(A) License required. The following license requirements shall be followed:
(1) Effective May 14, 2015, no person shall engage in the activities of an alarm business in the city without having first obtained a certificate of license from the State Board of Technical Registration. A copy of the certificate of license will be filed with the city when submitting an application for a business permit to do business within the city limits. Failure to comply with state licensing provisions will be cause for revocation of the city business permit.
(2) Effective May 14, 2015, any person wishing to engage in the activities of an alarm business within the city limits shall obtain a city business permit as per Chapter 110 of the City of Sierra Vista Code of Ordinances.
(B) Equipment standards. The following equipment standards, technical standards, and standards of operation shall be followed by the alarm business or self-installer:
(1) All alarm systems shall be installed using good workmanship and shall be designed to reduce false alarms;
(2) Existing control panels, motion detectors, smoke detectors, photoelectric beams and glass breaking detectors shall be Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or Factory Mutual (FM) approved or pending approval. As of May 14, 2015, all new and service replacement panels shall comply with the ANSI/SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standards and all panic or holdup devices shall be of dual action design;
(3) Audible alarm systems shall be designed to emit audible sounds no longer than 10 minutes from the time the alarm is activated;
(4) No person or business shall use, or cause to be used, any automatic dialing device that:
(a) Automatically selects a public safety or emergency services telephone line (911) of the Sierra Vista Police Department;
(b) Prevents termination of a call by public safety or emergency service personnel; or
(c) Is programmed to transmit directly to any public safety facility.
(5) No alarm business shall place in service or monitor an alarm system that is known be defective or contains defective components. The alarm business or self-installer is responsible for inspecting the alarm system and for determining, to the best of their ability, that the system is operating as designed, and will not be a source of additional false alarms caused by system or component failure prior to placing the system in service or commencing monitoring services.
(C) Duties of alarm installation company and monitoring company. The following are responsibilities of any alarm business conducting alarm activities in Sierra Vista:
(1) The alarm installation company shall provide written and oral instructions to each of its alarm users in the proper use and operation of their alarm systems. Such instructions will specifically include all instructions necessary to turn the alarm system on and off and to avoid false alarms.
(2) As of May 14, 2015, alarm installation companies or self-installers shall not program alarm systems so that they are capable of sending One Plus Duress Alarms. The alarm installation company or self-installer shall remove the One Plus Duress Alarm feature from alarm systems whenever an alarm technician is at the alarm site or otherwise accessing the panel for reprogramming purposes.
(3) As of May 14, 2015, alarm installation companies or self-installers shall not install a device to activate a holdup alarm, which is a single action, non-recessed button.
(4) As of May 14, 2015, the alarm installation companies or self-installers shall use only ANS1/S1A CP-01 listed alarm control panels on all new installations and panel replacements or upgrades.
(5) An alarm installation company, self-installer, or monitoring company shall not use automatic voice dialers.
(6) The monitoring company or self-installer shall not make an alarm dispatch request of a law enforcement agency in response to a burglar alarm signal, excluding panic, duress and holdup signals, during the first seven (7) days following an alarm system installation. The Alarm Coordinator may grant an alarm user’s request for an exemption from this waiting period based upon a determination that special circumstances substantiate the need for the exemption.
(7) A monitoring company or self-installer shall:
(a) Report alarm signals by using telephone numbers designated by the Alarm Coordinator; verify every alarm signal, except a duress or holdup alarm activation, before initiating an alarm dispatch request;
(b) Communicate alarm dispatch requests to the municipality in a manner and form determined by the Alarm Coordinator;
(c) Communicate cancellations to the municipality in a manner and form determined by the Alarm Coordinator:
(d) Ensure that all alarm users of alarm systems equipped with a duress, holdup, or panic alarm are given adequate training as to the proper use of the duress, holdup or panic alarm;
(e) Communicate any available information (north, south, front back, floor, etc.) about the location on all alarm signals related to the alarm dispatch request;
(f) Communicate the nature of the alarm (i.e.: burglary, robbery, panic, duress, silent, audible, interior or perimeter);
(g) After an alarm dispatch request, promptly advise the law enforcement agency if the monitoring company or self-installer knows that the alarm user or the responding party is on the way to the alarm site;
(h) For alarm monitoring companies, attempt to contact the alarm user or responder within 24 hours via mail, fax, telephone or other electronic means when an alarm dispatch request is made; and
(i) As of May 14, 2015, monitoring companies must maintain for a period of at least one (1) year from the date of the alarm dispatch request, records relating to alarm dispatch requests. Records must include the name, address and telephone number of the alarm user, the alarm system zone(s) activated, the time of alarm dispatch request and evidence of an attempt to verify. The Alarm Coordinator may request copies of such records for individually named alarm users. If the request is made within sixty (60) days of an alarm dispatch request, the monitoring company shall furnish requested records within three (3) business days of receiving the request. If the records are requested between sixty (60) days to one (1) year after an alarm dispatch request, the monitoring company shall furnish the requested records within thirty (30) days of receiving the request.
(8) An alarm installation company and/or monitoring company that purchases alarm system accounts from another person or entity shall notify the Alarm Coordinator of such purchase and provide details as may be reasonably requested by the Alarm Coordinator.
(9) Each alarm installing company, self-installer, and alarm monitoring company must designate one individual as the alarm response manager (ARM) for the company who will manage alarm related issues and act as the point of contact for the Alarm Coordinator. The appointed individual must be knowledgeable of the general provisions of this chapter, as well as have the knowledge and authority to deal with false alarm issues and respond to requests from the Alarm Coordinator. The name, phone number, and email address of the designated ARM must be provided to the Alarm Coordinator.
(10) Any time an alarm is installed, re-installed, removed, or customer information is updated, the alarm installation company, self-installer, or monitoring company, shall provide the Alarm Coordinator the customer information listed below:
(a) Name of alarm user.
(b) Physical address of installed alarm.
(c) Mailing address of alarm user.
(d) Telephone contact information for alarm user.
(e) Name and telephone numbers of any and all possible responding parties.
(Ord. 1002, passed 3-14-96; Am. Ord. 1145, passed 8-8-02; Am. Ord. 2008-003, passed 1-10-08; Am. Ord. 2015-001, passed 5-14-15)