Township of East Whiteland, PA: Additions, insertions and changes to standards.

[1]

Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided for the repeal of former Ch. 141, Property Maintenance, adopted 11-21-2000 by Ord. No. 132-2000, as amended.

§ 141-1 Adoption of standards by reference; copies to be on file.

[Amended 6-8-2011 by Ord. No. 232-2011]

There is hereby adopted by the Board of Supervisors of East Whiteland Township the International Property Maintenance Code, 2009 Edition, as now and as hereafter supplemented, reissued, amended and revised as published by the International Code Council, Inc. Not fewer than three copies of the International Property Maintenance Code, 2009 Edition, are filed in the office of the Secretary of East Whiteland Township, and the same is hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein.

§ 141-2 Additions, insertions and changes to standards.

[Amended 6-8-2011 by Ord. No. 232-2011]

The following amendments, additions, deletions, and changes are hereby made to the International Property Maintenance Code, 2009 Edition:

Section 101.1 shall be amended by the deletion of the words "[NAME OF JURISDICTION]" and the replacement thereof with the words "East Whiteland Township."

The heading of Section 103 shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

	SECTION 103
	DEPARTMENT OF CODES AND LIFE SAFETY

Section 103.1 shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

103.1 Code official. The Department of Codes and Life Safety shall be responsible for administering and enforcing this code. The Director of the Department of Codes and Life Safety shall be appointed by the Township Manager and shall be certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to serve as the Township's Building Official. For purposes of this code, the Director of the Department of Codes and Life Safety shall be referred to as the "Code Official."

Section 103.5 shall be deleted in its entirety and reserved.

Section 106.4 shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

106.4 Violation penalties. Any person who shall violate a provision of this code or shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof shall be guilty of a summary offense, punishable by a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 per day, plus costs and attorney's fees, and, upon default of the payment of the fine and costs, imprisonment not to exceed 30 days. Each day that a violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense.

Section 111, Means of Appeal, shall be deleted and replaced with the following:

	SECTION 111
	BOARD OF APPEALS
	111.1 General. The Township, along with Easttown Township, Willistown Township and Malvern Borough (the "participating municipalities") intends to form an intergovernmental Board of Appeals, which Board shall hear and decide appeals of orders, decisions or determinations made by the respective municipalities' building official relative to the application and interpretation of the municipalities' building code. The members of the intergovernmental Board of Appeals shall be appointed by the participating municipalities and shall be governed by rules and regulations adopted by the participating municipalities. The intergovernmental Board of Appeals shall adopt rules of procedure for conducting its business.

Section 302.4 shall be amended by deletion of the words "(jurisdiction to insert height in inches)" and the replacement thereof with "eight (8) inches."

[Added 6-8-2011 by Ord. No. 232-2011[1]]

[1]

Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided for the redesignation of former Subsections G through J as H through K, respectively.

Section 304.14 shall be amended by the deletion of the words "[DATE]" and the replacement thereof with "May 1" and "October 1."

Section 602.3 shall be amended by the deletion of the words "[DATE"] and the replacement thereof with "October 15" and "April 15."

Section 602.4 shall be amended by the deletion of the words "[DATE'] and the replacement thereof with "October 15" and "April 15."

A new Chapter 8 shall be added which shall read as follows:

