KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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Can you use PO for fire alarm inspection
April 3, 2026
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Can you use PO for fire alarm inspection
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Ken,
I am getting ready to complete the fire alarm inspection at the College in Florida. I have informed them that it is a requirement. I had the Fire All-in-One agreement signed prior to the commencement of work.
The director has asked if a PO (Purchase order) can count as the agreement.
I did inform them that it would not and I would still need the Fire All-in-One agreement signed in order to complete the work.
Is this correct? Or can I put certain caveats in my proposal and have them sign that?
Thank you for any Of your time.
RP
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Response
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I am not clear on what you have done, but it doesn't sound like you followed the number one rule, no work without a contract.
You had the Fire All in One signed. But when you had it signed it seems like you did not include all of the services you intended to provide, such as fire alarm inspection.
I suppose we should also clarify which inspection this is. If you covered installation in your signed agreement, and it seems you did, you should have given thought to the after-install services. But the inspection you are talking about could be the final inspection, and that would be part of the installation charge for completion. The annual or semi-annual inspections are after-install and not covered by installation. You should have checked that box for inspection, even if it's on a Per Call basis; same for Repair Service. If subscriber didn't want to sign up for a service plan then you should have checked per call option. Presumably monitoring is also required and you signed that up as well. The point of the Fire All in One [and same for the security and residential, and the fire protection all in one] is to cover all the services in one agreement. You don't use it piecemeal because then you have to go through the getting the contract signed process again.
In your scenario doing the inspection [not the final one] would be without contract. Doing it pursuant to a PO, also without a contract, though you may be in better position to go after payment than you would be without any writing requesting the service.
This should be basic to you now; nothing you haven't heard before. There is no way around it if you are serious about your business and building a solid profitable business. The contracts are not all you have to think about, but I am laying them at your feet, like offering you boots when you're about to walk across a rocky road. I don't want to hear how you think it's better idea to go barefoot. It's not, simple as that.
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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