By Stephen M<artini, ENP

Presenters: Cheryl Giggetts and Edwin Nettleton

In recent years, standards dictating how well radios communicate inside buildings became more stringent in an effort to improve public safety communications. In 2015 and 2016, NFPA and IFC dictated how well radios can communicate in buildings, setting requirements.

These standards address five primary areas: coverage, equipment enclosures, antenna isolation, minimum signal strength and redundancy.

Edward Nettleton, a communications engineer for AECOM’s technology solutions group, told session attendees Sunday afternoon that if these recommendations are adopted by your state or jurisdiction, you could see more buildings being constructed with a BDA or DAS system and an increase in inspection and testing of those systems on your public safety radio system. While this additional construction will increase coverage for all public safety responders in your area, there are also greater opportunities for additional interference from “leakage” from the in-building system. This new construction may also impact how you plan to design and update an existing radio system or install a new one.

Today, some jurisdictions are experiencing interference from BDA or DAS systems, causing the receiver for the control channel in a trunked radio system to become desensitized so the channel is not activated to transmit radio calls. Interference has also be caused by light fixtures and electronics, such as copiers and electric blankets inside a building with a BDA or DAS system in the 700 MHz range.

Nettleton recommends local fire departments take an active role in inspecting new construction to ensure compliance with these updated standards to protect both radio system credibility and public safety responder safety.