The purpose of this Article is to establish standards and regulations
to provide rapid entry into certain locked buildings within the city
in case of emergency by way of installation of a secure key box repository
for access by municipal emergency services, to provide immediate access
to entrance keys, as well as other vital keys for the building. The
delay in gaining entry can result in substantial property damage,
the potential for rapid fire extension, increased danger for firefighters
as well as the potential for delayed emergency medical treatment.
This Article shall apply to:
A. All buildings within the City of Perth Amboy having an automatic
alarm system, or equipped with an automatic fire suppression system
except one (1) and two (2) family dwellings.
B. Multi-family residential apartment and condominium dwelling complexes
that have restricted access and a common corridor for access to the
living units.
C. All high rise buildings and those having floors at or above forty
(40) feet.
D. Commercial and industrial buildings identified by the Fire Department
as difficult to access during emergencies.
E. All new construction subject to this Article shall have the key box
repository installed and operational prior to the issuance of a certificate
of occupancy.
F. All structures defined in this section that are in existence on the
effective date of this Article shall have twelve (12) months from
the effective date of this Article to have the key box repository
in place and operational.
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ALARM SYSTEM
A device or an assembly of equipment which emits an audible
response, which is intended to alert persons inside or outside a structure
to the existence of a hazard or emergency or which is intended to
alert emergency agencies by automatically dialing an emergency agency
or which is connected to a business which offers the service of receiving
emergency signals, monitoring said signals and relaying them to an
emergency agency.
AUTOMATIC FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM
A system or assembly of piping, valves, controls and sprinklers
which are designed and installed to comply with the NFPA Standards,
which utilizes water, foam, CO2, or other gas
to automatically react to suppress fire.
FIRE DEPARTMENT KEY BOX REPOSITORY
A highly secure vault like box as specified by the Fire Chief
for the purpose of securing building entrance keys as well as keys
to any other vital areas of the building for Fire Department access
in time of emergency within the building.
Once installed, the key box repository shall contain current
keys at all times to allow for Fire Department access to:
A. All exterior entrance doors to the building.
B. Room(s) containing fire alarm or suppression systems.
C. Electrical and mechanical rooms or closets.
D. Special keys to reset pull station or other fire protection devices.
E. Elevator keys if applicable.
F. Master key to any living units.
G. Roof hatch or door locks.
J. Others as designated by the Chief.
All keys shall be provided, marked and identified by the owner
in a manner so as to be easily identifiable in the field by the Fire
Department.
It shall be the responsibility of the building owner to contact
the Fire Department to open the key box repository to update building
keys as needed, to insure that all keys within the key box repository
are current and up to date.
Security and distribution for access keys to all key box repository
units shall be provided and controlled by the Fire Chief.
The provisions of this Article shall not apply to any building or structure having on site 24-hour personnel who readily have access to keys to the building areas specified in Section
227-17.
The Department of Code Enforcement, Fire Department and Police
Department are authorized to issue summons for violation of any and
all provisions of this Article.
[Amended 12-10-2018 by Ord. No. 1898-2018]
Any person failing to comply with the provisions of this Article
shall be fined two hundred dollars ($200). Continued failure to comply
with the provisions of this Article may be subject to fines up to
two thousand dollars ($2,000).