As of Feb. 1, repeated false fire alarms could cost a building owner as much as $2,700.

According to fire department statistics, the number of false alarms across the island rose from 13,717 to 15,077 between 2004 and 2007. Over the past four years, false alarms caused firefighters to be needlessly dispatched on 29 per cent of their calls, leaving them unavailable to respond to real fires at the same time.

"It's very, very high," City Councillor John de Castell said of the escalating rate of false alarms. "We can't blame (the fire department) for putting this procedure into place."

Apart from the cost of needlessly sending out firefighters and the reduction in available manpower, fire department officials are also concerned that occupants of buildings where false alarms are routine would no longer bother evacuating and would expose themselves to danger if there actually was a fire.

The regulations specifically encourage building owners to adequately maintain their fire alarm systems and also advise all occupants that they should evacuate as soon as they hear a fire alarm.

"The goals of this new procedure are to maintain and increase the level of readiness of occupants of a building to evacuate the premises despite a tendency to stay put after false alarms," said de Castell, who serves as Westmount's Commissioner of Community Safety and the Environment.

From now until the end of January, warnings will be issued to owners of buildings where a false fire alarm has gone off due to defectiveness, misuse or improper installation. But after Feb. 1, the owner of a building in which there have been two false alarms within 12 months will receive a bill from the City of Montreal. The amount to be paid, ranging from $100 to $2,700, will be determined by the number of interventions and the type of building where the alarm went off. The fire department is coordinating a special program for owners who might require financial assistance to upgrade their alarms.

The new bylaw, which was passed in September by the Agglomeration Council, defines an alarm as false "when it is triggered unnecessarily through the improper installation of a fire alarm system, an equipment malfunction, faulty maintenance, inadequate handling, or any other type of negligence likely to interfere with its operation."

While fire alarms can be local or connected to a central system, and can also be "any security system with at least one fire detection component," stand-alone smoke detector units are not subject to the bylaw. Any building owner who has replaced the alarm system after being billed for a false alarm can apply for a refund of 90 per cent of the costs of the alarm system, as well as the amount billed for the false alarm.