September 28, 2011
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Question - from a subscriber who signed up for the emails
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I routinely receive your emails. I believe that there must have been a number of question concerning hurricane Irene.
Long Island was hit hard and had no power for days in some cases over a week. I have a question that needs to be addressed.
If you are a client with burglar alarm coverage, what happens when as in the case of Hurricane Irene when the power was out for days, which rendered backup battery useless., There were no television service, so the alarm company could not contact you.
I spoke to the alarm company and they admitted they did not know how to navigate a situation like this as they had never encountered it before. Who would be liable in cases such as this?
What does one do? I if you respond to this question please do not use my name - make it a blanket response.
Thank you.
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Answer:
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Sorry, but this forum is for alarm company owners and those in the industry, not subscribers. I removed this person from the list. But her question happens to come at an opportune time, Hurricane Irene having just passed by, and more importantly, about the same time I got this inquiry and response regarding UL and acts of God.
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Question posed to UL re storm mode policy
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Good Afternoon -
We have 3 UL listed central stations (1 in Chicago and 2 in Louisiana). We monitor for hundreds of licensed installation companies nationwide who have many UL certificated accounts.
We'd like clarification on implementing a companywide Storm Mode policy based on the documentation provided in editions of UL827 and UL1981. There is very limited protocol and procedures cited in either UL documents regarding a safe policy central stations can implement while experiencing an "Act of God". I believe this is harmful to our industry. Because of this, we are being questioned and accused of improper staffing/protocol during storm modes.
They are citing wording such as what's listed in 34.2.2a of UL827 which says, "A telephone call shall be made to the protected premises immediately after receipt of the alarm;".
Recently, we have encountered a record amount of storms in the Chicago area. In these periods, we have policies implemented and have the capability of our Louisiana central stations to handle Chicago traffic during these times as well. During our last major storm, for example, we had 17 operators on staff and additional management all helping process the Chicago traffic.
This, however, is still proving to be not enough in making sure our customers are notified of alarm events in a timely manner. Using simple math, when we receive over 1300 alarms in 1 hour, it is an impossibility to make a telephone call to the protected premises "immediately after receipt of the alarm" on a 1-5 priority level alarm (as cited in UL1981, section 18.2) unless we had hundreds (if not 1000's) of operators on staff. This requirement cannot be met economically by any central station in the world. The only solution UL827 provides is that central stations have the option to bring in additional staff to help alleviate high alarm traffic. While there is documentation relating to subsidiary stations, this does not apply.
Also, other issues that compile to the delay in notification of alarms is directly related to:
- Municipalities - In many instances, municipalities affected by an Act of God will not respond to fire or alarms that require police dispatch.
- Municipalities not answering or taking several minutes to answer. I site the following article:
http://9-1-1.com/wordpress/2011/08/05/911-drops-more-than-1000-calls-in- suburbs-during-storm/. Please take a moment to review. This is only 1 municipality in our area. We encounter this with several area municipalities when we encounter storms. Chicago 9-1-1, on average, takes more than 15 minutes for our operators to get through to a dispatcher.
- Power Outages - Storming obviously results in 100,000's of customers in our area losing power (a storm in July knocked power out to over 700,000 homes/businesses in our state in less than 24 hours). When a keyholder, or subscriber, is called, we are to terminate the call if it is not answered after 6 rings or 1 minute (whichever comes first).
This is cited by UL827 in section 34.2.2b. Because of this (and time added for when we leave messages on answering machines/voice mail), it generally takes (on average) 7-10 minutes to complete the protocol necessary to ensure steps of proper notification were followed.
With all that being said, I think the following facts can be agreed upon:
1) There is no or very limited wording in UL827 or UL1981 that cites protocol or steps central stations can take to help alleviate the flow of traffic during an Act of God.
2) There is no or little wording in UL827 or UL1981 that cites standards upon requirements of what traffic requires 'immediate' notification during an Act of God.
3) Acts of God cause billions of dollars in damages annually (a July 11th storm in the Chicago area caused more than $80 million in damages to our local electrical service alone) on a national scale. A fair percentage of this is based on structures central stations monitor or are involved in monitoring to some (agreed upon) extent.
Finalizing, I have the following questions for UL personnel:
1) Will there be any documentation in the 3rd UL1981 edition referring directly to Acts of God or addendums added to UL827?
2) If not, does the central station have the power to provide documentation in licensed contacts to newly signed subscribers (licensed installation companies) dictating protocol?
3) Can a central station develop a storm mode policy that is agreed upon by each individual currently signed subscriber (licensed installation company)?
4) If so, can this policy have differing instructions between monitored certificated UL accounts (or accounts that bear a similar 'higher' priority) vs. others (i.e. residential homes, non-certificated commercial burglary systems, etc...)?
Depending on your feedback, I'd like to share some ideas we were going to submit to our subscribers for approval. Again, any comments, documents, opinions are welcome. Thank you for your time.
Jeremy Kane| Dealer Relations
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UL's answer
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Mr. Kane,
Please accept my apology for the tardiness of this response. Remarkably I was side tracked by what some might call an "Act of God" in the form of hurricane Irene. Here on Long Island we were without power for up to seven days in some places. But our woes were minor compared to northern NY and Vermont.
