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Thread: Maximum Siren Duration in Queensland (Brisbane)

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    Junior Member brotherbear's Avatar
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    Default Maximum Siren Duration in Queensland (Brisbane)

    I was wondering what they maximum duration a burglar siren in brisbane is. I have looked on the council website as well as on the QLD Police website but have not found any information. I am just editing my M1 and I saw the duration of the burglar alarm has been set to 6000 seconds. Which seems to be a bit excesive.
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    normally they are between 5 & 8 minutes

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    I don't think they would slap you with a fine if your alarm was going off for a legitimate reason during the night. I doubt there is any law governing this...

    What we all know is that nobody pains attention to an alarm unless it is really annoying them (how many of us have heard a siren and just continued on our merry way??)

    Real world scenario:

    1. False alarm in partial mode, you are home, it gets turned off within roughly 60 seconds,
    2. False alarm when armed, you are not home, it will alarm until it hits its set limit,
    3. Real alarm when armed, you are not home, it will alarm until it hits

    I would set it to a high enough setting to get everyones attention but not continue for 6000 seconds, 300 seconds would be high enough, remember as soon as an alarm goes off thieves are not going to hang around, they will run.

    Your alarm system should not be false alarming, if it is you have the wrong sensors installed for the application.

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    Quote Originally Posted by T1Modem View Post
    I don't think they would slap you with a fine if your alarm was going off for a legitimate reason during the night. I doubt there is any law governing this...

    What we all know is that nobody pains attention to an alarm unless it is really annoying them (how many of us have heard a siren and just continued on our merry way??)

    Real world scenario:

    1. False alarm in partial mode, you are home, it gets turned off within roughly 60 seconds,
    2. False alarm when armed, you are not home, it will alarm until it hits its set limit,
    3. Real alarm when armed, you are not home, it will alarm until it hits

    I would set it to a high enough setting to get everyones attention but not continue for 6000 seconds, 300 seconds would be high enough, remember as soon as an alarm goes off thieves are not going to hang around, they will run.

    Your alarm system should not be false alarming, if it is you have the wrong sensors installed for the application.
    True, I have edited it to be 250 seconds as I think the voice of Ness M1 is enough to fear if set off accidentally let alone a burglar.
    "I can't believe you totaled a mammoth"

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    Senior Member BCNZ's Avatar
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    When I was doing security, all domestic installations that were audible systems were set to 5 minutes alarm time.
    This is long enough to

    1) Warn anyone nearby that an activation has occurred
    2) Give anyone who has broken in a real earful

    but short enough so that it doesn't piss the neighbours off. Naturally if someone has broken in and they're still moving around the house, the alarm will activate again.

    Alarms that sound for 10 minutes or longer do nothing but aggravate people and put them in 'ignore' mode. People tend to ignore alarms anyway, because poor installation, crap equipment and lack of maintenance makes many systems unreliable. Consequently people's respect for alarms has all but disappeared.

    In reality, there should not ever be 'false alarms'. The only time you should ever hear a siren is when a break-in has actually occurred.

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    (I don't think they would slap you with a fine if your alarm was going off for a legitimate reason during the night. I doubt there is any law governing this...)

    The EPA has a law called Noise Pollution. It is enforceable, and carries a prison sentence.

    (What we all know is that nobody pains attention to an alarm unless it is really annoying them (how many of us have heard a siren and just continued on our merry way??)

    The inbuilt culture these days is to ignore alarms. The only people who should not ignore them are the police, and security guards.

    (Real world scenario:

    1. False alarm in partial mode, you are home, it gets turned off within roughly 60 seconds,
    2. False alarm when armed, you are not home, it will alarm until it hits its set limit,
    3. Real alarm when armed, you are not home, it will alarm until it hits)

    There is no such thing as a 'False' alarm! Every alarm occurs for a reason. It may be an unwanted reason, but still it has occurred!

    (I would set it to a high enough setting to get everyones attention but not continue for 6000 seconds, 300 seconds would be high enough, remember as soon as an alarm goes off thieves are not going to hang around, they will run.)

    The Australian Standards recommend 8 minutes as the maximum. Also, there is a setting called 'swinger shut down' which will prevent a re-trigger from starting the siren again.

    (Your alarm system should not be false alarming, if it is you have the wrong sensors installed for the application.)

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    Junior Member T1Modem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hound-Dog View Post
    (I don't think they would slap you with a fine if your alarm was going off for a legitimate reason during the night. I doubt there is any law governing this...)

    The EPA has a law called Noise Pollution. It is enforceable, and carries a prison sentence.

    (What we all know is that nobody pains attention to an alarm unless it is really annoying them (how many of us have heard a siren and just continued on our merry way??)

    The inbuilt culture these days is to ignore alarms. The only people who should not ignore them are the police, and security guards.

    (Real world scenario:

    1. False alarm in partial mode, you are home, it gets turned off within roughly 60 seconds,
    2. False alarm when armed, you are not home, it will alarm until it hits its set limit,
    3. Real alarm when armed, you are not home, it will alarm until it hits)

    There is no such thing as a 'False' alarm! Every alarm occurs for a reason. It may be an unwanted reason, but still it has occurred!

    (I would set it to a high enough setting to get everyones attention but not continue for 6000 seconds, 300 seconds would be high enough, remember as soon as an alarm goes off thieves are not going to hang around, they will run.)

    The Australian Standards recommend 8 minutes as the maximum. Also, there is a setting called 'swinger shut down' which will prevent a re-trigger from starting the siren again.

    (Your alarm system should not be false alarming, if it is you have the wrong sensors installed for the application.)
    .... wow, talk about splitting hairs....

