2006-968CITY OF HOPKINS
Hennepin County, Minnesota
ORDINANCE N0.2006-968
Ordinance Establishing a New Section, 917, Requiring Radio Building Amplification to
New Construction
The City Council of the City of Hopkins does hereby ordain
Section 1. The Hopkins City Code will be amended by adding
Section 917, Radio Building Amplification to New construction,
to the Hopkins City Code.
917.01, Subdivision 1. Except as otherwise provided, no person
shall erect, construct, change the use of or provide an addition
of more than 20o to, any building or structure or any part
thereof, or cause the same to be done which fails to support
adequate radio coverage for the Minnesota Regional Radio
Communications System, including but not limited to firefighters
and police officers.
Subd. 2. This section shall not apply to: buildings of
less than 8,500 square feet, or any building constructed of wood
frame; provided none of the aforementioned buildings make use of
any metal construction or any below-grade levels or parking
areas.
Subd. 3. Any part of any R-3 occupancy building,
including below-grade levels and parking areas, is exempt from
the requirements of this section.
Subd. 4. For the purposes of this section, parking
structures and stairwells are included in the definition of
"building" and stair shafts and elevators are included in the
definition of "all parts of the building."
Subd. 5. For purposes of this section, adequate radio
coverage shall be an average received field strength of no less
than -93 dBm, or 1o BER, measured at 30 to 36 inches above the
floor over 900 of the area of each floor and other critical
areas determined by the Fire Chief or the Fire Chief's designee
such as fire command centers, stairwells, elevators, high hazard
areas, basements, and parking areas. Without an in-building
radio system, only the received signal level standard must be
achieved, as the talk-out path is equivalent to the talk-in path
in this regional radio system.
917.11, Subdivision 1. Amplification systems allowed. Buildings
and structures which cannot support the required level of radio
coverage shall be equipped with either a radiating cable system
or an internal multiple antenna system with or without FCC type
__._ accepted bi-directional 800 MHz amplification as needed.
Subd. 2. If amplification is used in the system, all
required FCC authorizations must be obtained prior to the use of
the system.
Subd. 3. If any part of the installed system or systems
contains an electrically powered component, the system shall be
capable of operating on an independent battery and/or generator
system for a period of at least 12 hours without external power
input. The battery system shall automatically charge in the
presence of an external power input.
917.13 Subdivision 1. Testing procedures. Acceptance test
procedure. With or without an in-building radio system, it will
be the building owner's responsibility to have the regional
radio system performance tested to ensure that two-way coverage
on each floor of the building is a minimum of 900 of the total
floor area and the critical areas designated.
Subd. 2. Talk-in From the Regional Radio System Coverage
Testing. The talk-in coverage testing process shall be the same
for buildings with and without in-building amplification
systems.
Subd. 3. During test measuring, the center of the test
equipment receive antenna shall be between 30 and 36 inches
above the floor.
Subd. 4. On each floor of a building to be tested, the
floor space, except for designated critical areas, shall be
divided into square or rectangular areas of approximately the
same size and shape. Each floor shall have at least ten grid
areas; however, the maximum size of grid areas shall not exceed
2,500 square feet.
Subd. 5. In buildings with support columns laid out in a
grid, the corners of each grid may be arranged at the columns
for ease in identifying grid corners while testing is in
progress. In buildings, such as a warehouse, with large open
areas, tests shall be conducted near the center of each grid
although the exact center may not be easily accessible due to
the location of large machinery, storage racks, and the like.
Subd. 6 In buildings with divided office spaces, with or
without floor to ceiling patricians, tests shall be conducted in
an office at or near the center of a grid. In buildings with a
large open area and an attached two-story, split-level office or
other area, the lower level of the two-story, split-level
attachment shall be considered as an extension of the large open
area.
Subd. 7. In multi-story buildings and parking ramps,
testing shall begin at the lowest level, including any subgrade
level(s), and continue up one floor at a time. In-building
amplification may only be required on the lowest level or levels
of a multi-story building or parking ramp
Subd. 8. Average radio signal field strength shall be
measured and recorded in each grid and in each designated
critical area defined above. Average field strength may be
obtained through use of an instantaneous measuring instrument
and a computer that samples the actual field strength at very
short time intervals and averages the sample values. As an
alternative, a field strength measuring instrument with an
analog or digital readout of average field strength may also be
used. Measurements shall be made while the measuring instrument
is moved over a distance of four to ten feet. If the average
field strength varies over the measurement path, the lowest
(most negative) value shall be recorded. The test
instrumentation used shall have been calibrated within the six-
month period prior to the testing.
Subd. 9. The percentage of area passed shall be calculated
as 100 times the result of dividing the number of grids and
critical areas that are at least at -93 dBm or lp BER by the
total number of grids and critical areas tested.
