KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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comment on Firetrol Warranty Issue / schedule meeting at ISC
February 23, 2026
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schedule meeting at ISC
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It's time to plan your trip to Las Vegas for the ISC West 2026 show; spend your time wisely and meet with your attorney. I'll be at the Palazzo scheduling meetings at the Prestige Lounge. To book time for free consult contact Kathleen Lampert at 516 747 6700 x 319 or KLampert@Kirschenbaumesq.com. Concierge Client can also contact the Concierge Program Coordinator, Stacy Spector,Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304 or SSpector@Kirschenbaumesq.com.
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comment on Firetrol Warranty Issue from article on February 14, 2026
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Ken
Most fire alarm control panels have UL-listed knockouts. Field-drilled holes in the cabinet are not evaluated as part of the UL listing, even though this practice is common. Such modifications may be considered to invalidate the UL listing of the cabinet unless specifically permitted by the manufacturer.
Tony Huffstutter, SET
National Operations Manager
Fire & Life‑Safety
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Ken
Three words: documentation, documentation, documentation.
There's not a tech out there who isn't carrying a camera, all day long. The best defense is image documentation, with embedded time/date and location metadata. All cellphone images and videos contain this metadata, unless it is intentionally disabled. With cloud storage, whichever flavor, those images are permanent, accessible for years.
The best defense, aside from proper preparation and cleanup, obviously, is to take images of a job properly done. Before and after pictures help, especially if a tech finds adverse pre-existing conditions, damage, etc. This applies to both the tech who drilled from the bottom, as well as defense by the tech who drilled from the top.
Probably useless advice in this case, but a free image or three can be company-$aving invaluable later on.
Years ago, I received a difficult call, one Saturday morning, from a detective, investigating a high-value burglary from a mega-mansion two hours away. When I arrived, I went in, armed not with tools, but with my cellphone camera. I was able to document the obvious path taken from point of entry that exploited the long entry delay on a key door (mandated by the elderly owner, founding principal of a law firm, at that), through two interior doors straight to the alarm panel. The panel AC power, sounders, communicator and keypad wires had been ripped loose, but not the zone inputs nor the backup battery, which had separate wire harnesses the thieves had overlooked.
I went in, videoing as I walked and talked with the quite hostile detective and owner. I was also able to retrieve the panel history that demonstrated the movements of the intruders. The pattern showed the intrusion to be an inside job. The intruder(s) had knowledge of equipment locations, knew how long a delay they had to work with, even, as an afterthought, tried breaking into a safe and gun cabinet, to throw off the investigation. However, after disabling the alarm panel, they went straight to the various A/V equipment closets, home theater, etc, stealing all the high-value tech, except for the satellite receivers. The intruder knew the satellite receivers contained unique ID codes, like fingerprints, that made them useless to fence.
They arrested and charged the A/V installer, who begrudged the builder and owner over invoice disputes.
We never received the first interrogatory. I attribute this to, first, going in with a prepared attitude, with camera, and second, finding the forensics in the security panel that showed the two hour track record of movement throughout the house, proving inside knowledge.
My poor wife has to plow through thousands of pics and vids from jobsites, when I let her look for some family gathering image or other on my phone. However, I can check work orders and calendar to identify when I was at a particular site in, say, 2017, and zero in on details I couldn't possibly recall, but images prove.
Share any or all of this.
Thanks so much for your sage advice, and for hosting this invaluable forum!
Jim d'Entremont
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Response
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Good advice; thank you for contributing and offering your expertise.
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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
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