KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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should alarm co install a non-compliant commercial fire alarm
April 17, 2026
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should alarm co install a non-compliant commercial fire alarm
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Ken
I have a customer who has been told by his insurance company that he must install smoke detection in his commercial strip mall. This is an outdoor strip mall with about six businesses and three one bedroom apartments, all ground level.
Initially, I told the customer he will need a full fire system however he has reached back out this morning and said the insurance company is only requiring smoke detection and it does not need to call the fire department. So he would like to put standalone lithium ion smoke detectors throughout the commercial businesses.
I have written up a proposal with specific caveats stating that this is not a fire alarm system to code and this will not meet NFPA 72 requirements. This has not been sent to the customer yet.
My question: being that I am a licensed fire alarm contractor is it a bad idea to get involved in such an install? I am concerned with the amount of liability I can potentially hold due to this, not being a full fire system in a commercial property.
Thank you for any help.
Name withheld
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Response
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It comes down to the perennial question, should an alarm company refuse to install a fire alarm that does not meet code or legal requirements, manufacturer specifications or custom and practice, or perhaps the most egregious, a system that is, in the opinion of the alarm professional, simply wrong, all because it's the only system the customer demands and insists on?
Let's stick with a non-code compliant fire alarm system in a commercial setting. There are different considerations, the most obvious that come to mind being, loss of your reputation with the Fire Marshal, other AHJ, your peers, etc, and your potential exposure for loss of dealership, distributorship, license and finally your potential liability when, inevitably, the system fails and massive damage is suffered.
As far as your dealership and distributorship go, you have to carefully read your agreement to determine if that kind of conduct is grounds for termination. As for license issues, you run risk of the licensing agency questioning your competency [though I haven't seen this one yet]. As for liability, you need to CYA. Cover your ass.
The Fire All in One does contemplate installing a fire alarm that does not meet code. I remember when I decided to include that in the Fire All in One and it was because fire alarm companies were installing non-compliant fire alarms all the time, all over the place, and I wanted to try to protect them from themselves. I also felt that the way I did address the issue in the Fire All in One it would make it much more difficult for the alarm installer and the subscriber knowingly agree that the fire alarm was not to code. The Disclaimer Notice is also essential in this scenario because in the Disclaimer Notice you will make it crystal clear that you recommended a code compliant system and the subscriber refused. Use the Fire All in One and the Disclaimer Notice and I think you are in the clear, at least for liability.
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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