§ 18-3. False alarms.

(a)

Purpose. The purpose of this section is to encourage fire and medical alarm users and fire and medical alarm businesses (including, but not limited to, sales, installation, and/or monitoring businesses) to maintain the operational reliability and the proper use of alarm systems so as to limit unnecessary fire and emergency medical responses to false alarms and alarms malfunctions. This section governs fire and medical emergency false alarms, provides for inspections, services, and administrative fees; for excessive false alarms, and provides for disconnection or deactivation of malfunctioning alarm systems.

(b)

Definitions. As used in this section, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings:

Alarm system shall mean a fire alarm system as defined below.

Enforcement official shall mean the Orange County Fire Chief or that representative designated by the fire chief to administer this section and control and maintain records involving false alarms.

False alarm response fee shall mean a monetary charge assessed by and payable to Orange County, authorized pursuant to this section, to defray the expenses of responding to a false alarm or alarm malfunction.

False fire alarm shall mean the activation of any alarm system signal or message which elicits a notification to and/or response by the fire rescue department when there is no evidence of a fire, medical emergency or other activity which warrants a call for immediate firefighting or emergency medical assistance. This may include, but is not limited to, an alarm discovered by a police officer, firefighter or any other individual(s) before notification of an alarm from a monitoring company or from a local alarm system that is not monitored.

Fire alarm system shall mean any mechanical, electrical, or radio-controlled device or system which is designed to emit a sound, relay or transmit a signal or message when activated or any such device which emits a sound and transmits a signal or message when activated because of smoke, heat, fire, hazardous chemical detection or emergency medical alarm. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, alarm system shall be deemed to include audible alarms at the site of the installation of a detection device, proprietary alarms and automatic telephone digital alarm communicator systems. A single-station (residential) smoke detector shall not be deemed to be a fire alarm system under this section.

Fire alarm technician shall mean any person who inspects, installs, repairs or performs maintenance on fire alarm systems, and is licensed by the State of Florida as required by state statute (or works under the license of an alarm contractor).

Fire watch shall mean an enforcement official approved person or persons assigned to the premises for the purpose of protecting the occupants from fire or similar emergencies. A fire watch may involve at least some special action beyond normal staffing, such as assigning an additional security guard(s) to walk the premises, who has been trained in the use of fire extinguishers, in notifying the fire department, in sounding the fire alarm system located on the premises, and in understanding the particular fire safety situation.

Owner shall mean any person or legal entity who owns the premises in which an alarm system is installed or the person or persons who lease, operate, occupy or manage the premises if such person or persons are responsible for the installation or maintenance of such alarm system.

Premises shall mean any building, structure or combination of buildings and structures which serve as dwelling units, single-family or multi-family, or any other area within a building, structure or combination thereof which is used for any purpose wherein an alarm system is installed.

Responder shall mean the owner or designee capable of responding to the premises within sixty (60) minutes, and who are authorized to enter the premises to ascertain the status thereof, including resetting and silencing of all equipment.

Single-station (residential) smoke detector shall mean an assembly incorporating the detector, control equipment and alarm-sounding device in one (1) unit operated from a power supply either in the unit or obtained at the point of installation.

(c)

Notice. Any person or company installing any fire alarm system, or providing any inspection, testing or maintenance to any fire alarm system, shall insure that the owner of such system possesses a copy of the ordinance from which this section derives, and a copy of the current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 72, Chapter 10, Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance. Said person, without request, shall give a copy of both this ordinance and NFPA Standard 72, Chapter 10, Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance to any owner not possessing same.

(d)

Responsibility for fire alarm activation, owner response, fire alarm malfunction and corrective action, administrative fees.

(1)

The responsibility for a fire alarm activation shall be that of the owner of the alarm site in which the fire alarm system is installed. A response to an alarm activation shall result when any officer or member of the fire rescue department shall be dispatched to the alarm site where the alarm has been activated or learns, by any means whatsoever, of the activation of the alarm system(s), and responds thereto by traveling to that premises.

(2)

The owner of any alarm system, when requested by the fire rescue department, shall provide a responder to the alarm site in order to reset or disable the alarm system.

(3)

The operator of every place of business which has an alarm site shall provide signage containing current working telephone numbers for at least three (3) persons to be notified in case of emergency. Such signage shall be visible from the exterior of such business and adjacent to the main entrance of such business or a location acceptable to the fire marshal. Emergency contact information may be placed in a fire department key lock box as an alternate to the required signage.

a.

In the event the alarm system is a monitored system, it is the responsibility of the company monitoring the alarm system to notify any listed responder at the request of the fire rescue department.

(4)

All alarm systems having an audible or visual signal at an alarm site shall be equipped to operate for a time period acceptable to the fire marshal and all applicable codes.

(5)

An administrative fee is hereby established to defray the expenses incurred by the county in making a response to a false alarm. Such administrative fee shall be known as a "false alarm response fee" and such fee shall be in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per false alarm response to a single-family or two-family residence unit or two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) per false alarm response to any other type of occupancy. The board of county commissioners hereby finds that said sums represent a reasonable approximation of the actual costs incurred by the county in making a response to a false fire alarm at such types of occupancies. The board of county commissioners may change the amount of the false alarm response fees by resolution upon a finding that changed circumstances justify the establishment of a different fee amount.

(6)

a.

A false alarm response fee shall be assessed against the owner of the premises of any alarm system for each false fire alarm response made to such premises in excess of two (2) false fire alarm responses made to any one such alarm site within twelve (12) consecutive months. The owner shall be notified of such assessment by mail.

b.

