Recently I was asked by two different alarm companies to review contracts.

I was surprised to find that one contract had in its printed form the word

"maintenance" and the other took the trouble to type in the word

"maintenance" in the schedule of protection in a monitoring contract. I

really thought I had covered this topic in clear and concise language,

leaving no room for interpretation or error.

Let me try again.

The word "maintenance" does not belong in an alarm contract. Period.

The permissible words are "service", and only when you are actually doing

it, "inspection".

Here is my reasoning.

The word "maintenance" implies, to me, that you are taking on the

responsibility of insuring that the system is continuously working

properly, which you would do by constant inspection, preventative

maintenance and repair.

Unless you are on the premises on a full time basis and agree to insure

uninterrupted operation, you are not doing "maintenance".

If on the other hand you agree that you will fix the system once you are

alerted that it needs repair, even if your monitoring facility can alert

you even before the subscriber does, then you are providing "service" by

servicing the system.

Some alarm companies do offer inspections, and some systems, such as fire,

require inspections. Your contract can bind you to that obligation, or it

can be imposed by law or ordinance. But, you should not routinely offer it,

or provide for it in your contract if you are not performing inspections.

 

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In my mind inspections impose less burden than maintenance. An inspection

may not reveal a problem that does not exist at the time of the inspection,

and inspection does not seem to carry the same continuing responsibility as

"maintenance".

So, if you insist on being difficult or different and using the word

"maintenance", then I suggest you define what you mean by it in your

contract.

In my standard service contracts, and even the lease where service is

included, the scope of the service required under the contract is set

forth, such as when repairs will be made (after notice), who has the burden

of notifying the alarm company that service is required (the subscriber),

what repairs are covered (ordinary wear and tear), when service will be

provided (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm) and even what consequences follow

when the alarm company does not provide the service (monthly payments

suspended).

 

One of the Standard contracts that does call for inspections is the Fire

Inspection and Service Contract. This is a popular contract. It is designed

to increase your recurring revenue, like all of the contracts [except the

Sales contract which does not have recurring revenue].

The Fire Inspection provides for recurring revenue for the inspection

service, and provides that service is on a time and material basis. If you

want to set up service for recurring revenue then you would use the service

contract in conjunction with the Fire Inspection contract.