    The only way you will pay a fine for your alarm going off is if it were to happen consistently or constantly, you were made aware and made no action to rectify the problem.

    False:
    adverb
    adjective

    not true or correct; erroneous:
    tending to deceive or mislead; deceptive:
    not genuine; counterfeit.

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    Australian Standards says 5 minutes. Mine are all set too 4 minutes.

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    T1modem, do you have any idea what you are talking about?

    The Law is The Law... most local and state governments also use the Australian Standards limit for siren run times, the EPA and Police know this. Also, if they're called out to a noise complaint for someones alarm going off for 3000 seconds (50 minutes) you can almost guarantee that they will be issuing a fine for noise pollution regardless of; time of day, how often or why it occurred. And they will continue to issue a fine each and every time it happens again!

    Hound-dog is also correct about there being no such thing as false alarms, just undesired operation.
    Last edited by TheAlarmGuy; 29-08-12 at 06:13 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hound-Dog View Post
    (Your alarm system should not be false alarming, if it is you have the wrong sensors installed for the application.)
    That's only half the story.

    A huge percentage of false alarms are caused by user error, poor training or poor programing.

    For example:
    unduly brief entry-delay timers
    users entering via non delay zones e.g. the back door
    keyholders without a code
    keypad duress

    etc.

    False alarms are a major problem for the industry and not something it has confronted.

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    My understanding is that in NSW if an alarm triggers repeatedly or if it doesn't stop after 5 minutes, the neighbours can notify the Police, who may attend and disconnect the external siren, then issue a warning to the property owner. Repeat offenders may then be fined.

    I still can't comprehend in this day and age, with the various programming features available in "modern" alarm panels, why all installers don't make use of the "false alarm reduction" options. Perhaps that's why some alarm panel manufacturers now turn on these options by default.

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    Quote Originally Posted by alarmman View Post
    Perhaps that's why some alarm panel manufacturers now turn on these options by default.
    For example, the entry-delay beep stopping as soon as the user presses the first key.
    You'll find a lot of that is being driven by and the American industry's partnership between private security and public law-enforcement. We give our dealers and installers a handbook and training on installation and programming tips to reduce false alarms.
    Last edited by downunderdan; 29-08-12 at 09:50 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheAlarmGuy View Post
    T1modem, do you have any idea what you are talking about?

    The Law is The Law... most local and state governments also use the Australian Standards limit for siren run times, the EPA and Police know this. Also, if they're called out to a noise complaint for someones alarm going off for 3000 seconds (50 minutes) you can almost guarantee that they will be issuing a fine for noise pollution regardless of; time of day, how often or why it occurred. And they will continue to issue a fine each and every time it happens again!

    Hound-dog is also correct about there being no such thing as false alarms, just undesired operation.
    How about instead of just saying "the law is the law" backing it up with some links to legislation from the relevant bodies? If I were to get a fine for noise pollution where I took all possible action to rectify the problem I would be going straight to court. If I on the other hand did not take any action to rectify the problem, i agree a fine is deserved.

    I'm not even going to get into the meaning of the word false with you, it is listed up there, read it and think about if it or better yet look it up yourself.... If you still have the same opinion then congratulations you cannot be convinced, conversation over.

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    Wow! Do we need to bring out the gloves?

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    Here is the EPA Act listing for noise pollution. It does exclude noise in an emergency, but we are discussing unwanted alarms here.

    Environment Protection Act 1970 - SECT 48A

    Unreasonable noise from residential premises

    (4) For the purposes of subsection (3), noise is to be taken to be
    unreasonable if it is unreasonable having regard to-

    (a) its volume, intensity or duration; and

    (b) the time, place and other circumstances in which it is emitted.

    (6) If a member of the police force or a council officer reasonably suspects
    that an offence against this section is being, or has been, committed, that
    member or officer may direct-

    (a) any person suspected of committing the offence; or

    (b) any person apparently in charge of the premises on which the offence
    is occurring or is suspected to have occurred-

    to take such action as the member or officer considers necessary to abate the
    noise or to prevent the suspected offence from recurring.

    (8) Any person who contravenes a direction given under this section is guilty
    of an offence against this Act and liable to a penalty of not more than 120
    penalty units and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a daily penalty of
    not more than 30 penalty units for each day during which the offence continues
    after conviction.

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    Quote Originally Posted by T1Modem View Post
    How about instead of just saying "the law is the law" backing it up with some links to legislation from the relevant bodies? If I were to get a fine for noise pollution where I took all possible action to rectify the problem I would be going straight to court. If I on the other hand did not take any action to rectify the problem, i agree a fine is deserved.

    I'm not even going to get into the meaning of the word false with you, it is listed up there, read it and think about if it or better yet look it up yourself.... If you still have the same opinion then congratulations you cannot be convinced, conversation over.
    Meaning of False - T1Modem works in the Electronic Security Industry and is a wealth of knowledge on all things related to that Industry.

    Meaning of True - T1Modem should go back and bother the people in the TV antenna pages.

    We who work in the Electronic Security Industry know that there is no such thing as a false alarm, it is a misnomer (feel free to look that word up for yourself). There is always a reason behind a "false" alarm and that alarm is always, to the Control Panel, a legitimate alarm and is to be taken just as seriously as any other alarm activation received by the Control Panel until it is proven not to be a legitimate alarm, either by way of equipment failure/not suitable, programming, environment, wildlife or just accidentally setting it off.

    Even after all of that it's still not a false alarm, well not to me anyway, and any Technician who says to you "oh I wouldn't worry about it, it was probably just a false alarm" is either lazy or has no idea and should probably be asked to leave site if not asked to leave at least asked why the alarm went off.

    Another word that pisses me off is Faulty, would you like to get me started on that one?

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