The following terms and associated definitions
are used throughout this chapter:
9-1-1 EMERGENCY DISPATCH CENTER
The monitoring facility within the City where alarm signals
are received, recorded, validated, and acted upon as appropriate.
ADOPTED CODE(S)
Code adopted by the City Council and in the absence of adopted
code the National Fire Protection Association National Fire Alarm
Code 72 (NFPA 72), the National Fire Protection Association Life Safety
Code (NFPA 101), MGL c. 148 (Fire Prevention), as well as all
other City and state regulations.
ALARM ACTIVATION REPORT
A document issued by the enforcement official indicating
that the alarm system activation was deemed to be the result of a
fire alarm, police alarm, or a false alarm. This may include the record
of completion form in the National Fire Protection Association's National
Fire Alarm Code (NFPA 72) or other forms as applicable.
ALARM BUSINESS
Any licensed individual, partnership, corporation or other
entity that is appropriately licensed in the City and installs, causes
to be installed, permits to be installed, alters, maintains, repairs,
replaces or services (including runner services) any alarm system.
ALARM INITIATING DEVICE
A device that is designed to respond either manually or automatically
to initiate an alarm system.
ALARM OWNER
Any person that has installed, owns, alters, maintains, repairs,
replaces, services or otherwise uses any alarm system.
ALARM SIGNAL
Any form of communication and/or notification via manual
or automated alarm initiating devices, including audio or visual means,
to the 9-1-1 Dispatch Center.
ALARM SYSTEM
Includes fire alarms and police alarms as appropriate. Motor
vehicle alarms are not included in this chapter.
ALARM SYSTEM PERMIT
A residential or commercial permit issued for maintaining
or operating an alarm system within the City.
ANSWERING SERVICE
Any telephone service or central alarm company that handles
messages and provides the service of receiving alarm signals from
an alarm system and thereafter immediately relays the message by live
and/or recorded voice to the 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center.
APPEAL
The act of referring a decision by the appropriate enforcement
official to a higher authority within the City for review and final
disposition.
APPEAL FEE
A fee filed for appealing a ruling related to actions associated
with this chapter.
BOARD OF ALARM COMMISSIONERS
A board appointed as described in this chapter responsible
for hearing and ruling on final appeals related to actions associated
with this chapter.
CENTRAL ALARM
Any facility which is privately/publicly owned, that owns
or leases an alarm system, whose facility is staffed by employees
who receive, record, or validate alarm signals and relay the information
of such signals to the 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center.
CITY
The City of Lowell, Massachusetts.
CONDOMINIUM
A dwelling designed for or occupied by one family within
a multi-unit development, or a commercial unit within a multi-unit
commercial development, where the owner has both separate ownership
of a unit and a common interest, along with the development's other
owners, in the common areas.
DIAL ALARM
An alarm system which automatically selects a telephone line
connected to the 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center and reproduces a
prerecorded message indicating the existence of an alarm signal.
DWELLING UNIT
Any room or suite of rooms forming a habitable unit for one
family, with its own cooking and food storage equipment and its own
bathing and toilet facilities and its own living, sleeping and eating
areas wholly within such room or suite of rooms.
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL
The Fire Chief or his designee for fire alarms and the Police
Superintendent or his designee for police alarms.
FALSE ALARM
The activation of any alarm system which results in a response
by public safety personnel and which is caused by the negligence,
intentional misuse, lack of maintenance or repair, or improper installation
of an alarm system by the owner, its employees, or agents, or by mechanical
failure, malfunction, malicious or intentional activation, or any
other response for which the appropriate enforcement official is unable
to determine the apparent cause of the alarm signal activation, or
which constitutes a public nuisance, or any other activation of a
fire alarm system not caused by heat, smoke or fire, or any other
activation of a police alarm system not caused by hazard, robbery,
or attempted robbery. Excluded from this definition are activations
of alarm systems caused by power outages, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes,
serious water leaks through the roof, or a person that has no other
means of eliciting an emergency response by public safety personnel
for valid emergency reasons.
FEE
The assessment of a monetary charge payable to the City pursuant
this chapter as outlined in Appendix A, Service and Penalty Fees.
FIRE ALARM
An alarm signal intended to initiate a response by the Fire
Department to heat, smoke, fire, or activation of a fire suppression
system or supervisory signal. In this chapter, the term "fire alarm"
shall include "dial alarm," "direct alarm," "local alarm" and "central
alarm" as those terms are herein defined.
FIRE ALARM SYSTEM
An assembly of equipment and devices, or a single device,
personnel, or combination thereof, meant to monitor, announce and/or
exterior annunciate the status of temperature, heat, smoke sensing
systems or supervisory signal and to initiate the appropriate response
to those systems to which public safety personnel are expected to
respond.
FIRE CHIEF
The City of Lowell Fire Department's Chief, or his designated
representative.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
The City of Lowell Fire Department, or any authorized agent
thereof, including but not limited to fire officers, firefighters,
fire inspectors, or out-of-town mutual aid fire officers or firefighters,
when in the performance of their duties within the City as defined
in various mutual aid agreements.
FIRE WATCH
Uniformed members of the Lowell Fire Department assigned
to the premises for the purposes of watching over the property and
protecting the occupants, structures, or neighboring structures from
fire or similar emergencies. A fire watch may involve at least some
special action beyond normal staffing. The owner shall incur all costs
for said fire watch.
LIEN
The City has entered into record the nonpayment of fees which
are due from an owner regarding specific premises, to be acted on
accordingly.