I did read your email with much interest as it touches on a number of concepts within UL 827 and issues facing the central station industry these days. I cannot comment on UL 1981 as I have not participated in the most recent work on that document. Nonetheless, the current editions of UL 827 and UL 1981 have some common overlays in today's central stations. Thus some of my comments may touch on matters found in that Standard.
UL 827 covers much ground for it is a standard that establishes common requirements for the facilities and equipment in all central stations regardless of the scope of their services. It also discusses the operational requirements for central stations engaged in one or more of the following services; Fire-Alarm Services (Sections 15 -24), Burglar-Alarm Services (Sections 25 - 39) or Residential Monitoring Station (Sections 40 - 44). Each of these services is aligned with a service category in which a central station may establish a Listing. In short the requirements in the Services sections of UL 827 are a reflection of the markets the service categories are designed to support. When a UL alarm system certificate for central station service is issued to a particular subscriber of alarm service the signal processing for that system is required to be done in accordance with the applicable type of service in the Standard. So subscribers to central station type fire alarm service receiving UL alarm system certificate can be assured the processing of the signal and other aspects of the service will be in accordance with Sections 15 - 24. Similarly, an alarm service company issuing a burglar alarm system certificate for central station service (See 3.3.2 of UL 827) will receive service in accordance with Sections 25 - 39. All UL Listed central stations also have the option of monitoring alarm systems that are not receiving central station service as defined by UL 827. These systems might be Certificated in a non-central station category such as Mercantile Burglar Alarm Service (CVSG) or Residential Burglar Alarm Service (CVWY). The requirements for processing of signals from these types of systems are found in Section 23.3 for central stations Listed for Fire-Alarm Service (UUFX), Section 34.8 for central stations Listed for Burglar-Alarm Service (CPVX), and Section 42 for central stations Listed for Residential Monitoring Station Service (CVSU).
From the perspective of operating a central station it is important to be mindful of these distinctions because it is the only way one can determine which requirements apply. The operational requirements in UL 827 for your central stations would be found in Sections 15 - 24. This means the processing of signals from alarm systems that have been Certificated as Central-Station Fire-Alarm systems by any of the installation companies your monitor will be processed in accordance with Section 22.2 and the requirements of the applicable edition of NFPA 72.
The processing of signals from alarm systems that have been Certificated as Mercantile Burglar Alarm or Bank Burglar Alarm systems will be processed in accordance with Section 22.3. The processing of signals from alarm systems that have been Certificated as National Industrial Security Systems (CRZH) are required to be done in accordance to UL 2050. The monitoring of alarm systems for which a UL alarm system certificate has not been issued is not specifically covered by UL 827.
However, one could choose to apply the requirements of Section 22.3 should one wish use in the Standard as a guide for this type of monitoring.
With regard to your specific four questions I offer the following:
1. Will there be any documentation in the 3rd edition of UL 1981 referring to Acts of God or addendums added to UL 827?
Answer: As noted earlier, I cannot respond to questions about UL 1981.
However UL 827 has for many years dealt with foreseeable natural disasters in requiring a plan of action for the restoration of service by a central-station (See 16.2, 25.2, and 40.2). Based on the Listing of your company, 16.2 would apply.
2. If not, does the central station have the power to provide documentation in licensed contracts to newly signed subscribers (licensed installation companies) dictating protocol?
Answer: UL Standards do not assess monitoring contracts nor can we comment on proposed language in contacts. However, the alarm service company providing a UL Certificate to a protected property is responsible to assure Standard compliant service is being delivered to their subscribers (See 3.2.34 for a definition of subscriber). If Standard compliant service cannot be provided due to a natural disaster, the alarm service company is required to notify the protected property owners. In the event Standard compliant service cannot be restored, the UL Certificate must be cancelled.
3. Can a central station develop a storm mode policy that is agreed upon by each individual currently signed subscriber (licensed installation company)?
Answer: In the case of fire alarm systems that comply with NFPA 72, the Code is silent on varying the processing of signals based on storm activity. The local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) does have the authority to permit such a policy. However that deviation from the Code would have to be documented and stated on any UL Certificate for central station fire alarm service issued in that jurisdiction. With regard to UL 827, the required plan to handle weather related natural disasters is intended to address the timely restoration of central station service. The Standard does not contemplate not acting on signals that have been received from Certificated protected properties.
4. If so, can this policy have differing instruction between monitored Certificated UL accounts (or accounts that bear a similar "higher" priority) vs. others (i.e. residential homes, non-certificated commercial burglary systems, etc.)?
Answer: UL 827 applies to UL Certificated alarm systems. As noted previously, Section 22.3 addresses signals from systems other that central-station fire alarm systems, i.e. Certificated fire alarm systems. Again, please note the word subscriber refers to the user of the alarm system as defined in 3.2.34 of UL 827.
Sincerely,
Pete Tallman, CET
Alarm Certificate Service
NICET III (Cert. #77727)
Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.