Notice of Proposed Rule

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
Division of State Fire Marshal
RULE NO: RULE TITLE
69A-48.008: Monitoring
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose of the rule amendment is to provide conditions under which the managed facilities-based voice network method of monitoring fire alarm signals can be approved by the local authority having jurisdiction.
SUMMARY: Fire alarm signals in specified occupancies must be monitored so that the fire department is automatically alerted when the alarm is activated. A managed facilities-based voice network, as described in the rule, is an acceptable monitoring alternative to a standard telephone monitoring system.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS: No Statement of Estimated Regulatory Cost was prepared.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 633.70(4) FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 633.022(1)(b), 633.701 FS.
IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE,TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW(IF NOT REQUESTED, THIS HEARING WILL NOT BE HELD):
DATE AND TIME: Friday, August 14, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
PLACE: Conference Room at the Atrium, 325 John Knox Road, Tallahassee, Florida
Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 5 days before the workshop/meeting by contacting: Belinda Chukes, Bureau of Fire Prevention, Department of Financial Services, 200 East Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0329, phone (850)413-3619. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Jim Goodloe, Chief, Bureau of Fire Prevention, Department of Financial Services, 200 East Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0329, phone (850)413-3620

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

69A-48.008 Monitoring.

(1) Monitored Automatic emergency forces notification and any type of monitoring of fire alarm signals shall be installed and operate in accordance with the applicable NFPA standards adopted in subsection 69A-3.012(1), F.A.C., and incorporated by reference therein.

(2) Any person currently providing or proposing to provide fire alarm monitoring services to protected premises company wishing do monitoring or is currently monitoring in a fire department’s area shall notify the authority having jurisdiction in writing at least 10 days prior to offering the service of that location. The provider shall notify the authority having jurisdiction verbally within 24 hours of discontinuing monitoring services to a protected premise shall be notified when any monitoring is discontinued within 24 hours. The verbal notification shall be confirmed by written notification provided to the authority having jurisdiction within 10 days of the discontinuance of monitoring services and follow-up that notification by written notification.

(3) Managed Facilities-based Voice Network (MFVN) is a physical facilities-based communication network that:

(a) Is managed and maintained by the service provider to ensure service quality and reliability from the service subscriber location to the point at which a call is transferred or handed off to another MFVN peer network such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN), defined as a single or an interconnected collection of local, long distance and international phone companies;

(b) Conforms to all relevant PSTN standards with respect to:

1. Dialing,

2. Dial plan,

3. Call completion,

4. Carriage of alarm signals and protocols, and

5. Loop voltage treatment;

(c) Provides real-time transmission of voice and real-time transmission of signals that carry alarm industry standard alarm formats unchanged;

(d) Preserves primary line seizure for alarm signal transmission;

(e) Provides a method of electrical power backup such as a battery that provides a minimum of 8 hours of continued uninterrupted voice service availability to the attached alarm system, and

(f) Provides disaster recovery plans to address individual customer outages and network power restoration procedures. The plans shall be provided to the authority having jurisdiction upon request.

(4) The provider must demonstrate that the network is an MFVN as described in this rule by submitting to the authority having jurisdiction an attestation that the company’s network meets the criteria paragraphs (a) through (f) above.

Rulemaking Specific Authority 633.70(4), 633.701(7) FS. Law Implemented 633.022(1)(b), 633.701 633.01(1), 633.022(2)(b), 633.70(4), 633.701(7) FS. History–New 11-16-94, Amended 7-11-01, Formerly 4A-48.008, Amended_______.


NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Jim Goodloe, Chief, Bureau of Fire Prevention
NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD:
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: February 27, 2009