follow up on When is Workers Comp insurance not enough June 17, 2026

KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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follow up on When is Workers Comp insurance not enough
June 17,  2026
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follow up on When is Workers Comp insurance not enough from article on May 27, 2026
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Ken
   Wow, this brings up a lot of questions in my mind.
   What if we are doing inspections at a subscribers, note deficiencies, violations, etc with the system we were contracted to inspect, monitor and/or service and the building does not correct the issues?
   Should we note our records and notify the building if we observe something that appears to us as a hazard, violation, or some other issue? Like yesterday I went to a building and the stair to the basement did not have a handrail? We see many things in our daily site visits, what to do?
   NYC requires the central office to notify FDNY upon receipt of any alarm signal, no verification, no stopping the trucks from coming thus opening up the possibility for an injury or crash. If the alarm was unwarranted or unnecessary (FDNY terms) and could have been stopped by verification, where does this leave us?
   Let's say a third party (another contractor) or the building itself activated the alarm by making dust or smoke and the FD responds, a Firefighter gets injured, the alarm operated as designed however others failed to place the system offline? Issues like this happen a lot.
   While you may not know this, lawyers tend to name everyone in a lawsuit, even if not truly involved. My company was sued in the early 1980's because the sprinkler system that was installed in 1918 (obviously not our install) worked, extinguished the fires, two times in a week, (disgruntled employee set the fires) however, the insurance company's lawyer filed suit to recover for water damage. Case was dismissed and the attorney admonished by the judge for filing the suit, however, time and cost for defense still remained.
Jeff
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Response
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   You raise a lot of issues regarding your responsibility to your subscriber, first responders [fire department in this case] and perhaps the public in general. Your contract [you could be using the Fire All in One or the Fire Protection All in One] defines your contractual obligations, expressed otherwise as your duties. While the agreements do define the scope, and limits, of your duties, you can anticipate that the "duty" will end up extending to those involved in your performance of your duties and those affected by your performance, and sometimes non-performance, of those duties.
   Here is an example of what I am referring to. Your Fire Alarm agreement provides for monitoring the signals. That is between you and the subscriber. However, upon receipt of a signal your duties now involve the fire department because you will be calling them to alert them to the fire alarm. Alarm companies have been sued for calling in false fire alarms. False or not, if the fire fighter gets injured at the premises because of a building violation or some negligence on the part of someone other than you [or maybe you - you tech leaves debris or tools on the dark stairwell] there could be a lawsuit and you could be named and perhaps held responsible. Maybe your indemnity provision in the agreement will assist or protect you from damages. But the question you raise, what if you know of defects and dangers, in the building and keep it to yourself?
   The first issue in that scenario is what you know and 1) keep to yourself, or 2) erroneous information you convey that ends up injuring someone [advising that there are no pets on premises; no gas in building]. Some of this might be found in your inspection reports. I am not familiar with the information you are required or expected to include in your fire alarm or fire protective systems inspection reports. I also don't know if you are required to just give the report to your subscriber, leave it on site or send it to the Fire Marshal. Maybe a few of your experts can advise on NFPA requirements in those situations, especially if NFPA guidelines are adopted as local law.
   You can probably include your observations of the building not necessarily connected to the system you inspect. Stairwell railing, as you mention, is a good example; insufficient lighting; defectively designed, installed or maintained stairs, etc. Conveying this information to first responders when the call in made is OK, but you better be right, because if you're wrong and the erroneous information causes non-dispatch or delay, you could be blamed.
   I suppose your subscriber or even the Fire Marshal might suggest that you mind your own business and just limit your comments to the contractual scope of duty, but that might not be your nature.

STANDARD FORMS Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements.   click here: www.alarmcontracts.com
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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