KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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more on liability for not insisting on proper system / meet and greet schedule
March 22, 2019
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Notice:  ISC West.  Concierge Clients should call our  Concierge Program Coordinator Stacy Spector,Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304 to arrange a private meeting and consultation. 
Meet and greet schedule at ISC:
Wednesday 11:00 am – COPS booth ; 2:30 pm – Avantguard booth; 3:30 pm – All American Monitoring booth
Thursday 11:00 am – Rapid booth
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more on liability for not insisting on proper system from March 14, 2019 article
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Ken
    The alarm company here should have used better judgement and offer the customer a very adequate System to cover every square inch in the building with motion to where if more than 2 steps are taken the system trips. Along with an exterior audio / visual in tamper housing. We will include interior doors contacted and motion above the drop ceiling if one in place. With using 2 forms of communications.
    We have even told the customer that he should never have the safe back up to and exterior wall or if In a strip center the safe should not be back up to the interior wall sharing with the next door tenant. Once he offered this protection and if the customer is not willing to go this route he should have excused himself from the job. It is a accident just waiting to happen.
Norm
Security Alarm of Rockford LLC
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Ken
    One method of limiting the alarm company’s liability is to spec a basic system, and include additional equipment, with a place for the customer to accept (at extra charge quoted) or decline, with the wording ”declined as a cost consideration”. This way, when a loss occurs, the alarm company cannot be accused of not offering the additional equipment that might have mitigated the loss. What immediately comes to mind in residential intrusion systems is including the digital communicator as standard (has been the gold standard since 1970s) and offering cell backup as an extra cost option. Let the customer refuse. At least you offered the greater protection. 
    Regarding fire, especially commercial fire, it is customary to, before design begins, prepare a “basis for design letter” that cites the type of occupancy and code requirements, which can be minimal, and then, as the designer, recommend additional non-required equipment. 
    Many occupancies have minimal code requirements, but good business practices (insurance, continuity of business, safety of staff and customers) indicate more. Let the burden of not including that equipment fall on the customer, not the engineer or designer.
Joseph Hayes, CPP, PSP, SET
All County Security Inc.
Ossining NY
914-645-1289
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Response
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    Great responses. The Fire All in One is crystal clear that the alarm company and subscriber should be complying with Code and AHJ requirements. With security, which does not have the same oversight as fire, it's up to the professional security company to spec out a proper security system. If the specs are designed by another professional, such as an architect, the security professional should make known any defects in design or lapse in security. The All in One agreements have sufficient warnings and provisions to protect the alarm professional, but we nevertheless recommend using the Disclaimer Notice, a separate document, to highlight any deficiencies in design. 
     There is an major obvious difference between fire and security.  Fire is required, security is optional, except in certain types of businesses and environments. Subscribers don't really have a choice about the fire alarm system; all they can do is bargain with several competing companies. But security is more or less optional and the design is often dictated by the subscriber's budget. In residential the subscriber may focus more on decorations than security, though today's detection devices are less intrusive than years ago. 
     The point is, offer the right system and document carefully instructions from your subscriber to deviate from what you recommend.
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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.

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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
516 747 6700
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com