Re: Why I Don't Do Service for Other Companies

["Roland Moore" <roland@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have been in that very situation many times.
It depends on the attitude of the AHJ. If it is a large municipality odds
are there is no give. In a small town perhaps. As a company we have to
follow the straight and narrow and always go "whole hog". Sometimes the
customer understands and sometimes not. We don't do much residential work to
begin with, especially small retrofits. The residential we do get it is
mostly the byproduct of doing a commercial job where you "have to" take care
of the house too. Those typically are larger residential with larger
budgets. But as you probably know some folks with plenty of bucks are the
worst tightwads. It is always an issue to be overcome. The ones who insist
on one smoke get the "see ya" registered letter and the panel is
deprogrammed to Central and unlocked for any other dealer who wants the
business. Let someone else fund the attorney enrichment program. There is a
lot of aggressive enforcement here, and that is probably a good thing for
the most part. I know of several techs going to court right now (over
different issues of "trying to be helpful") who might have seen your logic
and considered the single smoke before they got popped, but not now I'm
sure. As they say "No good deed goes unpunished".

"Jim" <alarminex@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1158782819.290013.16950@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Roland Moore wrote:
>> I don't know if I'd own up to that.
>> You might want to read the NFPA book again but my memory says one in the
>> bedroomroom and one adjacent [hall] (some exception for small
>> apartments).
>> On fire especially its all rule driven. Find the right occupancy rating
>> etc.
>> and go from there. There is a dB standard to meet of the head in the bed.
>>
>
>
> Ok now ....... so the customer says ...... no, I mainly wanted a
> security system so I wouldn't get burglarized again and I can't even
> afford that. So, I can't afford to put smoke detectors in bedrooms,
> halls and on each level.  So just for SOME protection,  put one at the
> top of the stairs, in the hallway outside of the bedroom.
>
> What do YOU say?
>
> No, ..............it's either all or nothing at all ?
>
> In aftermarket installations, does the customer have the final say,
> regardless of what is "recommended" ?
>
> Is there REAAAALLY a mandatory code that says it MUST be done one way
> and it cannot be left up to the descretion of the homeowner?
>
> I don't know if there are mandatory rules in your area, but I've never
> heard of that, when it comes to aftermarket residential installations.
> If it's a new home, or an addition ...then that is usually goverened by
> the regulations of the building department, not the Fire Marshal  and
> not specifically NFPA or UL or ANSI or any other recommendations are
> necessarily followed. It's up to the AHJ. And the electrician is
> required to install the required smokes and CO detectors .... not an
> alarm company. I'm pretty sure it's common that in the aftermarket
> alarm installations, it's completely up to the homeowners
> descretion/pocketbook.
> YMMV
>