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 whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** "Hope" is an unacceptable business strategy June 20, 2025 ************************** "Hope" is an unacceptable business strategy ************************** Ken I have a property owner that sold a building. The new owner did not respond until I emailed that I was shutting off the fire monitoring. I have not actually shut it off yet as I don't want people in the building to be in danger. What should I say or do in this situation? Matt ************************* Response ************************* One of the things you come to realize, or should, as you get older is that you're not in charge of or responsible for the "system", whatever that "system" might be. In this case it's fire alarm regulations and procedures and the safety of the public. That's the responsibility of the fire department, AHA, and in this case, the building owner. You are, at the moment, nothing more than a "good Samaritan", at best, a volunteer perhaps at worst. If you remember one of the more important suggestions I have counseled, "do no work without a contract", you will know what to do. You has a contract with the building owner for fire alarm monitoring. The building was sold. The new owner has not engaged you to continue your services. Apparently what the new owner has done is accept your gratuitous fire alarm monitoring. If you sent a bill for monitoring and the new owner paid it, that makes it even worse, because you do not have a contract. There might be factual issues that you could rely on to establish that the new owner knew about the "terms of service" in your contract with the prior owner, and that by accepting your continued services the new owner thereby accepted the terms of your service. You want to bet your entire company on that? I don't think so. There could a fire loss any time; a fire event that for a myriad of reason the fire alarm or monitoring services didn't measure up to expectations. And the problem is that the "expectations" I am talking about are the expectations of the new owner, the occupants of the building or a jury or judge who has to decide a lawsuit against you. Without a contract with the new owner you are at risk. You are concerned about the occupants in the building. Well, the smartest thing you can do is follow what the law expects you to do, and that would be in line with NFPA 72 guidelines, perhaps adopted as building code in your jurisdiction; in line with the terms of your agreement for fire alarm monitoring with the old owner [I know you're a Concierge Client and use Kirschenbaum Contracts TM, in this case the Fire All in One. You should have notified the new owner and the AHJ that you were terminating the fire alarm monitoring, effective the day after the notice; period. Specifying the date and time. And you needed to terminate service at that time. You could, though its not your responsibility, let the new owner that it is the building owner who is required to put Fire Watch in place. it's up to the AHJ to enforce that. It's not your responsibility. Continuing service without a contract in the hopes of getting a new contract is very poor, and dangerous, policy. "Hope" is an unacceptable business strategy. ************************* STANDARD FORM AGREEMENTS: To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - 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. *********************** WEBINARS: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-webinars *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth *********************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ken-kirschenbaum-presents/id1794851477 ************************* Getting on our email list / Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. ************************** 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
