55240 - BDA Engr Spec May 2021 v4 .pdf

EMERGENCY RADIO COMMUNICATION ENHANCEMENT SYSTEM

(BDA SYSTEM)

1.1 EMERGENCY RADIO COMMUNICATION ENHANCEMENT SYSTEM (BDA SYSTEM)

A. General

1. Provide an in-building radio signal amplification system to provide complete coverage in the building for the local public safety agencies as required by the GSA Fire Protection Engineer. System users shall receive and transmit radio signals from their portable radio units within the building. This shall be accomplished utilizing the following components:

a. Bi Directional Amplifiers (Signal Boosters)

b. Coaxial Cable

c. Antennas

d. Cable taps

e. Connectors

f. Power dividers

g. Other components and interconnecting circuitry as required

2. The system shall comply with the requirements of UL2524 In-building 2-Way Emergency

Radio Communication Enhancement Systems, NFPA 72 2019 Edition, NFPA 1221 2016 Edition and IFC 2018, as referenced.

3. The entire system shall meet the requirements of the local Fire Department, the local Building Department and all other agencies and authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ).

4. The in-building emergency radio communication enhancement system shall use a UL2524 Listed, NFPA 72, NFPA 1221 and IFC 2018 compliant signal booster or approved equal.

B. Design requirements

1. In-building emergency radio communication enhancement systems for emergency responders are an integral component of the life safety equipment of a building or structure. The primary function is to provide reliable emergency responder communications at the required signal strength within the specified areas.

2. Critical Areas such as emergency command center, fire pump room, exit stairs, exit passageways, elevator lobbies, standpipe cabinets, sprinkler sectional valve locations and similar critical areas shall be provided with 100% floor area radio coverage.

3. General building areas shall be provided with 95% radio coverage, or as specified by

AHJ.

4. The In-building emergency radio communication enhancement systems must provide the following signal strengths:

a. Downlink - Minimum signal strength of -95 dBm throughout the coverage area.

b. Uplink - Minimum signal strength of -95 dBm received at the AHJ Radio System.

c. OR As otherwise required by the AHJ

5. The system shall be complete with all components and wiring required for compliance with all applicable codes and regulations, and for its operations described hereinafter.

6. An approved manufacturer or a qualified and approved vendor shall supply, test and determine locations of components which are required for proper operation as well as to supply, install, test and certify the performance of the complete system. Vendor qualifications must be acceptable to the AHJ.

7. Design may include iBwave software-simulated radio propagation modeling with heat maps showing predicted signal coverage levels within the building. The iBWave design shall be done by iBWave certified personnel.

8. All tests shall be conducted, documented, and signed by a person in possession of an FCC General Radio Telephone Operators License. All testing personnel shall be certified and authorized by the signal booster manufacturer in the installation and operation of their equipment. Personnel qualifications must be acceptable to the AHJ.

9. The system design shall be based on the Radio Solutions, Inc (Norwell, MA) line of Public Safety Signal Boosters UL2524, NFPA 72, NFPA 1221, IFC and FCC certified to establish standards of quality for materials and performance. The naming of a specific manufacturer or a catalog number does not waiver any requirement or performance of individual components described in the specifications.

10. Assembly and installation of all components of the Emergency Responder Radio Communication Enhancement System shall comply with all applicable sections of the National Electrical Code.

11. Survivability from attack by fire shall meet requirements of NFPA 72, NFPA 1221, IFC or as required by the local jurisdiction.

12. The system must comply with all applicable sections of the FCC rules. Signal booster shall have FCC certification prior to installation.

13. Antenna isolation shall be maintained between the donor antenna and all inside antennas (D.A.S.) to a minimum of 20dB under all operating conditions

C. Technical Specifications and Performance Requirements

1. The system specified shall be based upon Radio Solutions, Inc (Norwell, MA) line of

Public Safety UL2524 Listed and NFPA72, NFPA 1221, IFC compliant signal boosters

2. The signal booster shall be a Class B Public Safety type as designated by the FCC or as required by the AHJ.

3. The secondary power supplies, battery chargers and system monitoring shall be fully compliant with NFPA 72, NFPA 1221 and IFC. The signal booster shall have both the primary and the secondary power supplies within a waterproof, type-4 approved enclosure.

