[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of Wethersfield 8-15-2005 (Ch. 64 of the 1990 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch. 63.
Except as otherwise provided, no person shall
erect, construct, maintain or modify any building or structure or
any part thereof, including stairwells, or cause the same to be done
which fails to support adequate radio coverage for Town public safety
services, including but not limited to police, fire, and public works
departments. A certificate of occupancy may not be issued for any
building or structure which fails to comply with this requirement.
A.
The frequency range which must be supported shall
be 806 to 816 MHz and 856 to 866 MHz, or as otherwise established
and required in writing by the Town as being necessary for public
safety purposes.
B.
For purposes of this chapter, adequate radio coverage
shall include the following:
(1)
A minimum signal level of DAQ 3 (Delivered Audio Quality
3) available in 95% of the area as agreed to be in the coverage acceptance
test plan by the Town and the radio system manufacturer prior to system
testing.
A.
Buildings and structures subject to the requirements
of this chapter which do not provide adequate radio coverage shall
be equipped with an internal multiple antenna system with FCC-type
accepted bidirectional 800 MHz amplifiers as necessary to achieve
adequate radio coverage. The building owner shall be solely responsible
for the installation and maintenance of such system if required. Installation
shall be in accordance with NFPA 72.
B.
Buildings and structures shall be equipped with any
of the following, in order to achieve adequate radio coverage:
(1)
A radiating cable system; or
(2)
An internal multiple antenna system with FCC-type
accepted bidirectional UHF amplifiers as needed to encompass the frequency
range stated above or frequency range subsequently established by
the Town;
(3)
A system that has been approved by the Town Manager
as being capable of providing amplification to meet these chapter
requirements.
It shall be the responsibility of any owner
of a building or structure which currently holds a certificate of
occupancy, or allows the building or structure to be used for any
purpose other than construction, to be in compliance with this chapter
upon its effective date.
Any building or structure which fails to support
adequate radio coverage must have a plan acceptable to the Town Fire
Marshal within 90 days by the owner or his agent to address the inadequate
radio coverage. Review of the plan may be extended by the Town Manager
as Director of Public Safety. The owner of the building or structure
shall have the approved plan enacted within one year after approval
of the plan.
A.
Acceptance testing for an in-building radio amplification
system is required, upon completion of installation of the system.
It is 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 DAQ 3.
B.
Each floor of the building shall be divided into a
grid of approximately 40 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 into 80 equal areas. In such event, a maximum
of four nonadjacent areas will be allowed to fail the test. After
the eighty-area tests, if the system continues to fail the building
owner shall repair, replace, alter or upgrade the system altered to
meet the DAQ 3 coverage requirement. Talk back testing from site to
Town of Wethersfield Dispatch Center shall use a two-watt portable
transceiver with speaker/microphone and flexible antenna. 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 communication
to and from the outside of the building. Once the spot has been selected,
use of another spot within the grid area will not be permitted. Field
strength testing instruments are to be recently calibrated (within
the past 12 months) and of the frequency selective type incorporating
a flexible antenna similar to the ones used on the handheld transceivers.
C.
The gain values of all amplifiers shall be measured
and the results kept on file with the building owner so that the measurements
can be verified each year during the annual tests. In the event that
the measurement results become lost, the building owner will be required
to rerun the acceptance test to reestablish the gain values.
When an in-building radio system is installed,
the building owner shall test all active components of the system,
including but not limited to amplifier, the 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 operate during an actual power outage. All other active components
shall be checked to determine that they are operating within the manufacturer's
specifications for the intended purpose.
In addition to the annual test, the building
owner shall perform a radio coverage test a minimum of once every
five years to ensure that the radio system continues to meet the requirements
of the original acceptance. The procedure set forth above shall apply
to such tests.
All tests shall be conducted, documented, and
signed by a person in possession of a current FCC general radiotelephone
operator license. All test records shall be retained at the inspected
premises by the building owner and a copy submitted to the Town of
Wethersfield Town Manager within 30 days of when the test has been
conducted. In the event the test shall fail to comply with the minimum
requirements of this chapter, appropriate repairs shall be made and
additional tests conducted until tests meet the minimum requirements
of this chapter.
Town 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
require level of radio coverage is present.
A.
Upon completion of all the tests to the minimum standards
of the Town, the property owner shall be responsible for maintenance
of the system. A maintenance contract shall be provided to the Town
Fire Marshal with name of contractor, who will supply a twenty-four-hour,
seven-day emergency response within two hours after notification by
either the Town or the property owner. The maintenance contract shall
also contain information as to contact personnel with phone numbers.
Property owners shall also submit information to the Town Fire Marshal
as to contact personnel with phone numbers for the property owner.
B.
The property owner shall also be responsible for making
any repairs, replacement or upgrades to the systems as directed by
the Town Fire Marshal, should the system fail or no longer work in
the future.
This chapter shall not apply to buildings less
than 5,000 square feet or two stories or less, or any three-family
or less multifamily detached residential building or structure less
than 5,000 square feet.
Failure to comply with this chapter shall be
grounds for the Chief Building Official to revoke any previously issued
certificate of occupancy for the building or structure. A written
appeal may be taken to the Town Manager regarding the revocation of
the certificate of occupancy within 30 days of the revocation.