	CHAPTER 8
	COMMUNICATIONS AMPLIFICATION SYSTEMS
	SECTION 801
	DEFINITIONS
	The following words and terms shall, for the purposes of this section and as used elsewhere in this code, have the meaning shown herein.
	APCO. Associates Public Safety Communications Officials International.
	CCDES. Chester County Department of Emergency Services.
	FCC. Federal Communications Commission.
	NABER. National Association of Business and Education Radio.
	NPSPAC. National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee.
	PCIA. Personal Communications Industry Association.
	SECTION 802
	GENERAL PROVISIONS
	802.1 Except as otherwise provided, no person shall erect, construct, alter, refit, change the use of, or provide an addition of more that 20% of the existing floor area to any building or structure or any part thereof, or cause the same to be done, which fails to support adequate radio coverage for CCDES, the East Whiteland Township Volunteer Fire Department, and the East Whiteland Township Police Department. For the purposes of the section, adequate radio coverage shall include all of the following:
		802.1.1 A minimum signal strength of -95dBm available in 95% of the area of each floor of the building; [Amended 2-10-2016 by Ord. No. 278-2016]
		802.1.2 A minimum signal strength of -95 dBm received at the closest CCDES radio communications site when transmitted from 95% of the area of each floor of the building: [Amended 2-10-2016 by Ord. No. 278-2016]
		802.1.3 The frequency range which must be supported shall be between 763 MHz and 861 MHz; [Amended 2-10-2016 by Ord. No. 278-2016]
		802.1.4 A 90% reliability factor; and
		802.1.5 Signal strength measurements, for the purpose of measuring the performance of a bidirectional amplifier, shall be based on one input signal adequate to obtain a maximum continuous operating output level.
		802.2 The provisions of this section shall become applicable upon notification to the property owner that unacceptable performance levels exist. The property owner shall have 90 days from date of notification to enhance radio coverage and bring it within the acceptable limits of these provisions.
	SECTION 803
	AMPLIFICATION SYSTEMS ALLOWED
	803.1 Buildings and structures which cannot support the required level of radio coverage shall be equipped with either a radiating cable system or an internal multiple antenna system with or without FCC-type accepted bidirectional 700/800 MHz amplifiers as needed. If any part of the installed system or systems contains an electrically powered component, the system shall be capable of operating on an independent battery and/or generator system for a period of at least 12 hours without external power input. The battery system shall charge in the presence of an external power input. [Amended 2-10-2016 by Ord. No. 278-2016]
	SECTION 804
	TESTING PROCEDURES
	804.1 Acceptance test procedure.
		804.1.1 When an in-building radio system is required, and upon completion of installation, it will be the building owner’s responsibility to have the radio system tested to ensure that two-way coverage on each floor of the building is a minimum of 95%. Each floor of the building shall be divided into a grid of approximately 20 equal areas. A maximum of two nonadjacent areas will be allowed to fail the test. In the event that three of the areas fail the test, in order to be more statistically accurate, the floor may be divided in 40 equal areas. In such event, a maximum of four nonadjacent areas will be allowed to fail the test. After the forty-area test, if the system continues to fail, the building owner shall have the system altered to meet the 95% coverage requirement. The test shall be conducted using the most current portable radio or its equivalent, available to the East Whiteland Township Police and/or Volunteer Fire Department, talking through the CCDES as specified by the authority having jurisdiction. A spot located approximately in the center of a grid area will be selected for the test, then the radio will be keyed to verify two-way communications to and from the outside of the building through CCDES. Once the spot has been selected, prospecting for a better spot within the grid area will not be permitted. [Amended 2-10-2016 by Ord. No. 278-2016]
		804.1.2 The gain values of all amplifiers shall be measured and the test measurement results shall be kept on file with the building owner so that the measurements can be verified each year during annual tests. In the event that the measurement's results became lost, the building owner will be required to rerun the acceptance test to reestablish the gain values.
	804.2 Annual tests. When an in-building radio system is required, the building owner shall test all active components of the system, including but not limited to amplifiers, power supplies and backup batteries, a minimum of once every 12 months. Amplifiers shall be tested to ensure that the gain is the same as it was upon initial installation and acceptance. Backup batteries and power supplies shall be tested under load for a period of one hour to verify that they will properly operate during an actual power outage. If within the one-hour test period, in the opinion of the testing technician, the battery exhibits symptoms of failure, the test shall be extended for additional one-hour periods until the testing technician confirms the integrity of the battery. All other active components shall be checked to determine that they are operating within the manufacturer's specifications for the intended purpose.
	804.3 Five-year tests. In addition to the annual test, the building owner shall perform a radio coverage test of a minimum of once every five years to insure that the radio system continues to meet the requirements of the original acceptance test. The procedure set forth above shall apply to such tests. A copy of accepted tests shall be provided to the Chester County Emergency Services Engineering Department.
	804.4 Qualifications of testing personnel. All tests shall be conducted, documented and signed by a person in possession of a current FCC technician license or a current technician certification issued by the APCO, NABER, or the PCIA. All test records shall be retained on the inspected premises by the building owner, and a copy shall be submitted to officials of East Whiteland Township, the East Whiteland Township Volunteer Fire Company and the East Whiteland Township Police Department.
	SECTION 805
	FIELD TESTING
	805.1 Police and Codes Department personnel, after providing reasonable notice to the owner or his representative, shall have the right to enter onto the property to conduct field testing to be certain that the required level of radio coverage is present.
	SECTION 806
	EXEMPTIONS
	806.1 This section shall not apply to structures in Use Groups R-3 and R-4. For purposes of this section, parking structures and stairwells are included in the definition of "building" and stair shafts are included in the definition of "all parts of a building," but elevators may be excluded.
	SECTION 807
	EXISTING BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES
	807.1 Any nonexempt building or structure existing, under construction, or for which a building permit application is pending or has been approved as of the effective date of this section shall comply with the requirements of this section if the CCDES, East Whiteland Township Volunteer Fire Department or East Whiteland Township Police Department determines that adequate radio coverage, as defined in Section 801, does not exist in the building or structure. The owner of the building or structure shall be notified in writing of the inadequacy of the coverage and shall have a period of 90 consecutive calendar days from the date of the notice to comply with this section, including but not limited to enhancing radio coverage and bringing it within the acceptable limits of this section.