KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ********************** Suggested update disclaim electrical work and other licensed trade work July 31 2023 *************************** Suggested update disclaim electrical work and other licensed trade work *************************** Ken, I just purchased your Residential All in One contract and was discussing it with K&K’s Contract Administrator Eileen Wagda. She told me I should email you with one suggestion. I noticed you have a section on water shut off valves, which is great. However, I don’t see anything about alarm.com or other smart thermostats. It seems the liability is very similar to the water shut off valve. We have customers that depend on smart thermostats in vacation homes as well as their own homes while they travel. We have had some that kind of use them as a remoter temp/freeze sensor to alert them when inside temps drop below a certain threshold. In the event of a thermostat failure, pipes can freeze/burst resulting in a whole lot of damage. It’s actually a liability that I stay up late fretting about on cold winter nights! We require that a licensed HVAC technician installs the thermostat to limit our liability but I still have concerns. I thought you may want to consider a section in your contract dedicated to this. Regards, Garret Cook, President Cyclone Home Systems Berlin, CT ************************* Response ************************* Thank you for your great suggestion. The problem with trying to have descriptive provisions about the various types of alarm and equipment is that there are so many different products available. Alarm.com dealers have a wide variety of detection devices that can be installed and self or professionally monitored or both. Because Alarm.com, like some other hard and software manufacturers requires its Terms and Conditions to be accepted by the end user [the dealer’s customer] and because those Terms and Conditions are different than the contract provisions in the Standard Form Agreements, we recommend using the Alarm.com Rider. This is a Rider to the All in One [typically the Residential All in One because alarm.com products are geared to residential systems, though they have commercial application as well]. This Alarm.com Rider, in addition to referring the customer to the alarm.com Terms and Conditions, [which is provided with the All in One and the alarm.com Rider, and yes along with the Cancellation Notice and the Disclaimer Notice] does itemize the alarm.com devices that are available. We have tried to list most if not all of the available products on the Rider. The alarm.com Rider supplements the [Residential] All in One agreement. The All in One does specify many different devices and services and the water shut off valve is mentioned [a water shut off value, like some other alarm.com products, are, I believe, available from other manufacturers. Besides water shut off the Residential All in One mentions thermostats, smoke detectors and other devices. The All in One was changed to make it clear that the alarm company did not do plumbing work and that a licensed plumber would have to be contracted by the subscriber. The All in One was just updated to provide that alarm companies do not do electrical work and a thermostat would have to be installed by a licensed electrician. If the installation requires another licensed tradesman be sure to make it clear in your Schedule of Equipment and Services that it is the responsibility of the subscriber to coordinate the other trades with your alarm services. ************************* STANDARD FORM AGREEMENTS: To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ************************* THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily. https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-exchange ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our email list / Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. ************************** 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
