Amendment to New Shoreham General Ordinances Chapter 5 Fire Prevention and Protection, Article IV F

Amendment to New Shoreham General Ordinances

Chapter 5 Fire Prevention and Protection, Article IV Fire Alarms, Section 5-72 through 5-83 

2026-13

 It is ordained by the New Shoreham Town Council:

§ 5-72. Definitions. [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-72]

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

FIRE ALARM ADVISORY BOARD — Refers to a board comprised of the town manager, a member of the fire department, a member of the police department and the town’s Alarm and Communications Officer.

FIRE ALARM BUSINESS — Refers to either a fire alarm service provider or fire alarm monitoring company, or both as defined below.

FIRE ALARM SYSTEM — Refers to equipment or devices located on a premises within the town, which equipment or devices are designed to detect and annunciate smoke, fire, or activation of a fire suppression system, or other supervisory or trouble condition for the purpose of initiating an appropriate response to the condition. Residential smoke alarms are exempted from this definition.

MUNICIPAL FIRE ALARM (MFA) MONITORING SYSTEM (MFAMS) — Refers to the equipment in place at the town police department that receives signals from a fire alarm system that causes the dispatcher to notify emergency personnel.

NUISANCE OR FALSE FIRE ALARM — Refers to the activation of any fire alarm system, which results in a response by the fire department, caused by mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, lack of proper maintenance, negligence or intentional misuse by the owner, its employees or agents, or any other response for which the fire department personnel are unable to determine the apparent cause of the alarm activation. Alarms resulting from power company failures will not be considered nuisance fire alarms.

QUALIFIED FIRE ALARM TECHNICIAN — Refers to any person who inspects, installs, repairs or performs maintenance on fire alarm systems. This person shall be:

1. Factory trained and certified;

(2)   Licensed or certified by the state.

REPORT OF SERVICE/REPAIR — Refers to appropriate documentation in a format acceptable to the town that verifies proper repairs or maintenance have been performed by both the fire alarm business and/or owner.

§ 5-73. Promulgation of rules and regulations. [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-73]

The town manager, Authority Having Jurisdiction and fire chief may jointly issue rules and regulations relating to alarms systems to implement this article.

§ 5-74. Requirement for registration of monitored alarm systems. [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-74]

Any fire alarm system that is monitored by the town's municipal fire alarm monitoring system must be registered by the owner with the town. All monitored fire alarm systems not previously registered must be registered within fifteen (15) days of the effective date of the ordinance from which this article is derived.

§ 5-75. Municipal fire alarm monitoring. [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-75; amended 8-21-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-17]

1. The town established a municipal fire alarm monitoring system at the police department under the guidance of the state fire marshal's office. This system is a polling radio system to which each monitored alarm system must be connected.
2. All municipal and commercial premises designated by the state fire marshal's office must be connected to the municipal fire alarm monitoring system.
3. For commercial premises, the only alarms that shall be monitored via the municipal monitoring system are as follows: fire, fire supervisory and, for those premises with active wet sprinkler systems, water flow, and low temp. All other alarms that owners choose to have monitored must be transitioned to another monitoring facility. Any alarms not on the approved list that are transmitted to the municipal fire alarm monitoring system will be subject to a fine for each offense, payable to the Town of New Shoreham. (Fee schedule is on file in the clerk's office.)

500. The Town’s E-permitting system shall be utilized for the creation of a new MFA subscriber, or one converting from a Digitize system to an AES system. An electrical permit must be acquired for the conversion, and an MFA form must be submitted identifying the required data identified below:
501. The name(s), address of the premises, mailing address (if different from the address of the premises), business and home telephone number of the owner, lessee, operator, manager or person in possession of the premises wherein the fire alarm system and radio master box (RMB) is installed.
502. The name, address, email address, and telephone number of a minimum of two persons who can be notified in the event of the activation of the fire alarm system via the RMB, who shall be capable of responding to the premises within one hour, and who are authorized to enter the premises to ascertain the status thereof.;
503. The name, address, email address, and telephone number of the fire alarm business which has contracted to install the RMB and proof of proper state licensing/registration.
504. The name, address, email address, and telephone number of the fire alarm business(es) which has contracted to maintain the operation of the fire alarm system and/or RMB and proof of proper state licensing/registration.
505. The name, address, email address, and telephone number of the fire alarm business which has contracted to perform periodic testing of the fire alarm system and RMB and proof of proper state licensing/registration.
506. Electrical permit for an RMB that provides detailed information regarding the fire alarm system and alarm zones to be monitored. The fire alarm control panel must be rated for commercial connected applications in accordance with NFPA 72 and UL 864.
507. An annual monitoring fee. (Fee schedule is on file in the clerk's office.)
508. Any change in contact information, fire alarm business and/or technicians authorized to work on the fire alarm system required must be communicated to the town immediately via an update to Town’s E-permitting system. The Alarm and Communications Officer will not accommodate any technician working on an alarm system for which they do not have a valid license on file.

