Recently I was asked by two different alarm companies to review contracts.
I was surprised to find that one contract had in its printed form the word
"maintenance" and the other took the trouble to type in the word
"maintenance" in the schedule of protection in a monitoring contract. I
really thought I had covered this topic in clear and concise language,
leaving no room for interpretation or error.
Let me try again.
The word "maintenance" does not belong in an alarm contract. Period.
The permissible words are "service", and only when you are actually doing
it, "inspection".
Here is my reasoning.
The word "maintenance" implies, to me, that you are taking on the
responsibility of insuring that the system is continuously working
properly, which you would do by constant inspection, preventative
maintenance and repair.
Unless you are on the premises on a full time basis and agree to insure
uninterrupted operation, you are not doing "maintenance".
If on the other hand you agree that you will fix the system once you are
alerted that it needs repair, even if your monitoring facility can alert
you even before the subscriber does, then you are providing "service" by
servicing the system.
Some alarm companies do offer inspections, and some systems, such as fire,
require inspections. Your contract can bind you to that obligation, or it
can be imposed by law or ordinance. But, you should not routinely offer it,
or provide for it in your contract if you are not performing inspections.
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In my mind inspections impose less burden than maintenance. An inspection
may not reveal a problem that does not exist at the time of the inspection,
and inspection does not seem to carry the same continuing responsibility as
"maintenance".
So, if you insist on being difficult or different and using the word
"maintenance", then I suggest you define what you mean by it in your
contract.
In my standard service contracts, and even the lease where service is
included, the scope of the service required under the contract is set
forth, such as when repairs will be made (after notice), who has the burden
of notifying the alarm company that service is required (the subscriber),
what repairs are covered (ordinary wear and tear), when service will be
provided (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm) and even what consequences follow
when the alarm company does not provide the service (monthly payments
suspended).
One of the Standard contracts that does call for inspections is the Fire
Inspection and Service Contract. This is a popular contract. It is designed
to increase your recurring revenue, like all of the contracts [except the
Sales contract which does not have recurring revenue].
The Fire Inspection provides for recurring revenue for the inspection
service, and provides that service is on a time and material basis. If you
want to set up service for recurring revenue then you would use the service
contract in conjunction with the Fire Inspection contract.