Proprietary supervising station facilities (self-monitoring facilities) shall meet all of the requirements
of this appendix.
The proprietary supervising station shall be located in a property's Fire Command Center, or other
approved location.
The approved location shall have at a minimum the following items:
- A fire alarm annunciator that has appropriate control capabilities.
- An all-call microphone and all-call evacuation switch.
- Switches that activate the evacuation message, the investigation message (if applicable), and the all-clear message for the active alarm zones.
- A printer that is provided with a secondary power source such as an uninterruptible power supply or other approved means.
- Copy of the approved SOP as required by Section O104.
Two means of retransmission shall be provided. The primary means of
retransmission shall be a land-line telephone. The secondary means of retransmission shall be a dedicated cellular
telephone.
Proprietary supervising stations shall be operated by trained personnel in constant
attendance who are responsible to the owner of the protected property.
Annually the applicant shall certify in writing to the fire code official that all
authorized personnel have received training in the recognition and proper handling of alarm signals. Evidence of
annual training for each authorized personnel shall be provided when requested by the fire code official.
Operators shall be trained on a yearly basis either by the installing fire alarm contractor, by the fire
alarm maintenance contractor, or by the manufacturer's representative of installed fire alarm system.
Documentation of annual training shall be kept on site and available upon request of the fire code official.
Operators shall be trained on the following:
- How to differentiate between a water flow alarm signal, a fire alarm signal, a fire supervisory signal, and a fire trouble signal.
- The basic operations of the panel, including but not limited, to the following: signal acknowledgment, resetting of the fire alarm system, selection of evacuation zones, and activating of the evacuation, investigation (if applicable), and all-clear evacuation messaging.
- The Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) required by Section O104 for the facility.
At least two operators shall be on duty at all times. One of the two operators shall be
permitted to be a runner.
Adequate staffing shall be provided for runners to survey the entire facility within three minutes
when responding to either a water flow alarm signal or a fire alarm signal.
A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) shall be submitted to the fire code official when applying
for the required annual permit for proprietary supervising station facilities. The SOP shall outline procedures with
regards to emergency procedures and the disposition of the alarm, supervisory, and trouble signals. The SOP shall
include at a minimum the following items:
- The number of operators that will be on duty at all times.
- The location and the equipment found within the proprietary supervising station facility.
- The facilities' procedures in handling alarm, supervisory, and trouble signals.
Upon receipt of a fire alarm signal, the proprietary supervising station operator shall immediately dispatch a runner to the alarm location identified on the fire alarm control unit.
- If the fire is verified, immediately activate the evacuation message on the fire alarm system and initiate notification procedures. See O103.4 for coverage requirements.
- If the alarm is false, the fire alarm system shall be reset. If either an investigation message or an evacuation message has been activated, then sound an all-clear message.
Upon receipt of a supervisory signal, the proprietary supervising station operator shall
Immediately dispatch runner to the location identified on the fire alarm control unit, unless the supervisory
conditions are promptly restored.
Upon receipt of trouble signals or other signals pertaining solely to matters of equipment
maintenance of the fire alarm system, the proprietary supervising station operator shall immediately dispatch
runner to the location identified on the fire alarm control unit, unless the trouble conditions are promptly restored.
A written log of all fire alarm signals shall be maintained in the Fire Command Center including:
- The investigating person's name.
- The device address.
- The type of alarm.
- The date and time of receipt of the fire alarm signals.
- The cause and disposition of the fire alarm signals.