[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Buena Vista as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-8-2007 by Ord. No. 21-2007[1] (Ch. 32, Art. I, of the 1993 Code)]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also superseded former
Ch. 32, Alarms, adopted 7-5-2005 by Ord. No. 11-2005.
The purpose of this article is to establish standards and regulations
concerning the installation, operation and maintenance of certain
alarm systems within the Township of Buena Vista and to reduce or
eliminate false alarms.
Certain words and phrases are used in this article which, for
the purpose hereof, are defined as follows:
Mechanical or electronic device or system designed or used
to detect unauthorized entry into a building, structure or area or
to alert the Police, Fire Department or any other agency or person
to a potential problem at any location within the Township of Buena
Vista.
Any activation of an alarm device or system which alerts
the Police, Fire Department and/or any other agency or person for
any reason other than that which would constitute an actual criminal
offense, emergent event or incidental alarm by utilizing light, noise,
a central alarm monitoring station or any other means.
Any activation of an alarm device or system in which two
or more alarms in close proximity are activated by a related event
at approximately the same time.
Any central alarm monitoring station which monitors alarm equipment
located in the Township must register with the Township of Buena Vista
and thereafter report each alarm connected to it which originates
from the Township.
A.
All owners or lessees of alarm equipment employing the services of
a central alarm monitoring station must register with the Township
Clerk of the Township of Buena Vista prior to installation of the
alarm system or, in the case of an existing alarm system, within 60
days from the effective date of this article.
B.
There shall be no fee charged for registration of alarm systems.
C.
Any owner or lessee who fails to register within the prescribed period
shall disconnect the alarm system and shall discontinue using the
services of any central alarm monitoring station.
D.
All owners or lessees not employing the services of a central alarm monitoring station must also register with the Township Clerk of the Township of Buena Vista. (Registration will permit the Township of Buena Vista to contact the owner, lessee or his representative in the event of an emergency.) Owners or lessees of alarm equipment not using the services of a central alarm monitoring station must comply with §§ 64-5 through 64-13.
E.
All information provided to the Township must be kept current and
the Township Clerk must be notified of changes in information in the
registration no later than 30 days following the applicable change.
Alarm equipment which utilizes an audible alarm must be equipped
with a timing device which will limit the period during which the
alarms will sound to a maximum of 15 minutes.
Alarm equipment which utilizes voice recordings is prohibited
from dialing any telephone lines utilized by the Township of Buena
Vista.
All alarm equipment suppliers and employees who install, maintain
or service alarm systems or automatic protection devices in the Township
must have received, and upon request provide proof of, licensure under
N.J.S.A.A 45:5A et seq. prior to the installation or service of any
alarm system in the Township.
All alarm equipment suppliers doing business in the Township
must provide the purchaser or lessee of said equipment with a copy
of this article and the forms necessary for registering with the Township
of Buena Vista.
All alarm equipment suppliers shall make service available on
a twenty-four-hour-per-day basis, seven days a week, to repair and
correct any malfunction to their alarm systems.
At the time of installation, the alarm equipment suppliers shall
furnish to any buyer or lessee written information as to how repair
service may be obtained at any time, including the telephone number
of the alarm system supplier or agent responsible for service. The
buyer or lessee and the alarm equipment supplier shall be responsible
for having the device disconnected or repaired immediately upon notice
that the alarm system is not functioning properly.
If an alarm system fails to comply with its operational requirements and the State Police conclude the alarm system should be disconnected in order to relieve the burden of responding to false alarms, the State Police shall have the right to require the owner or lessee or his representative to disconnect the alarm system until it is made to comply with the operational requirements. Any notification requesting disconnection of an alarm system shall be by certified mail with return receipt requested. If disconnection of the defective alarm is not accomplished promptly and the State Police determine the malfunctioning alarm system is repeatedly sending false alarms, the violations and penalties stated herein under § 64-13 will apply.
The owner or lessee of any alarm system shall be permitted five false alarms in each calendar year. After that, such owner or lessee shall be subject to the penalties in § 64-13.
A.
Any person, company, corporation or organization who fails to comply with the requirements of § 64-12 shall be subject to the following notices, fees and/or penalties:
(1)
Any owner or lessee of an alarm incurring his fifth false alarm for
the calendar year will be subject to a written warning of violation.
(2)
Any owner or lessee of an alarm incurring his sixth through eighth
false alarm for the calendar year will be assessed an administrative
fee of $25 per violation.
(3)
Any owner or lessee of an alarm incurring his ninth through 12th
false alarm for the calendar year will be assessed an administrative
fee of $50 per violation.
(4)
Any owner or lessee of an alarm incurring his 13th or subsequent
false alarm for the calendar year will be assessed an administrative
fee of $100 per violation.
B.
Payment of an assessed administrative fee is due within 30 days from
notification of violation. Failure to comply will result in the Township
of Buena Vista utilizing the Penalty Enforcement Law, N.J.S.A. 2A:58-10
et seq., to collect the fees due.
C.
Nothing listed in this article shall be construed as to prohibit other sanctions provided herein from being levied against persons, corporations, organizations or businesses who violate the provisions of § 64-12 of this article. Any owner, lessee or user of an alarm system who has not made proper payment on assessed false alarm violation fees may be prosecuted under the provisions of this section of the article. The fine for violation of § 64-12 shall, upon conviction in municipal court, be $200 per false alarm.
D.
Any person, company, corporation or organization who fails to comply with the requirements of this article, excluding § 64-12, shall, upon conviction in municipal court, be subject to a fine of no more than $1,000 and/or 90 days in jail. Each day's failure to comply with such provisions shall constitute a separate violation.
The Township of Buena Vista is under no obligation and assumes
no duty to any owner, lessee or other person by reason of the registration
of, or the failure to register, any alarm system or by reason of the
response or failure to respond to any alarm system.
A.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to alarms that may
be used by fire companies, rescue squads or civil defense agencies
to summon the response of their members.
B.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to alarm systems that
are affixed to motor vehicles, unless any such system shall be connected
to or report through any alarm system installed at or affixed to a
generally considered permanent structure.
C.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to any alarm system
owned, operated or maintained by the Township of Buena Vista.
[Adopted 2-11-2008 by Ord. No. 5-2008 (Ch. 32, Art. II, of
the 1993 Code)]
The purpose of this article is to establish standards and regulations
concerning the installation, operation and maintenance of fire alarm
systems; to encourage home owners and businesses to properly use and
maintain the operational effectiveness of fire alarms; to improve
safety and reliability of fire alarm systems and reduce or eliminate
false fire alarms within the Township of Buena Vista.
Certain words and phrases are used in this article which for
the purpose hereof, are defined as follows:
The activation of any fire alarm system which results in
a response by the Fire Department and which is caused by the failure
to notify of testing, negligence, intentional misuse, mechanical failure,
improper installation or lack of maintenance of the alarm system by
the owner, its employees, agents or any other activation of the fire
alarm system not caused by heat, smoke or fire. The provisions of
this section shall apply to any person who operates, maintains or
owns any alarm device or local alarm designed to summon fire departments
to any property in response to any type of fire alarm signal. This
section shall not apply to municipally owned property.
A system or portion of a combination system consisting of
components and circuits arranged to monitor and/or exterior annunciate
the status of a fire alarm or supervisory signal-initiating devices
and to initiate the appropriate response to those signals.
The responsibility of the owner or person in charge of premises
in or upon which the operation of fire protection systems has been
interrupted to diligently restore protection.
Any activation of an alarm device or system in which two
or more alarms in close proximity are activated by a related event
at approximately the same time.
Any person or agency responsible for monitoring automatic fire
alarm or fire-suppression systems located within the Township of Buena
Vista shall immediately notify Buena Vista Township's dispatch
center upon activation of said alarm. Exceptions to notification shall
be in residential properties if the proper password or code is supplied
to the monitoring agency. Commercial properties will not be allowed
to verify fire alarm activation. A response from the Fire Department
will be made to investigate said alarm.
Any central alarm monitoring station which monitors alarm equipment
located in the Township must register with the Township of Buena Vista
and thereafter report each alarm connected to it which originates
from the Township.
When a fire alarm occurs in any commercial building, structure
or premises containing a fire alarm or fire protection system, except
those included in Use Group R-3 and 1-2, as defined in the Uniform
Fire Code, the occupants will be notified, and once so notified, shall
immediately leave the structure or premises. Once notified, no persons
shall enter or reenter until authorized to do so by the Fire Chief,
Fire Official or his representative. Any person who refuses to leave,
interferes with the evacuation of other occupants or continues any
operation after having been given an evacuation order, except such
work as that person is allowed to perform, shall be deemed in violation
of the New Jersey Uniform Fire Code and be subject to a penalty and/or
arrest as provided therein.
The officer-in-charge of the Fire Department or the Fire Marshal
may, in accordance with NFPA Standard 13E, 1995 edition, and generally
recognized safety practice, require a qualified person to stand fire
watch when fire protection cannot be immediately restored. The watchman
shall be a qualified watchman or responsible agent of the owner or
the owner. The fire watch shall continue until the protection is restored
or until a determination is made by the Fire Marshal that any imminent
hazard has ceased. The watchman shall make an hourly report of his/her
observation and activities of said premises to the Bureau of Fire
Prevention. All watchmen shall be familiar with notification procedures
to the Fire Department, as well as the location of control valves
and their operation.
Alarm equipment which utilizes an audible alarm must be equipped
with a timing device which will limit the period during which the
alarms will sound for a maximum of 15 minutes.
Alarm equipment which utilizes voice recordings is prohibited
from dialing any telephone lines utilized by the Township of Buena
Vista.
All alarm equipment suppliers doing business in the Township
must provide the purchaser or lessee of said equipment with a copy
of this article and the forms necessary for registering with the Township
of Buena Vista.
A.
All alarm equipment suppliers shall make service available on a twenty-four-hour-per-day
basis, seven days a week, to repair and correct any malfunction to
its alarm system.
B.
At the time of installation, the alarm equipment supplier shall furnish
to any buyer or lessee written information as to how repair service
may be obtained at any time, including the telephone number of the
alarm system supplier or agent responsible for service.
C.
The buyer or lessee and the alarm equipment supplier shall be responsible
for having the device disconnected or repaired immediately upon notice
that the alarm system is not functioning properly.
All alarm equipment suppliers and employees who install, maintain
or service alarm systems or automatic protection devices in the Township
must have received and, upon request provide, proof of licensures
under N.J.S.A. 45:5A et seq. prior to the installation or service
of any alarm system in the Township.
Fire alarm companies and/or monitoring companies shall notify,
in writing, the Fire Prevention Bureau of all discontinued service
of any commercial fire alarm.
A.
The owner or lessee of any alarm system shall be permitted three
false alarms in each calendar year. After that, such owner or lessee
shall be subject to the following penalties:
[Amended 6-13-2011 by Ord. No. 4-2011]
B.
Payment of an assessed administrative fee is due within 30 days from
notification of violation. Failure to comply will result in the Township
of Buena Vista utilizing the Penalty Enforcement Law, N.J.S.A. 2A:58-10
et seq. to collect the fees due.
Commercial property owners or authorized representatives with
access to all areas of buildings and knowledge of alarm system operation
shall be required to be on site within 30 minutes of notification
of a fire alarm. Failure to comply with this section shall result
in an initial warning. Thereafter, at the discretion of the Fire Marshal,
the owner or representative shall be charged with violating this section
and a fine of up to $50 shall be imposed by the court.
A.
B.
The Fire Marshal shall investigate and keep a record of false alarms
responded to by the Fire Departments.
