Concerns about liability on take over alarms is something you need to be thinking about. When you take over an alarm system you should make certain that it is fully operational and that it complies with AHJ requirements, codes, regulatory agency requirements, manufacturer's specifications and customary practices in the trade. You could learn the hard way. Imagine taking over an alarm system and signing the subscriber up on a Monitoring Contract and a Service Contract, only to find out shortly thereafter that the system needs extensive repairs and you are required to make them.

The issue can arise with a commercial fire alarm system. After the take over you do an inspection and determine that the system is non compliant. You need to bring the system into code.

The Disclaimer Notice has been updated to cover this issue. This form now provides that the system is, or is not, deficient, and the subscriber wants you to repair, or not repair.

The Disclaimer Notice continues to have the other features, pointing out items of protection the subscriber is not getting, VoIP disclaimer, permit and fine disclaimer, If you're not using the Disclaimer Notice you should order it today and start using it. It should pay for itself now your next sale.

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Question on take over

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Hi Ken,

I recently took over a facility's Fire Alarm System in NYC. I came along with the new owner of the facility. The Alarm is locked. What basis do we have to request the installer code and programming from the old installer. Does the owner of the fire alarm own the programming?

All The Best,

Chaim Dahan

Tikva Security

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Answer

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Depends on the contract. The contract should specify who owns the system and who owns the codes. In New York I am not aware of any requirement that the subscriber own all the passwords. I did just see a law, or proposed law, that requires that the subscriber get all passwords with any system that is purchased. An interesting law, no doubt enacted in response to the general practice that alarm companies retain ownership of the software and the passwords and passcodes. Make sure you inspect the entire system for AHJ compliance.

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contract language

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Hi Ken

I'm a user of all your commercial contracts and Fire All in One. On a recent email you mentioned this :

" When the subscriber insists on indemnity I have suggested that you try and omit the indemnity clause and provide that each party agrees to look to their own insurance coverage. If this is included then the subscriber would not be able to sue the alarm company for damages covered by the subscriber's insurance."

Is this the exact language or should some other language be used and can you provide me that language.

Thanks

Stay Safe,

Stuart

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Response

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"Each party agrees to maintain sufficient insurance to protect that party's interests and each party agrees to look to their own insurance coverage for any damages. It is the intention of the parties that neither shall be responsible to the other for any damages arising by reason of this contract or the relationship created by this contract or any services rendered by either party pursuant to this contract." You should also try and retain the waiver of subrogation clause in the contract.

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comment on lock out codes

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Regarding lockout codes, 2/8/2012:

The alarm industry in general should be ashamed of several common policies regarding dealer access codes in alarm panels.

The first thing that comes to mind is the obvious risk of leaving panel access codes set to the factory default. It's one thing for a tech to tweak a zone, but changing the access code without intimately knowing the panel and its programming software is not a task for the faint of heart. That may be tolerable for some small fire panels, panels with no remote access capability or panels that are not normally connected to a phone line, but certainly not for a client with a remotely accessible system who expects a decent level of security. Techs who are just getting their feet wet on a new or unfamiliar panel may be afraid of accidentally locking themselves out; and will put off changing the access code until all is working fine - and even then they may not want to mess with it, or may forget, or run out of time. Management, if you're sending out techs who can't cope with unique access codes, you deserve the consequences.

Next come the dealers who use the same access code for everything. The practical reasons are obvious. It can get very expensive to "lose" a unique code. (Been there.) It's also really easy to accidentally set a panel access code to an unknown number. (Been there, too.) The problem of using unique dealer pass codes is compounded exponentially when techs are provided with notebook pc's and turned loose to program the systems on-site. (Guess what: been there, too.) The bigger the account base, the more massive will be the confusion if you deploy unique access codes. My warning is to be aware that those notebook hard drives crash far too often for comfort. You cannot ever let that be the only storage media for a unique dealer pass code! Make sure the technician calls it in (or obtains it from the office in the first place) and also writes it on the service report, too.

Then there are panels that have so-called "can codes" right on the circuit board. Those codes are indeed unique, but they're right there for any opportunist to jot down. Obliterating a can code is, again, not for the faint of heart.