Subd. 11. The donor antenna in an in-building amplification
system may receive up to 87 800 MHz radio frequencies of
approximately equal field strength from the regional system,
plus some others of approximately equal field strength from
other radio systems. At any time, the donor antenna may be
receiving at least 60 radio frequencies of approximately equal
level in the pass band ranges. For that reason, it shall be
assumed that the output level of talk-in amplifiers will be at +
3.2 dBm per channel maximum. Therefore, grid and critical areas
tests shall be conducted while the head end amplifier is
disconnected and a signal of + 3.2 dBm is inserted into the
connector downstream from the headend amplifier.
a) Any in-building talk-in amplification system shall
have pass band filters before the input to the first (headend)
amplifier that shall pass 806 to 817 MHz and 821 to 824 MHz
only.
b) In the future, within six months after notification
by the Fire Chief or the Fire Chief's designee, the pass band
filter frequency range shall be changed in accordance with
instructions, or an additional pass band filter for 700 MHz band
frequencies shall be added.
c) When the donor antenna is installed, the average
signal level received on the Hennepin East site control channel
shall be measured at the antenna connector. A signal at that
average received signal level shall be inserted into the cable
to the headend amplifier and filter while the output level of
the headend amplifier is measured, and the output level of the
amplifier shall be set at + 29 + 1 dBm.
Subd. 13. Alternative in-building amplification systems
that do not involve broadband pass band filters will be accepted
provided that similar testing can be demonstrated.
Subd. 15. Talk-out to the Regional Radio System Testing.
With an in-building amplification system, the talk-out (to the
regional 800 MHz radio system) shall be measured at the same
grid and critical area locations as the talk-in measurements
were made. The measurements shall be made using a three-watt
portable radio with a well-charged battery to transmit into the
in-building radio system while field strength is measured out of
the connector that is normally attached to the donor antenna.
Subd. 17. To pass, the field strength at the donor antenna
shall be the measured value at the connector plus the donor
antenna gain and minus a free space loss factor. The free space
loss factor shall be -93 dB for a distance of one mile to the
nearest Hennepin East base radio location, adjusted by 6 dB each
time the distance is halved or doubled. The acceptable range
for passing shall be between -65 and -95 dBm.
Subd. 19. Gain values of all amplifiers shall be measured
and the test measurement results shall be kept on file with the
building owner so that the measurements can be verified each
year during the annual tests. In the event that the measurement
results become lost, the building owner will be required to
rerun the acceptance test to reestablish the gain values.
917.15, Subdivision 1. Annual tests. When an in-building radio
system is required, the building owner shall test all active
components of the system, including but not limited to
amplifiers, power supplies and backup batteries, a minimum of
once every 12 months.
Subd. 2. Amplifiers shall be tested to ensure that the gain
is the same as it was upon initial installation and acceptance.
Subd. 3. Backup batteries and power supplies shall be
tested under load for a period of one hour to verify that they
will properly operate during an actual power outage.
Subd. 4. If within the one-hour test period, in the opinion
of the testing technician, the battery exhibits symptoms of
failure, the test shall be extended for additional one-hour
periods until the testing technician confirms the integrity of
the battery.
Subd. 5. All other active components shall be checked to
determine that they are operating within the manufacturer's
specifications for the intended purpose.
917.17, Subdivision 1. Five-year tests. In addition to the
annual test, the building owner shall perform a radio coverage
test a minimum of once every five years to ensure that the radio
system continues to meet the requirements of the original
acceptance test.
Subd. 2. A radio test shall also be performed whenever
there is a change in or to the building that may have an impact
on coverage. Examples of the types of changes that may change
radio coverage are:
a) interior remodeling that adds and/or changes
partitions
b) removal of windows
c) the addition of metalized treatment to window
surfaces.
Subd. 3. The procedure described in division 917.13 shall
be used for these tests.
917.19, Subdivision 1. Qualifications of testing personnel. All
tests shall be conducted, documented and signed by qualified and
competent personnel that includes: persons in possession of a
current FCC license, or a current technician certification
issued by the Associated Public-Safety Communications Officials
International (APCO) or the Personal Communications Industry
Association (PCIA}, or a qualified radio engineer licensed as a
registered professional engineer by the State of Minnesota and
approved by the City of Hopkins.
Subd. 2. Testing personnel shall have test equipment that
is appropriate for the testing procedure, and that test
equipment shall have been calibrated within six months prior to
the testing.
917.21 All test records shall be retained on the inspected
premises by the building owner and a copy shall be submitted to
Fire Department officials.
917.23 Field testing. Fire and police personnel, after
providing reasonable notice to the owner or the owner's
representative, shall have the right to enter onto the property
to conduct testing to be certain that the required level of
radio coverage is present.
917.25 All cost to implement this ordinance and testing of
equipment shall be paid by building owner.
Section 2: The effective date of this ordinance shall be June
29, 2006
First Reading: June 6, 2006
Second Reading: June 19, 2006
Date of Publication:
Date Ordinance Takes Effect:
ATT
Terry ermaier, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY:
ty Atto ney Signature
June 29, 2006
June 29, 2006
Eug e Maxwell, Mayor
J~, s aoa~
Date