§ 5-76. Nonmunicipal fire alarm monitoring. [Ord. of 6-6-2011, § 5-76]

For premises monitored by a facility other than the town's municipal fire alarm monitoring system, the owner is responsible for ensuring that neither the police department nor the fire department are listed with the monitoring facility as first responders to any alarm.

§ 5-77. Reserved

§ 5-78. Reserved

§ 5-79. Inspection, testing and maintenance responsibilities. [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-79]

1. The owner shall ensure that all fire alarm systems are inspected and tested in accordance with adopted codes.
2. The owner shall ensure that all fire alarm systems are periodically maintained per manufacturer specifications and adopted codes.
3. When a fire alarm service provider is engaged to perform emergency maintenance or repair on an active fire alarm system, they must notify the police department by telephone when they arrive on site to perform maintenance and again when they have completed maintenance and the fire alarm system is either placed back in service or will remain out of service due to a condition that cannot be resolved.
4. If a fire alarm system will remain out of service, then the Authority Having Jurisdiction may require a fire watch for the premises.
5. When a fire alarm service provider plans to perform routine inspection/testing on more than one fire alarm system on a given day, then they must notify the police department forty-eight (48) hours in advance with the locations they plan to test and the approximate start and end times of testing, so that the police department can adequately prepare for the increased workload.

§ 5-80. Fire alarm activation; response. [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-80]

2. A response to the activation of a fire alarm system shall result when any police officer or member of the fire department is dispatched to the premises where the fire alarm system has been activated.

1. In the event the fire alarm system is a monitored system, it is the responsibility of the company monitoring the fire alarm system to notify any person identified in the registration.

2. In the event the fire or police department is dispatched to a monitored premises as a result of points of contact failing to respond, the owner may be subject to a fine. (Fee schedule is on file in the clerk's office.)

§ 5-81. Nuisance and false fire alarms. [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-81]

1. In the event the activation of a fire alarm system is deemed by the fire department to be a nuisance or false fire alarm, the owner shall be provided with a fire alarm activation report by the town, indicating that the activation was deemed to be the result of a nuisance or false fire alarm.
2. This shall require the owner to return a completed report of service/repair within five (5) days of receipt of the fire alarm activation report to verify, to the reasonable satisfaction of the town, that:
   1. The fire alarm system has been examined by a qualified fire alarm technician; and
   2. A bona fide attempt has been made to identify and correct any defect of design, installation or operation of the fire alarm system which was identifiable as the cause of the nuisance or false fire alarm.

§ 5-82. Fees and fines (fee schedule is on file in the clerk's office). [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-82]

500. Nuisance or false fire alarms.
501. No fee shall be assessed for the first false or nuisance fire alarm at the same premises responded to by the fire department during each calendar year. Thereafter, the owner shall pay a fee for false or nuisance fire alarms responded to by the fire department at the same premises during each calendar year. Where the owner can show proof that the fire alarm system has been inspected since the first false or nuisance alarm and found in good working order, the fine may be waived.
502. Immediately after the fire department has recorded the first and all subsequent nuisance or false alarm violations in any calendar year from the same premises, the town shall notify the owner and/or subscriber in writing with a fire alarm activation report of such fact and instructing him/her as follows:
     3. The alarm system subscriber and/or owner or his/her authorized representative shall file with the town within three days of receipt of the notification, a plan designed to eliminate the false or nuisance alarms, which shall at a minimum include:
        1. Inspection of the alarm system by a qualified fire alarm technician and/or fire alarm business; and
        2. An alarm system procedure protocol for all employees (if the premises is a business) or occupants.
503. An alarm system subscriber and/or owner who fails to pay the fee or fine provided in this article within fifteen (15) days of written notice thereof sent by the town shall be subject to a fine for each offense.

§ 5-83. Notification and appeal. [Ord. of6-6-2011, § 5-83]

1. The town shall notify the owner and/or subscriber by mail of any fine.
2. Within fifteen (15) days of mailing of such notice, the alarm system owner may file a written appeal of said fine to the fire alarm advisory board. The filing of an appeal stays the assessment of the fee until the board makes a final decision. Said notice of appeal shall contain information to show that the alarm giving rise to the fine was not a false or nuisance alarm within the meaning of this article. Said notice of appeal shall contain a return address to which the fire alarm advisory board shall send notice of his/her decision.
3. The fire alarm advisory board shall consider the information filed by the alarm system subscriber and/or owner, reaffirm or rescind the false or nuisance alarm determination and, within fifteen (15) days of receipt of said appeal, notify the alarm system subscriber and/or owner of the fire alarm advisory board decision by certified mail. Such decision shall be final and shall not be subject to further appeal.

Posted:             June 18, 2026

Hearing:           July 15, 2026

Adopted:          July 15, 2026

Effective:          July 22, 2026

Posted:             July 17 – July 27, 2026

Attest:              Millicent Highet, MMC

                        Town Clerk

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