A response to a false alarm shall not qualify as a false fire alarm for the purpose of assessing or computing a false alarm response fee if such response to a false alarm is caused by an electrical storm, hurricane, tornado or other act of God. If, within thirty (30) days from the occurrence of a false fire alarm response, the owner can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the enforcement official that the alarm system in question has been examined and repaired by a fire alarm technician authorized by the system manufacturer and if such repair malfunction was the cause of the false alarm, then providing the false alarm was not caused by human error, such false alarm shall not be considered a false fire alarm for the purpose of this section and the owner shall receive a reduction or rebate of any false alarm response fees assessed for that particular false alarm to the extent of the cost incurred for repairs necessitated by such malfunction, provided that such reduction shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) in the case of a single-family or two-family residence unit, or two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for any other type of occupancy. No reduction or rebate shall be available should the responder fail to respond when requested by the fire rescue department. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the owner shall be charged an alarm inspection fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00).

c.

All false alarm response fees are due and payable within thirty (30) days from date of receipt of the invoice to the owner by the fire rescue department. In the event that false alarm response fees are not paid as required by this section, the fire rescue department may refer the matter to the county attorney or to a collection agency authorized by the county.

(8)

Except for protection of premises required by law to support an alarm system, the enforcement official is authorized to order, by written notice to the owner, the disconnection or deactivation of an alarm system for either:

a.

Failure of the owner to meet all requirements or pay any fee provided for in this section within thirty (30) days of the initiation of such requirements or the assessment of such fee; or

b.

In the case of a false alarm, failure to provide documentation that the alarm system in question actually has been examined by a fire alarm technician authorized by the system manufacturer and that such alarm system was repaired if a malfunction was the cause of such false alarm;

The written notice to disconnect or deactivate shall be mailed certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner and shall specify the date on which the owner shall be required to disconnect or deactivate the alarm system. The disconnection or deactivation date shall be at least fifteen (15) days following the date of the notice. The owner may appeal the order of the enforcement official to the Fire and Life Safety Code Board of Adjustment and Appeals pursuant to section 18-34 of this Code.

(9)

The enforcement official or designee may, after the fire department has responded to three (3) alarm malfunctions within a twenty-four-hour period or (5) alarm malfunctions within a forty-eight-hour period, order the disconnection or deactivation of an alarm system. The order to disconnect or deactivate shall be in writing. Each building affected because the signal from the fire alarm system has been disconnected or deactivated shall be required to establish a fire watch until the fire alarm system has been returned to service. Duties of the fire watch may include notifying the fire department and building occupants of an emergency, preventing a fire from occurring, or extinguishing small fires. The owner is responsible for paying all costs associated with establishing a fire watch.

(10)

Failure to disconnect or unauthorized reconnection of alarm system.

a.

It shall be a violation of this section for any person to fail to disconnect or deactivate an alarm system which has been ordered disconnected or deactivated pursuant to subsection (8), including those cases in which the Fire and Life Safety Code Board of Adjustment and Appeals has affirmed the order to disconnect or deactivate an alarm system. It shall be a violation of this section for any person to reconnect an alarm system which has been disconnected or deactivated pursuant to the order of the enforcement official unless reconnection of the alarm system is authorized by the enforcement official. Any false alarm received from a premises wherein an alarm system has been ordered disconnected or deactivated shall be deemed to be a malicious false alarm and enforcement official may seek prosecution for such under F.S. § 806.101, False Alarms of Fires.

b.

The fire rescue division shall not be obligated to respond to any notification of alarm or any alarm signal received from any alarm system which the owner has been ordered to disconnect or deactivate.

(11)

Reconnection of alarm systems. Any order to disconnect or deactivate an alarm system may be rescinded by the enforcement official upon finding the owner of the premises has taken corrective action to remedy the cause of the false alarms at the premises. The owner shall have the burden of showing what corrective action has been taken and that same is sufficient to support a finding that the cause of the false alarm(s) has been remedied. The enforcement official shall inspect and test the alarm system prior to rescinding the order to disconnect said system and after payment by the owner of an alarm inspection fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). The enforcement official shall not rescind an order to disconnect or deactivate if the owner has failed to pay any fee charged the owner pursuant to this section.

(12)

Automatic telephone digital alarm communicator system.

a.

It shall be unlawful for any person to install, maintain, operate or use any automatic telephone digital alarm communicator system unless such system is currently listed by the Underwriter's Laboratories, Inc., or other agency approved by the state fire marshal.

b.

Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection shall be punished in the manner provided by section 1-9 of this Code.

(13)

Newly installed alarm system. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any newly installed alarm system until thirty (30) days after the date of the installation of such alarm system.

(14)

Alarm system responsibilities of owner. Orange County and its officers and employees shall not assume any duty or responsibility for the installation, maintenance, operation, repair or effectiveness of any privately owned alarm system. Such duties or responsibilities belong solely to the owner of the premises. Further, it is the sole responsibility of the owner of the premises to silence any activated alarm and thereafter reset same.

(15)

The enforcement official shall be vested with authority to establish reasonable policies and procedures regarding the enforcement of this subsection.

(16)

The owner may appeal the false alarm response fee assessed by Orange County, for a false alarm or alarm malfunction to the Orange County Fire and Life Safety Code Board of Adjustments and Appeals pursuant to section 18-34 of this Code.

(Ord. No. 99-03, § 1, 2-2-99; Ord. No. 2005-12 , §§ 2, 3, 9-20-05; Ord. No. 2009-07 , § 2, 3-24-09)