15.12.901.11 Amendment of Section 901.11.

A new subsection 901.11, including 901.11.1 through 901.11.5, is added to Section 901 of the International Fire Code to read as follows:

901.11. Accidental fire alarm activations. All installed fire alarm systems regardless of whether or not the installation was or was not required by this or any other code, shall be maintained and operated in a manner as to assure to the greatest extent possible that accidental alarm activations will be avoided.

901.11.1. Accidental fire alarm activations—Definition. For the purpose of this section, an accidental fire alarm activation shall be defined as the accidental creation and/or transmission of an alarm signal, or system trouble signal when an emergency condition does not exist.

901.11.2. Accidental fire alarm activations—Penalties. The fire marshal may assess a civil penalty of $200 plus the costs incurred by the responding fire district against the owner or lessee of a property for each subsequent accidental fire alarm activation beyond four (4) in any twelve-month period received by the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA) for any single location.

901.11.3. Recovery of penalties. The fire marshal is authorized to seek the recovery of penalties in accordance with any method allowed by law. Penalties recovered on behalf of fire districts shall be paid to the appropriate fire district.

901.11.4. Penalty waiver. The fire marshal may waive all or a portion of the assessed penalty upon application in writing from the affected party if the owner or lessee can provide documentation that a technician qualified to accomplish such work has remedied the cause of the accidental fire alarm activation. Rendering an alarm activation device inoperable shall not be considered a remedy to the cause of the activations.

901.11.5. Penalty appeals. The assessment of any penalty established in this section may be appealed in writing to the Fire Marshal for administrative review within ten (10) working days of receipt of the notice of penalty assessment. Such appeal shall include a statement of all facts relevant to the activation, a description of the corrective action that has been taken to limit future accidental activations and a specific request that outlines what action the appellant is requesting of the Fire Marshal. The Fire Marshal shall make a written response to the appeal within ten (10) days of the receipt of the written appeal. The decision of the Fire Marshal may be appealed to the fire code board of appeals in accordance with Section 108 provided that a written request for appeal to the board of appeals is received by the Fire Marshal within ten (10) days of the mailing of the Fire Marshal’s written response.

(Sec. 21 of Ord. 1996-02-02; amended by Sec. 30 of Ord. 1999-01-23; amended by Sec. 1 (Exh. A) of Ord. 2004-06-05; amended by Sec. 35 of Ord. 2007-06-19; amended by Sec. 18 of Ord. 2013-07-07)