Do you have to sign GC contract if working for owner / VR Influence on RMR market values / Use of this forum /Contract Sale - save thousands of dollars - order now - only 4 days left to sale January 6, 2025

KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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Do you have to sign GC contract if working for owner / VR Influence on RMR market values / Use of this forum /Contract Sale - save thousands of dollars - order now - only 4 days left to sale
January 6, 2025
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K&K Contract sale 2025 now through January 10, 2025

THE SALE RUNS THROUGH JANUARY 10, 2025.
30% off all contracts and forms
Join the Concierge Program before you order contracts and get additional 10% discount. Join here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge
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NOTICE:
The Standard Form Agreements have been updated for 2025.  Check with our Contract Administrator, Eileen Wagda, at 516 747 6700 ext 312 to see if your forms need updating. Because of this year’s deep sale discount these contracts will have free or discounted updates. The sale ends January 10, 2025; the sooner you order the sooner you will get the contracts. Please do not call requesting priority unless you are a Concierge Client or have paid for expedited service.
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How to order: order at www.alarmcontracts.com - ordering is easy - order on-line during the sale and save thousands of dollars. Need help ordering? Call our Contract Administrator Eileen Wagda at 516 747 6700 x 312 for assistance. Concierge Clients can call our Concierge Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq for assistance at 516 747 6700 x 304. Concierge Clients receive an additional 10% off the sale price. You can join the Concierge Program before ordering to receive the discount and you should take advantage of this program.
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  Contract sale runs through January 10, 2025. This will definitely be the best deal of 2025. When you place the order the full price will come up. We will apply the discount manually when we process the order. Contracts will be delivered by email only. Just order what you need - we will check and apply the proper discounts.  THIS IS THE BEST SALE EVER and available for limited time. No more confusion about discounts; it's simple:
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Do you have to sign GC contract if working for owner

Ken,
            If a subscriber is remodeling their property and the Burglar Alarm and Fire Alarm System modifications are being handled by the current service provider and entered into a new agreement for the upgrades and services on a new agreement between the Alarm Co and Subscriber, the GC has no right or authority to require the Alarm Co to sign any of their documents or issue a COI to them correct?
Gus Calderone
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Response

            If I understand the question, subscriber hired a GC to do home improvement.  Subscriber contracted with you directly for alarm work, re-design, installation and after-install services.  GC asks you to sign its contract.
            You are not required to sign the GC's contract.  I can see why a GC would ask, especially if you are on site doing work the same time the GC and its subcontractors are on the premises.  That would be like having two GCs on site; responsibility and liability may be confusing.
            If you refuse to sign the GC contract [and you should refuse] that might cause some issues between the GC and the subscriber / owner, but that's not your problem.
            You might be able to resolve the issue with the GC by simply agreeing that you are working independently on the premises and will be responsible for yourself in accordance with your contract with the owner.

VR Influence on RMR market values
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Ken
            Much has been said and written about VR/Verified Response, i.e. NO police response to private alarm systems unless remote witness a felony; and without special privileges, or immunity.  Which is No more or less than public services for private citizens without alarm systems.  All of which is producing a meaningful increase in public safety, including Homeland Security via P911.
      Ken, will VR influence the language of subscriber contracts, and market value of RMR… for stakeholders and M&A?
Lee Jones

Response
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            Requiring some form of verification of alarm signal isn't new; requiring video or audio is new, and apparently hasn't been adopted in many places.  Whether it's being enforced in the few places, like Seattle that have implemented the requirement is another matter; I have no information.
            The value of alarm accounts are of course affected by local response time and alarm design, monitoring, inspection service requirements.
            I got a call to broker fire alarm accounts in San Francisco - I think Oakland.  The company wanted to know what they accounts were worth.  It gave me quite a chuckle to ask "why would any alarm company want to buy fire alarm accounts in Oakland?"  I then asked if Oakland still had a police and fire department.
            Camera and audio technology and systems have been around long enough to be included in the Standard Form Agreements, along with the different level of services available utilizing those systems.  After checking off the appropriate boxes in the Standard Form Agreements there is plenty of space to describe the components and services in the Schedule of Equipment and Services [a lot of dealers use their proposal as the Schedule, which is fine].
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Use of this forum
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Ken
              In the age of social media it has become easy for individuals to post information that is misleading or inaccurate. Lee Jones shared his response to Shannon Woodman's comments. First let me remind you of comments Lee made previously on your site.
                "My theories and observations have been flawed, and now I look awfully foolish, because “false alarms” are the core ingredient for the very successful “deterrent type” business model for millions of RMR alarm systems."
                His current comments are inaccurate. There are a few small jurisdictions in Washington State that adopted VR years ago. In Seattle, the industry was given approximately three weeks to notify its customers before verified response went into effect. There was no public input, public hearings or discussion before the policy was implemented by a police chief who was leaving the position. There was no way that thousands of Seattle alarm customers could modify their systems in that brief time period. Seattle is the only city in the U.S. to implement verified response in 2024. That is hardly a trend. By our count fewer than 20 U.S. cities have verified response, which was first proposed in 1980.
                Finally, I asked Lee where I could find a website for Private Security Research.com. He said he didn't have one. While a robust debate is always a good idea I would ask how allowing Lee to attack one of the most respected leaders in the industry on your blog helps your standing with potential clients in the State of Washington.
David Margulies
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Response
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            This is an open forum subject only to my editorial discretion. No reason to engage in censorship.   I weed out defamatory publications.  While I disagree with Jim often, he has a relentless focus on "no or reduced police response".  I don't see as much about false alarms as I use to, though I admit I don't look for it.  I personally believe police and fire departments could not function without the alarm industry, and they know it.  The public probably knows it too since the alarm industry is booming, adding customers and services continuously.  A safe and secure population wouldn't need alarm systems.
            I rarely refuse to circulate a comment, so those of you temporarily venting should know that your comment will probably be circulated if you send it in unless you make it clear to me that you don't want it circulated [in which event no reason to send it to me - I need comments that can be circulated].
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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