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TODAY IS GREAT DAY TO MAKE YOUR LAST MINUTE PLANS TO GET TO LAS VEGAS FOR THE SMITH & WESSON SEMINARS. SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS.
DON'T DELAY - RESERVE YOUR SEAT IN LAS VEGAS FOR SMITH & WESSON SEMINARS Smith & Wesson 2nd Annual Security Dealer Conference March 24 and 25, 2010 at ISC West
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Question:
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Ken,
The article regarding the liability municipalities may have if offering monitoring of alarm systems for a fee brings up another question. A local municipality in Wisconsin requires that plans be submitted with a fee for review of all fire alarm, pre-engineered industrial fire suppression systems and commercial special hazard fire suppression systems. It is obvious and known that the reviewers have not attended the specific classes had the training to interpret the drawings to be correct or not. In this case, are they taking on the liability by saying and stamping them as being accepted when in fact they may not be designed correctly?
Robert Bell
BelPro Fire Specialists, Inc.
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Answer:
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The review and approval of plans would constitute a governmental function and immunity would attach absent intentional wrongdoing. My guess is that the municipality also has disclaimers in place when reviewing plans. Since AHJ's review fire plans in just about every jurisdiction it's not likely that liability attaches to that function.
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Comment:
Can local police departments engaged in monitoring business claim immunity?
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Hi Ken;
I always enjoy reading your email newsletter. I find if informative, and more times than not, you are right on the money with your opinions. With the instance of a municipal PD monitoring burglary and fire alarms, I don't think immunity even enters into the equation. Most towns dumped their Modularm boards by the early 1980's, not because of immunity, but of the vicarious liability involved. That was back before digital communications became king, but even then the town fathers realized that they were performing the function of a central monitoring station, basically for free. To do it and charge for it, I would think would put total LIABILITY onto the town. Maybe Marlboro figures that they will be sued at some point anyway, and by charging they can build a war chest to defend the litigation.
John from NJ
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Question:
pulling cable require an alarm license?
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Ken,
Thanks for your informative emails. You offer a great service to our industry. I have a question on which I would like your opinion. In Illinois, as in many other areas, a license is required to perform security work. It seems that there is a bit of a grey area when it comes to IP security devices. By this I mean that a data contractor is sometimes used to pull cables to camera locations, or even pull wires for the entire security system. However, since they are only pulling the cables, and not installing any devices, they can argue that they are not actually installing a security system. Is this a valid argument?
Thanks,
Joe Phillips
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Answer:
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Whether pulling cable requires an alarm license will depend upon the wording of the license statute, and how it's applied by the AHJ. It's a bit more complicated when you consider how the situation arises. Presumably whoever is pulling that wire is on the job for some reason other than pulling wires. If a company is there just pulling wires then it's going to have to be licensed either as an alarm installer, home improvement contractor, or other tradesman. I doubt that just pulling low voltage wire requires an alarm license when no connections are made and no other devices are installed, but I'd like to hear some other thoughts.
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Comment:
When can you discard paperwork?
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Mr. Monas might want to create a database before discarding that paperwork. His system might be in that home/business far longer than the occupant. We mail to the homes/businesses of our lost (for whatever reason) accounts generally once per year. The ad is addressed to “Occupant” and says something along the lines of “Activate the system that is already in your home today for as little as …”
It’s a good way to recoup some business from new homeowners/new tenants of vacated businesses.
David L. Myers
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