KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and white list ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ******************************* comment on how loyal are customer / which contracts for subcontracting fire / electronic signatures June 24, 2019 ************************** comment on how loyal are customer from June 20, 2019 article ************************** Ken, LOYALTY is an endangered species. This applies to customers, friends and family. They all want to throw you under the bus at the first chance they get!! Thank you, John S Romero, President Keystone Security Systems Rochester, NY ****************************** Response ****************************** Sometimes loyalty is confused with customer laziness or complacency. ****************************** which contracts for subcontracting fire ****************************** Ken, We sometimes are a subcontractor for fire installations. When subcontracting a large Fire alarm project for a electrician which forms should we be using ? Please advise Michael ****************************** Response ****************************** Ideally the electrician will have a signed Fire Alarm Installation or a Fire All in One signed by the customer. Then as the Contractor the electrician will want you to sign a contract. Ideally you would use the Subcontract form we provide. But let's talk more reality. The electrician isn't going to have a Fire Alarm contract with the customer. Maybe the electrician is itself a subcontractor and engaging you as a sub-subcontractor. The electrician has probably signed an AIA form contract or something that looks like it. The contract the electrician asks you to sign for the installation will require you to indemnify the electrician, the general contractor if there is one and the customer. You will no protection whatsoever. You want the job, sign. But what you also want is the RMR; the monitoring, inspection and repair work. For that the customer has to sign your Fire All in One. We can make some changes, but that's the only contract you should be using, and you need to use it. If you don't you jeopardize your insurance, the central station, maximizing your equity and your company. And, it's just not worth the exposure and compromising the value of the contract when it's time to evaluate the company equity. ******************************** electronic signatures ******************************** Ken, Thanks for your continued support to our industry. My question is concerning electronic signatures. Personally, I use them all the time for insurance, real estate deals, taxes, attorneys, etc. Other companies (my landscaper) just says reply with Approved. However, I’m starting to wonder, should I should use it for my company. Makes signing easier for customers and sales people. So, Can customers sign The Standard Contract electronically now? Assuming I have to purchase this electronic signature elsewhere. Should it be done with a watermark? Or can I just print a electronically signed copy in the office and date and time stamp it. What’s the best signing service for multiple job work orders and contracts? I’m interested in what other folks are doing and what your recommendations might be. After I send this email, I’ll reread all our (KK contracts)!! Kindest Regards, Captain John Minerva ************************** Response ************************** No question that electronic contracts are mainstream now and the future for most companies. You can use the All in One forms for electronic signature. I think most companies use an electronic signature company for electronic contract set-up, execution and storage. There are a number of them and perhaps others will comment on their experience with the services. From what I have seen there is no modification of an electronic contract. The customer can only execute it and can't make changes. In some respects that good; less problems for alarm companies. On the other hand, some customers insist on changes and I don't know how that is accomplished with electronic contracts, especially those on the platform of the companies offering electronic contract signing. Be sure to get our Disclosure and Consent to Electronic Communication if you are using electronic contracts with residential customers. You have to comply with consumer laws and you need the consumer's consent if that compliance is electronic. By the way, your landscaper isn't wrong. If you send a contract to the customer and ask for and get an affirmative reply that the contract is accepted, then I think you've got a contract. Perhaps not the best practice, but better than no contract. ************************ To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related forms, click here:www.alarmcontracts.com ************************* CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY PROGRAM You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** NOTICE: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles *********************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
