Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/40004
24 FIRE SYSTEMS INSTALLATION www.securitysystemsnews.com SEPTEMBER 2011 FIRE SYSTEMS INTALLATION Fire monitoring battle in Illinois By Tess Nacelewicz ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.—Conflict in this state over public entities tak- ing over fire alarm monitoring remains, despite a recent federal court ruling saying a public fire district had no legal right to invalidate contracts ADT Security and other companies had with their customers and put itself solely in charge of commer- cial fire alarm monitoring. In the July 20 decision, a judge said a state law estab- lishing public fire protection districts in the state does not grant them authority to be in the fire alarm monitoring business. Kevin Lehan, the executive director of the Illinois Electronic Security Asso- ciation, called the ruling "a positive step." However, he said, it doesn't end the controversy because municipalities in the state—which are distinct from fire protection districts—still contend they have the legal right to require busi- nesses be monitored by them instead of private companies. Kevin Lehan "The municipalities have indicated that they're going to oper- ate like they're not bound by what the federal judge said," he told Security Sys- tems News. That's because, accord- ing to the Northwest Herald newspaper, municipalities are interpreting part of the judge's ruling to say they still have the authority under the Illinois Municipal Code to have control over fire alarm monitoring. Then, Lehan contends, municipali- ties will have fire protection districts operate the service through intergov- ernmental agreements. SSN CAA: New CO law business, learning opportunity By Tess Nacelewicz MARINA DEL REY, Calif.—As of July 1, all existing single-family homes in California with an attached garage or a fossil fuel source are required to install CO alarms. New homes were already required to have the detectors. The law is a way for the industry to increase business and its expertise regarding the devices, according to John Hopper, president of the California Alarm Association, based here. Hopper, VP of industry relations and special projects for Monterey-based Sen- try Alarm Systems of America, said many homeowners will choose monitored CO alarms over a hardware store version. "People that have existing [fire and/or security] alarm John Hopper systems in their homes would most likely choose [moni- tored alarms]," Hopper told Security Systems News. "It really enhances the value of the system when people are away from home." For example, he said, pets are better protected. Also, Hopper said, the passage of the law "has forced our industry to develop protocols and procedures for our sales teams and installation crews[about CO detectors]." Tim Tracy, a district manager for Honeywell Security & Communications, said the latest mounting recommendation is the same as "you would use for a smoke detector." SSN Quality keeps recession at bay By Tess Nacelewicz AMBLER, Pa.—Security On-Line Systems, a Silent Knight Farenhyt Engineered Systems Distributor based here, says its key to suc- cess in the down economy is to focus on quality, despite the cost. "We have never compromised quality," William Lutz Jr., president of Security On-Line, told Security Systems News. The company also gen- erally hasn't lowered its prices, because that means cutting corners to ensure profits, he said. "And we will never cut the corner." The 37-year-old company focuses on high-end projects with valuable property to protect, such as a chemical plant, historic houses of worship, residential mansions, and the historic Philadelphia Cricket Club. "Nobody comes to us to buy something cheap," he said. "They come to us because we have a great reputation." SSN William Lutz Missouri won't delay sprinklers By Tess Nacelewicz SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—Gov. Jay Nixon this summer vetoed a bill to add a two-year delay to a requirement that all residential care and assisted living facili- ties in Missouri install sprinkler systems, the governor's office said. According to a press release, the governor said that "the pro- tection of the elderly and indi- viduals with disabilities who reside in those facilities was too important to push back, par- ticularly since the original law requiring the sprinkler systems by the end of 2012 has been in place for four years already." A November 2006 fire that killed 10 residents and a staff member at the Anderson Guest House, a group home for indi- viduals with mental disabilities in Anderson, led to the passage of the law in 2007. The law set Dec. 31, 2012 as the deadline for all long-term care facilities to install sprin- klers, but the General Assem- bly this year passed Senate Bill 118, which would have delayed that requirement until Dec. 31, 2014, the governor's office said. "We're glad the governor took that stance on the veto," said Chris Gaut, National Fire Sprinkler Association central region manager. The NFSA lobbied against the bill, he said. Missouri State Fire Marshal Randy Cole said in an email interview that he was with the BRIEFS ESA conducts survey on alarming trend IRVING, Texas—The Electronic Security Association is conducting a survey on "a hot issue in the industry right now: Municipalities across the coun- try, seeking ways to increase revenue, looking at entering the alarm business by either offering monitoring services to residential or commercial alarm users or mandating that all alarms be monitored by the municipality." ESA has created a survey its urging every member to take to help determine the breadth of the problem nationwide. To take the survey, visit www.esaweb.org/ surveys/?id=Municipality_Monitoring Judge: No sprinklers, no insurance money PATTERSON, N.Y.—The National Fire Sprinkler Association, based here, recently noted on its web site that "a judge has decided that the owners of a southern Indiana concert hall destroyed in an arson fire aren't owed any insur- ance money because they didn't proper- ly maintain the sprinkler system. Brown County Judge Judith Stewart ruled that the insurance company had no obliga- tion to pay for the $3 million fire." According to a television news story in July, the judge's ruling concerned the Little Nashville Opry in Nashville, Ind. The story by WRTV Indianapolis Channel 6, said that "the Herald-Times of Bloomington reported the concert hall had received a nearly $10,500 insurance payment in 2006 to repair frozen pipes, but instead disconnected pipes to the sprinkler system." DMP panels earn ULC listing governor July 6 when he vetoed the legislation. Cole said the governor stated it was too risky to have the vulnerable residents of such facilities continue to wait for sprinkler protection. Gaut said the NFSA is researching whether there are any low-interest loan programs of which facilities could take advantage to pay for installing the sprinklers. SSN SPRINGFIELD, Miss.—Digital Moni- toring Products announced in July that the Canadian versions of its XR100 and XR500 Command Processor Panels have earned the ULC listing as a fire communicator for use with network and cellular communication paths— ULC S559-04 Equipment for Fire Signal Receiving Centers and Systems. This new listing allows a separate fire alarm control panel (FACP) to use the XR100 and XR500 panel as the fire commu- nicator. The panels communicate fire alarm, fire trouble, AC trouble, battery trouble, and ground fault for the FACP. DMP VP of sales Mark NeSmith said in a statement that "with the receipt of the ULC authorization, dealers in Canada have a new communication option for their FACP systems. The XR100/XR500 provides them with the ability to add up to eight communica- tion paths to FACP systems." SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS