[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Amherst 1-17-2017 by L.L. No. 2-2017. Amendments noted where applicable.]
§ 103 Title.
The title of this law shall be "Emergency Responder Radio Coverage."
A. 
To ensure the safety of all Town of Amherst residents and its visitors.
B. 
The State of New York Codes Council has passed the New York State supplements to the International Fire Code (IFC) which are effective October 6, 2016.
C. 
The State of New York has mandated emergency responder radio coverage for all new buildings only.
D. 
Emergency responders need the best technology to keep themselves, the Town's residents and its visitors safe.
E. 
The Town of Amherst is taking proactive measures to keep its Emergency Responders, residents and its visitors safe in existing buildings, as well as in new buildings, by enforcing this new code in existing buildings.
The purpose of this Local Law shall be to provide minimum standards to insure a reasonable degree of reliability for emergency services communications from within certain buildings and structures within the Town of Amherst to and from emergency communications centers. It is the responsibility of the emergency service provider to get the signal to and from the building site.
The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to:
(1) 
Any and all buildings already covered under the International Fire Code (IFC);
(2) 
Any structure where it is determined after testing, by the fire code official, that a radio coverage system is required.
(a) 
Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, no person shall modify any building or structure or any part thereof, or cause the same to be done which fails to support adequate radio coverage for firefighters and police officers. Inadequate radio coverage shall be deemed to render such buildings or structures or any parts thereof unsafe and subject to penalties including, but not limited to, a fine of up to Fifteen Hundred Dollars ($1,500) per violation.
(b) 
The Town's emergency services shall determine the frequency range or ranges that must be supported.
(c) 
For the purpose of this section, adequate radio coverage shall constitute a successful communications test between the equipment in the building and the communications centers for all appropriate emergency service providers for the building.
(a) 
Testing shall be performed by a Town approved RF officer. The Town will provide a list of qualified RF officers. It is the responsibility of the building owner to contact the RF officer and make arrangements for testing.
(b) 
Tests shall be made using frequencies close to the frequencies used by the Town's emergency services to appropriate emergency services. If testing is performed on the actual frequencies, then this testing must be coordinated within the Town's RF Officers. All testing must be performed on frequencies authorized by the FCC. A valid FCC license will be required if testing is performed on frequencies different from the Town's police, fire or emergency medical frequencies.
(c) 
The system must meet the requirements of the IFC § 510(c).
A construction permit for the installation of or modification to public safety radio amplification systems and related equipment is required.
(a) 
Annual tests will be conducted by a Town approved RF officer. The Town will provide a list of qualified RF officers to the building owners. If communications appear to have degraded or if the tests fail to demonstrate adequate system performance, the owner of the building or structure is required to remedy the problem and restore the system in a manner consistent with original approval criteria. Failure to remedy any problems shall render the building and/or any appendages unsafe. Testing shall consist of the following:
(1) 
In-building coverage test as described in § 103-9;
(2) 
Signal boosters shall be tested to ensure that the gain is the same as it was upon initial installation and acceptance;
(3) 
Backup batteries and power supplies shall be tested under load of a period of one (1) hour to verify that they will properly operate during an actual power outage. If the battery exhibits symptoms of failure within the one (1) hour test period, the test shall be extended for additional one (1) hour periods until the integrity of the battery can be determined.
(4) 
All other active components shall be checked to verify operation within the manufacture's specifications; and
(5) 
At the conclusion of the testing, a report, which shall verify compliance with this article, shall be submitted to the fire code official.
(b) 
Test results, as set forth in § 103-9, shall be provided to the Town RF Officers annually, on or before, the anniversary date of the initial acceptance. The re-testing will be performed at no expense to the Town or the appropriate emergency services departments as required in the original testing procedures.
A successful demonstration of compliance to § 103-5-1 and § 103-5-2 for buildings referenced in § 103-4 and the testing referenced in § 103-12 shall be completed prior to final approvals issued under § 203-8-9 for the occupancy of these buildings. Failure to comply with this Chapter shall result in the withholding, or suspension, of a certificate of occupancy from the Town.