[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Schodack 3-9-2006
by L.L. No. 2-2006.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law was adopted as Ch. 33, but was
renumbered to maintain the organizational structure of the Code.
The chapter shall be known as the "Emergency Access Systems Local Law
of the Town of Schodack."
The Town of Schodack has recognized the importance of providing the
Town'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 Town
of Schodack 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
which utilize water, foam, carbon dioxide or other gas to automatically react
to and suppress fire.
A department of the Town of Schodack located at the Schodack Town
Hall.
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 Town
of Schodack 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.
A high-security key vault of UL type approved by the Town of Schodack
Building Department, master keyed with a Medco Biaxial Level 7 or equivalent
lock. Locks shall be keyed to the key configuration provided by the Town of
Schodack. 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.
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 feet and eight feet above the ground,
unless approved for another location or at a higher or lower level by the
Building Department. The department 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 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(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 the occupancies where system control valves or fire alarm system panels exist.
(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 alarms 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
Building Department.
(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 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 Building Department.
A.
All existing buildings covered by this chapter shall
comply within 36 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 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 key
box or key box document vault subject to approval of the Building Department.
C.
It shall be unlawful for any person to tamper, meddle
with, deface, vandalize or interfere in any way with an emergency access system.
D.
Except as otherwise provided by law, such a violation
shall not be a crime. The penalty or punishment imposed therefor shall not
be deemed for any purpose a penal or criminal penalty or punishment.
The Town of Schodack Building Department shall administer the provisions
of this chapter. The Building Department and the Town of Schodack Police Department
shall enforce the provisions.