LOCAL ALARM
Any alarm system which may not be connected to the 9-1-1
Emergency Dispatch Center, or to a central alarm company or answering
service, which when activated causes an alarm signal at the premises
within which the alarm system is installed.
MONITORED SYSTEM
The process by which an alarm business receives signals from
an alarm system and notifies the City's 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center.
MULTIFAMILY RESIDENCE
A building containing three or more dwelling units and wherein
units may be located on more than one floor.
MUNICIPAL ALARM SYSTEM
The City's alarm pull-box system which is directly connected
to the City's 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center.
OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE
The permit from the City's Inspectional Services Department
deeming that a structure has met the minimum requirements for its
intended use.
OWNER
Any person who owns the premises in which an alarm system
is installed and/or the person or persons who lease, operate, occupy
or manage the premises.
PENALTIES
Fees associated with noncompliance with this chapter, per
Appendix A, Service and Penalty Fees.
PERMIT
Written permission duly granted to an applicant by the City
upon payment of the required fees per the ordinance establishing the
permit, MGL c. 148 or 527 CMR, or other fee schedules.
PERMIT REGISTRATION
The application for a permit by an owner with the appropriate
enforcement official for an alarm system which has been installed
and is in use. The application requires current contact information
and additional data as appropriate.
PERMIT YEAR
A period of time during which a permit is considered valid.
For the purposes of this chapter, the permit year for an alarm system
permit begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 of each calendar
year.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, corporation, unincorporated
association, or other legal entity.
POLICE ALARM
An alarm signal intended to initiate a response by the Police
Department. In this chapter, the term "police alarm" shall include
"dial alarm," "direct alarm," "local alarm" and "central alarm" as
those terms are herein defined.
POLICE ALARM SYSTEM
An assembly of equipment and devices, or a single device,
personnel, or combination thereof, meant to monitor, announce and/or
exterior annunciate the status of a hazard, intrusion, robbery, attempted
robbery, or supervisory signal, and to initiate the appropriate response
to those systems to which public safety personnel are expected to
respond.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
The City of Lowell Police Department or any authorized agent
thereof, including but not limited to police officers, detectives,
or investigators.
POLICE DETAIL
Police Department personnel assigned to the premises for
the purposes of watching over the property and protecting the public
safety. A police detail may involve at least some special action beyond
normal staffing.
PREMISES
Any building, structure or combination of buildings and structures
which serve as dwelling units, multifamily or any other area within
a building, structure or combination thereof which is used for any
purpose.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
Any event which disturbs the peace, comfort or repose of
a community, a neighborhood, or inhabitants of the area.
PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL
City staff, including but not limited to members of the Fire
Department, Police Department, or other City safety-related personnel,
or any combination thereof.
QUALIFIED ALARM TECHNICIAN
Any person who inspects, installs, repairs or performs maintenance
on alarm systems or alarm initiating devices. This person shall be:
A.
Factory trained and certified;
B.
National Institute of Certification in Engineering
Technologies (NICET) Fire Alarm Level II certified (for fire alarms);
or
C.
Licensed or certified by the commonwealth or
local authority.
RECONNECT FEE
A fee associated with the reconnection of an alarm system.
REPORT OF SERVICE/REPAIR
Appropriate documentation in a format acceptable to the appropriate
enforcement official that verifies proper repairs or maintenance has
been performed by the alarm business and/or the owner in order to
avoid false alarms.
RUNNER SERVICE
The service provided by personnel or electronic transmission
means at the protected premises, including resetting and silencing
of all equipment transmitting alarm or supervisory signal to an off-premises
location.
SERVE
Hand delivery of written notification by a representative
of the City to the owner or authorized representative who responded
to the premises. In the event that the owner or authorized representative
fails to respond to the premises within 30 minutes of notification
attempt by the appropriate enforcement official, "serve" shall mean
placing the form or other matter in the United States Postal Service
mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the owner or authorized representative,
and/or posting in a conspicuous location on the premises.
SUPERINTENDENT
The City of Lowell Police Department's Superintendent of
Police or his designated representative.
SUPERVISORY SIGNAL
Any signal designed to initiate an alarm system to prevent
tampering with an alarm initiating device, or a signal that indicates
a situation that is out of the ordinary and may interfere with the
normal operation of the system.
TWO-FAMILY RESIDENCE
A freestanding building designed or intended exclusively
for residential use, containing two dwelling units, each family occupying
a single dwelling unit, typically situated one above the other but
may also be two attached dwelling units.
Any information supplied to an enforcement official
shall be held in confidence by all employees or representatives of
the enforcement official, the Fire Department, the Police Department,
the 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center, and by any third party administrator
or employees of a third party administrator with access to such information.
Registration of an alarm system is not intended
to, nor will it, create a contract, duty or obligation, either expressed
or implied, of response. Any and all liability and consequential damage
resulting from the failure to respond to a notification is hereby
disclaimed and governmental indemnification as provided by law is
retained. When registering an alarm system, the owner acknowledges
that public safety personnel's response may be based on factors such
as availability of units, priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic
conditions, emergency conditions, staffing/resource levels, and various
other extenuating factors. The City of Lowell, its officers, employees
and agents shall not assume any duty or responsibility for the installation,
maintenance, operation, repair or effectiveness of any alarm system,
whether in service or out of service, those duties or responsibilities
being solely those of the owner of the premises.
The provisions of this chapter are severable.
If a court determines a word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph,
subsection, section, or other provision invalid or that the application
of any part of the provision to any person or circumstance is invalid,
the remaining provision and the application of those provisions to
other persons or circumstances are not affected by that decision.