon each subsequent
false alarm during any calendar year, an administrative charge of
$200.
B.
(1)
Upon a second false alarm during any calendar year,
an administrative charge of $200.
(2)
Upon a third false alarm during any calendar year,
an administrative charge of $300.
(3)
Upon a fourth false alarm and upon each subsequent
false alarm during any calendar year, an administrative charge of
$600.
A.
Any person violating any provision of this article
shall, upon conviction, be subject to:
(1)
A fine, the amount of which shall be within the discretion
of and shall be fixed by the Municipal Court or other court or judicial
officer having appropriate jurisdiction, but which shall in no case
be greater in amount than that permitted by N.J.S.A. 40:49-5, as amended
and supplemented, and other applicable laws;
(2)
A period of community service, within the meaning
and limits of and as referred to in N.J.S.A. 40:49-5, as amended and
supplemented, and other applicable laws; or
(3)
Both such a fine and such a period of community service.
B.
All fines and court costs shall be payable to the
Clerk of the Township Municipal Court. All fines, exclusive of court
costs, assessed as a result of summonses issued by the fire officials
or fire inspectors of the respective fire district will be paid thereafter
by the Municipal Court Clerk to the Treasurer of said respective fire
district. All court costs and all fines assessed as a result of summonses
issued by anyone else shall be paid to the Township Clerk by the Municipal
Court Clerk.
[Added 12-7-2022 by Ord. No. 24-12-2022]
A.
When requested or required to provide fire watch coverage due to an emergency condition or requirement of a permit function, the cost of such service will be in accordance with § 75-25, plus an additional $25 administrative fee for the actual cost of the processed payroll.
B.
At a minimum, a requested or required fire watch coverage will consist
of one firefighter/inspector from Evesham Township Fire District No.
1.
Exception: where the property owner or designated representative
provides personnel to establish a fire watch.
C.
If a building that has a fire pump is affected by the fire pump being inoperative, and the Fire Marshal requires a temporary fire pump be put in place, then one fire engine and two firefighter/inspectors will be assigned for the purposes of the fire watch/pump assist, and the cost of such service will be in accordance with § 75-25.
D.
Failure of a property owner or designated property representative
to establish or properly document a fire watch when requested by the
Fire Department will result in an assessed penalty not to exceed $250
per day for every day the condition exists.
E.
Upon response to a fire alarm activation or emergency condition involving
a multiple-tenant residential property, a property that is closed
for business or otherwise unoccupied, the Evesham Fire Department
will require the response of a responsible party to assume control
of the involved property. Failure of a responsible party to immediately
respond to the request may result in a penalty assessment to the property
not to exceed $250 per occurrence.