4. All signal boosters and other active system components must have FCC certification prior to installation. The equipment FCC ID must be shown on the product datasheets and technical submittals. The ID must also be displayed on the product as required by the

FCC.

5. The signal booster shall be pre-set by the equipment manufacturer for the frequencies specified by the AHJ. Field tuning of RF filters and duplexers is not allowed.

6. UHF and VHF signal boosters shall be band selective type with a maximum 3dB channel bandwidth of 200KHz (Fc +/- 100KHz) per band. Non-selective wide-band signal boosters shall not be accepted, unless required to cover multiple channels within the same band.

7. Signal Boosters shall have oscillation suppression circuitry to protect the public safety radio system in case of system malfunction or other causes. The oscillation suppression circuit shall not disable the system operation. Systems that automatically disable the signal booster upon oscillation detection shall not be allowed.

8. Signal Boosters shall have uplink noise suppression function to eliminate uplink noise while in standby (i.e. no radio transmission from within a building). Systems that produce any measurable level of uplink noise while in standby shall not be allowed.

9. Signal Booster gain shall be rated at minimum of 80dB and the gain shall be adjustable in a minimum of 30dB range. System gain shall be set and documented at the time of the final system test.

10. Maximum Propagation delay of the signal booster system shall be the lesser of 14μs

(microseconds) or as specified by AHJ.

11. The signal booster system shall include built-in automatic supervision of malfunctions of the signal booster and battery system as per NFPA 1221 NFPA 72 and IFC. Non-OEM equipment add-ons and modifications to comply with this specification shall not be allowed.

12. A dedicated supervised monitoring panel shall be provided within the emergency command center next to the fire alarm panel / annunciator or other location as designated by AHJ to annunciate the status of all signal booster locations. The monitoring panel shall provide visual and labeled indication of the following for each signal booster:

a. Normal AC power

b. Signal booster trouble

c. Antenna Failure

d. Loss of normal AC power

e. Failure of battery charger

f. Low battery capacity

13. The vendor shall verify the system monitoring requirements and the required annunciator location with the AHJ prior to system installation. System monitoring shall be fully compliant with the AHJ requirements.

14. Non-OEM External filters, duplexers, power supplies or other non-OEM additions or modifications of the original equipment shall not be allowed.

15. All signal booster components shall be contained in a type-4 approved and UL 50e listed watertight enclosure. All enclosures shall be painted red with external labeling as required by the AHJ.

D. Installation Requirements

1. Installation of all components of the Emergency Responder Communication

Enhancement System shall comply with all applicable sections of the National Electrical Code NFPA-70, NFPA-72, NFPA 1221, IFC and / or as required by the local AHJ.

2. At least 2 independent and reliable power supplies shall be provided as specified in NFPA 72, NFPA 1221 and IFC.

3. The primary power source shall be supplied from a dedicated twenty (20) ampere branch circuit and comply with NFPA-70 National Electrical Code, NFPA 72 and NFPA 1221 2016 edition.

The signal booster shall be equipped with a secondary source of power. The secondary source of power shall be a battery system with a dedicated battery charger powered by a separate, dedicated twenty (20) ampere branch circuit. The secondary power supply shall power on automatically when the primary power source is lost. The secondary source of power shall be capable of operating the emergency responder radio coverage enhancement system for a period of at least 24 hours. The battery system shall automatically charge in the presence of external power input. Battery charger and all other electronic components must be fully enclosed in a waterproof Type-4 approved enclosure. Batteries shall be enclosed in a separate, vented Type-3R or Type-4 approved enclosure. External UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supplies) are not acceptable.

4. RF Coaxial Cable shall be a listed, CMP plenum. The cable classification shall be clearly marked on the outer surface of the cable regular intervals.

E. Acceptance and Test Procedures

1. Acceptance testing of an in-building radio system is required upon completion of installation.

2. The coverage testing shall be done in accordance with NFPA 72, NFPA 1221, IFC and as required by the local AHJ

3. All tests shall be conducted, documented, and signed by a person in possession of a current FCC General Radio Operator License.

4. All test records along with system diagrams, iBWave design, equipment specifications, user manuals, RF link budget calculations, battery backup calculation and other design data shall be submitted upon completion of the project, and as required by the AHJ.