Columbus City Codes § 597.01 Definitions
597.01 - Definitions
When used in this Chapter of the Columbus City Code:
(A) "Age exempt" shall mean any residential alarm user age seventy (70) or older that is subject to a special rate for a new or the renewal of an Alarm User License.
(B) "Alarm agent" shall mean any person employed by or working as an independent contractor for an alarm dealer, alarm company, partnership, corporation or other entity, who sells, leases, monitors, maintains, services, repairs, alters, replaces, moves, designs, or installs alarm systems, on/in the premises of the alarm user.
(C) "Alarm dispatch request" shall mean a notification to the 911 emergency response system that an alarm, manual or automatic, audible or silent, has been activated at a particular alarm site.
(D) "Alarm dealer" shall mean any individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity that sells, leases, monitors, maintains, services, repairs, alters, replaces, moves, designs, or installs any alarm system; or causes to be sold, leased, monitored, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved, designed, or installed, any alarm in or on any building, structure, or facility. (This shall include owners of proprietary alarm systems).
(E) "Alarm monitoring company" shall mean an individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity that engages in the business of monitoring property, burglary, robbery, or panic alarms and reporting activation of the alarm system to a 911 emergency response system.
(F) "Alarm site" shall mean a single fixed premise or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each unit in a multiple dwelling unit or multiple dwelling development shall be considered a separate alarm site. An alarm site shall also include moveable equipment or auxiliary apparatus that is protected by an alarm system. The alarm site for moveable equipment and auxiliary apparatus is the piece of equipment or apparatus itself, not the location of the equipment or apparatus. An example of moveable equipment and/or auxiliary apparatus shall include construction equipment and/or machinery.
(G) "Alarm system" shall mean any assembly of equipment, mechanical, audible or electrical, designed to signal any occurrence of an illegal entry or other illegal activity requiring emergency response by a police officer, firefighter, or license officer. This does not include alarm systems installed on motor vehicles.
(H) "Alarm user" shall mean any person, partnership, corporation, proprietorship, educational entity or any other entity owning, leasing, or operating an alarm system, or on whose premises an alarm system is maintained for the protection of such premises.
(I) "ANSI/SIA Control Panel Standard CP-01" shall mean the ANSI - American National Standard Institute approved Security Industry Association - SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard, as may be updated from time to time, that details recommended design features for security system control panels and their associated arming and disarming devices to reduce the incidence of false alarms. Control panels built and tested to this standard by Underwriters Laboratory (UL), or other nationally recognized testing organizations, will be marked to state: "Design evaluated in accordance with SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard Features for False Alarm Reduction."
(J) "Automatic dialer" shall mean any alarm system which is designed to emit its signal directly to the 911 emergency response system by means of dialing a telephone number and giving a pre-recorded message.
(K) "Cancellation" shall mean the process where a response is terminated when an alarm monitoring company (designated by the alarm user) for the alarm site notifies the responding law enforcement agency that there is no longer an existing situation at the alarm site that requires a law enforcement response.
(L) "Commercial property" shall mean a building, structure, or facility used for activities of business, industry, or trade. Commercial property shall also include moveable equipment or auxiliary apparatus used for the purpose of business, industry, or trade.
(M) "Director" shall mean the Director of Building and Zoning Services, or the Director's designee.
(N) "Dispatch type" shall mean the type of alarm that is activated, as determined by the alarm monitoring company or 911 emergency response system.
(O) "Division" means the Division of Support Services in the Department of Public Safety.
(P) "Emergency contact person" or "Keyholder" shall mean a person listed on the alarm license application by the alarm user, who has a key or other access to the alarm user's property and who will respond, if necessary, when the alarm system is activated.
(Q) "False alarm" shall mean an alarm dispatch request to the 911 emergency response system, when the responding police officer or firefighter finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after having completed an investigation of the alarm site.
(R) "False alarm service fee" shall mean penalty charges assessed for false alarms.
(S) "Holdup alarm" shall mean a silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress or immediately after it has occurred.
(T) "License year" shall mean each twelve (12) month period following the issue date of a license.
(U) "Medical Emergency Response Systems" shall mean a radio transmitted device that is connected to a telephone, that upon pressing a button, the device sends a signal to a console to contact the alarm monitoring company. Medical Emergency Response Systems are typically worn around your neck, on a wrist band, on a belt, or in your pocket.
(V) "Multiple dwelling unit" shall mean a building with more than one (1) and less than five (5) dwelling units, other than single dwelling units, contained within the same structure and under a common roof system which is not part of a multiple dwelling development.
(W) "Multiple dwelling development" shall mean a development of five (5) or more dwelling units including complexes of mobile homes, apartments, townhouses, and condominiums but not including developments of single dwelling units.
(X) "Panic alarm" shall mean an audible alarm system signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a life threatening or emergency situation requiring law enforcement response. This shall also include Electronic Satellite Robbery Alert/Alarm Systems.
(Y) "Residential property" shall mean a single dwelling unit.
(Z) "Revoke or Revocation" shall mean that period of time when all rights and privileges of an alarm license have been abolished for noncompliance with provisions of this Chapter. Reinstatement of the license shall occur when all provisions of this Chapter have been met.
(AA) "School" shall mean any school operated by a board of education or any school for which the State Board of Education prescribes minimum standards under Section 3301.07 of the Revised Code, whether or not any instruction, extracurricular activities, or training provided by the school is being conducted at the time a criminal offense is committed as defined by Chapter 2301.01 of the Columbus City Code.
(BB) "School building" shall mean any building in which any of the instruction, extracurricular activities, or training provided by a school is conducted, whether or not any instruction, extracurricular activities, or training provided by the school is being conducted in the school building at the time a criminal offense is committed as defined by Chapter 2301.01 of the Columbus City Code.
(CC) "School premises" shall mean either of the following:
(1) The parcel of real property on which any school is situated, whether or not any instruction, extracurricular activities, or training provided by the school is being conducted on the premises at the time a criminal offense is committed;
(2) Any other parcel of real property that is owned or leased by a board of education of a school or the governing body of a school for which the State Board of Education prescribes minimum standards under Section 3301.07 of the Ohio Revised Code and on which some of the instruction, extracurricular activities, or training of the school is conducted, whether or not any instruction, extracurricular activities, or training provided by the school is being conducted on the parcel of real property at the time a criminal offense is committed as defined by Chapter 2301.01 of the Columbus City Code.
(DD) "Term" shall mean length of license validity.
(EE) "Unlicensed alarm user" shall mean any alarm user who does not currently hold a valid City of Columbus Alarm User License. This may include accounts that have been revoked. These accounts are subject to the "unlicensed" false alarm service fees provided in 597.97.
(FF) "License Section or section" shall mean the Section of Licenses in the Department of Building and Zoning Services.
(Ord. No. 1497-2017, § 2, 6-19-2017; Ord. No. 2028-2018, § 1, 7-23-2018; Ord. No. 0768-2024, § 3, 3-18-2024)