A few years ago a series of one manufacturer's panels was reverse engineered such that the panel program could suddenly be accessed by anyone having physical access to the circuit board and "the solution," which was not provided by the manufacturer, but passed from dealer to dealer as needed. Not that it has happened to my knowledge, but if a perpetrator cracks the access code on just one panel, he has theoretical access to all of that dealer's systems. It opens a broad spectrum of naughty possibilities. Bear in mind also that if you change a common code to a unique code, the common code may still reside in an "alternate memory page" within the panel's program chip.

Each dealer will need to re-assess these policies and decide whether to implement unique dealer access codes across the board - which is, of course, the right thing to do - or to at least do it on a case-by-case basis.

Next comes the question of whether and when to give the client an access code for the panel program. Most end users are frightened at the prospect of changing a keypad code, much less the panel program itself. As long as I'm responsible for servicing the system, I won't give a client the dealer access code - even as just a backup measure; and if I did, it would have to be a unique dealer pass code. (By the way, it would be bad practice to tell any outsider whether the code in a particular panel is common or unique.) However, I have always felt that the property owner has the right to a working [local] system if he bought it, paid for it and met all of his contractual obligations. Apart from the access code, the dialer program does contain proprietary - but not necessarily "secret" - elements, most particularly the ability to call into my lines. Obviously, I should have the irrevocable right to unprogram that capability when service ends. But getting it done is another story.

In case no one has noticed, "some" of our industry's digital dialers are having trouble negotiating the newly deregulated telephone network. For many of the same reasons and more, our downloading software can't always connect with panels in order to erase the dialer program. My contract protects me in the situation that I can't (or decide not to) provide the owner with the access code. But in all conscience, I would want the owner to have what he's entitled to have. I believe that's my obligation, inasmuch as that exact issue does come up often in original sales presentations and that's our standing pledge in response.

If a different dealer is later out at the job, whether he's dealing with my original client or a new owner of the property, he will have first determined whether he's willing to support that model of panel and then he'll check to see if the factory default code is in the panel. If so, case closed. If asked, and if I've been using a common code, there's no way I would (or should) divulge it unless I know and absolutely trust the other dealer to protect it - and even that's iffy according to strict security protocol. For resolution, I can swap the customer's board "over the counter" for another old board that's been set to the factory default; or send my technician out to set it back to the default. If I'm really lucky, that might even be at the client's expense. More often than not, the other dealer will want the job enough or be in enough of a hurry to throw in a replacement board of his own. But... if I've deployed unique dealer pass codes across the board, once I know I have no shot at retaining the account, I can wash it from my hands simply by giving the client that unique code.

The essential element is that you have some leverage to get paid and at least better odds of retaining the account. That's not to say the code should be used like a club, but if you enjoy the sport, here's my favorite story about dealer access codes:

Years ago a young couple stiffed me for around $800. They divorced and the house was sold. The new owner called. He had used an internet-marketed monitoring provider at his prior home and said he had a multi-year commitment to them that he'd have to buy out if he wanted to use my company, not to mention that the other company's fee was obscenely cheaper. (Count them: three red flags in one sentence.) He called me multiple times, demanding that I give him the dealer access code so that the other company could link with the panel. Each time I sweetened my counter-offer attempting to persuade him to at least give us a try. He resisted fiercely and became increasingly aggressive. He thought I should be happy that he would call me to service the system if anything needed fixing, since the other company had no service department in this area. I basically told him not to hold his breath on that.

On about the third call I let slip about the $800 owed by the prior owner and explained that he was asking me to surrender my last hope of recovering my investment in his system through future monitoring fees. Of course, he felt I was bullying him for the previous owner's debt. Realizing that I was only incurring a lot of stress with no payoff in sight, for sport, I made him a highly competitive counter-offer just to see what would happen. (It would have taken more than 10 years just to get flush at the rate I quoted.) He refused to bend on it. With no form of compensation forthcoming, I refused to give up the code. He then went to the Better Business Bureau. I spent a few hours arguing my position, which was in essence, he was the one bullying me; that I had no contract with him; that I had no obligation to do anything whatsoever for him; and that his recourse, if any, would have to come from my original clients who sold him the house. The BBB apparently saw it my way. I never got a dime out of it, but I'm sure you knew that would be the outcome.

Lou Arellano

Quakertown, PA