[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Colonie 2-26-2002 by L.L. No. 2-2002. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Emergency
Access Systems Local Law of the Village of Colonie."
The Village of Colonie has recognized the importance
of providing the Village'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 Village of Colonie adopts an emergency access systems local
law.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
As applied to fire protection devices, a device or system
providing an emergency function without the necessity for human intervention
and activated as a result of a predetermined temperature rise, rate
of temperature rise or combustion products.
[Added 5-20-2019 by L.L.
No. 1-2019]
A system or assembly of piping, valves, controls and sprinklers
which are designed and installed to comply with the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) standards, which utilize water, foam,
carbon dioxide or other gas to automatically react to and suppress
fire.[1]
A fire alarm that has initiation devices that utilize smoke
detectors for the protection of an area such as a room or space with
detectors to provide early warning of fire.
[Added 5-20-2019 by L.L.
No. 1-2019]
An automatic sprinkler system, for fire protection purposes,
is as integrated system of underground and overhead piping designed
in accordance with fire protection engineering standards. The system
includes a suitable water supply. The portion of the system above
the ground is a system of specially sized or hydraulically designed
piping installed in a structure or area generally overhead and to
which automatic sprinklers are connected in a systematic pattern.
The system is usually activated by heat from a fire and discharges
water over the fire area.
[Added 5-20-2019 by L.L.
No. 1-2019]
An alarm signal from an emergency alarm or notification by
an emergency alarm answering service which calls for an emergency
response from the Village of Colonie, Colonie 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 Village
of Colonie Office of Fire Prevention and Control, master keyed with
a Medco Biaxial Level 7 or equivalent lock. Locks shall be keyed to
the key configuration provided by the Village of Colonie. Such vaults
shall have weatherproof gaskets, shall have a covered lock opening
and shall be highly resistant to drilling or vandalism.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
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.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
Village of Colonie Department of Fire Prevention, Village
Hall, 2 Thunder Road, Colonie, NY 12205.
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "emergency alarm,"
which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 5-20-2019
by L.L. No. 1-2019.
This chapter shall be applicable to:
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
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 Knox-Box®.
A.
The Knox-Box® shall be installed on the front
of the building, near the main entry door and between six and eight
feet above the ground, unless approved for another location or at
a higher or lower level by the Office of Fire Prevention. That Office
must approve all installations.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
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 Knox-Box® shall contain the following:
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
(1)
Unless otherwise agreed upon with the local Fire 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(S) below within the building, and a scaled floor plan of the building. Mixed occupancies and strip shopping center keys shall be provided only for occupancies where system control valves or fire alarm system panel exists.
(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 alarm 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 Office of Fire Prevention.
(6)
Access codes to digital fire alarm keypads.
D.
The Knox-Box® document vault shall contain those
items required to be stored in a Knox-Box®, and, unless the local
Fire Chief otherwise agrees, the following additional items:
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
(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 Office of Fire Prevention.
A.
All existing buildings covered by this chapter shall
comply within 18 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 Office of Fire Prevention,
or of the Village of Colonie 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 Knox-Box® or Knox-Box® document vault subject to approval
of the Office of Fire Prevention.
[Amended 5-20-2019 by L.L. No. 1-2019]
C.
It shall be unlawful for any person to tamper, meddle,
deface, vandalize or interfere in any way with an emergency access
system.
D.
Except as provided otherwise by law, such a violation
shall not be a crime, and the penalty or punishment imposed therefor
shall not be deemed for any purpose a penal or criminal penalty or
punishment.
The Office of Fire Prevention and the Village
of Colonie Building Department shall administer the provisions of
this chapter. The Office of Fire Prevention and the Village of Colonie
Building Department shall enforce the provisions.
If any clause, sentence or provision of this
chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall
be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the
invalidity thereof shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder
of the provisions of this chapter or the application thereof to other
persons and circumstances.
This chapter shall take effect upon filing in
the Office of the Secretary of State.
