District of North Vancouver
www.dnv.org

DISTRICT OF NORTH VANCOUVER BYLAW NO. 8272

A BYLAW respecting the installation and maintenance of in-building radio amplification systems to provide uninterrupted public safety and emergency response network communications 

This Bylaw may be cited as NORTH VANCOUVER EMERGENCY RADIO BUILDING AMPLIFICATION BYLAW 2017.  

This Bylaw applies to: 
(a) construction of each new applicable building; and (b) construction of a portion of a building which: 
(i) adds more than 20% floor area to the total floor area of the building;
(ii) results in the building meeting the definition of an applicable building; 
(iii) has a building permit construction value exceeding $1,000,000.

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• 4 Hour battery backup is required

The system shall be equipped to operate on an independent "Uninterruptible Power Supply" (UPS), using a battery and/or generator system, for a period of at least four (4) hours without external input or maintenance. All amplifiers and electronics required by the system shall be protected by National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) type 4 enclosures with physical security. The UPS shall automatically charge the batteries in the presence of external power.

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  Testing must be completed by an Approved Ecomm Installer and certified by an independant RF engineer (P eng)
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  Minimum signal strength of -95db must be observed in a 15' x 15' grid pattern for a minimum of 90% of the area of each floor of the building, including underground areas such as for parking
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  Minimum signal strength of -95db must be observed in a 15' x 15' grid pattern for a minimum of 100% of fire command centres, stairwells, protect-in-place areas, lobby refuge areas, equipment rooms and highhazard areas
  
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  Minimum signal strength of -95db must be observed in a 15' x 15' grid pattern for a minimum in areas that are in the shadowed area of the applicable building
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  Standard Ecomm approval and comissioning forms must be completed and submitted to ecomm and the relevant fire / permiting authorities and final certification recieved prior to ocupany permit being issued.
  

PART 6: PROCEDURES TO VERIFY AND MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE 6.1 Tests and measurements to verify and maintain a radio amplification system in compliance with this Bylaw shall be made at the sole expense of an owner and be developed by the owner, in accordance with the requirements set-out in sections 6.2 and 6.3, for prior approval by the Fire Chief. Page 6 Bylaw No. 8272 6.2 The initial acceptance test procedures shall comply with the following requirements: (a) Initial acceptance tests and measurements shall be performed, to the satisfaction and acceptance of the Fire Chief, after completion of installation of the radio amplification system, using radio frequencies assigned to the area-wide public safety communications service provider and the City, after proper coordination with an agent for that system and the Fire Chief. (b) If queuing occurs on the radio amplification system while testing is underway, testing shall be terminated immediately and resumed only when traffic levels on the system reach a level where queuing no longer occurs. (c) For all tests, a pre-defined “Harvard” sentence should be used, such that the listeners are not aware of the sentence in advance on each test. A different recorded sentence should be used at each location. (d) Where the shadowed area, or the floor area of any floor of an applicable building, is greater than 4,500 square metres, the area shall be divided into a uniform grid of not more than 15 metres on a side, or if the floor area is smaller than 4,500 square metres, it shall be divided into a uniform grid of approximately 20 equal areas to a minimum of 9 square metres, and measurements shall be taken in each grid area. The size of the grids shall also be reduced, or the number of grids increased, upon recommendation of the Fire Chief in areas where special construction or other obstruction may significantly affect communications. Tests shall also be performed in fire command centres, stairwells, protect-in-place areas, lobby refuge areas, equipment rooms, and high-hazard areas. (e) Tests shall first be made using a portable (handheld) radio of the type used by the City’s Fire or RCMP – District of North Vancouver Detachment service personnel, carried at 1.5 metre from the floor and using a simple flexible antenna, and shall be deemed satisfactory if DAQ 3.4 or better (speech understandable with repetition only rarely, some noise or distortion may be present) can be achieved for a five-second test transmission in each direction. If system access is not reliable, or if DAQ 3.4 for five seconds cannot be achieved at any location, the test operator may move a maximum of 1.5m in any direction inside of the grid and repeat the test. If system access continues to be unreliable, or if DAQ 3.4 still cannot be achieved, or if there is any doubt about whether it can be achieved, a failure shall be recorded for that location. (f) A maximum of two (2) non-adjacent grid areas on a floor or in a shadow will be allowed to fail the test. In the event that three (3) or more areas on a floor or in a shadow fail the test, the floor or shadowed area may be divided into 40 approximately equal areas to a minimum of 4 square metres, and the tests repeated. In such event, a maximum of four (4) non-adjacent grid areas will be Page 7 Bylaw No. 8272 allowed to fail the test. If the radio amplification system fails the 40-area test, the owner shall have the system altered to meet the 90% coverage requirement. (g) If the radio amplification system fails to provide acceptable communication in any fire command centre, portion of a stairwell, protect-in-place areas, lobby refuge areas, equipment rooms, or high-hazard areas, the owner shall have the system altered to meet the 100% coverage requirement for these areas. (h) Backup batteries and power supplies shall be tested under full load by generating communication traffic automatically for a duration of at least one (1) hour. If within this period the battery shows any symptom of failure or impending failure, the test shall be continued for additional one-hour periods to determine the integrity of the battery. The battery shall not fail within a four (4) hour continuous test period. (i) The gain values of all amplifiers shall be measured, using a service monitor that has been calibrated by a certified laboratory within the past 12 months, and the results shall be kept on file by the owner for future verification and monitoring of performance. The gain records file must have multiple back-ups and be stored in more than one location.

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  Anual compliance testing is required