Maintenance Contract And Reporting Of Shortcomings

[Guest Lorraine]

hi all,

my mum has a maintenance contract with a large alarm company (well for the area) and she is paying about

[bellman]

hi all,

my mum has a maintenance contract with a large alarm company (well for the area) and she is paying about

[Guest Lorraine]

hi guys, thanks for the quick replies.

I put the system into engineer mode. Ironically the code is the same as is in the manual! then pulled the fuse. the alarm continued to function okay (albeit beep to signify mains failure) and i triggered the bell test which I think went on for 15 mins, the panel battery was okay as the alarm was still going but the bell had stopped ringing (I thought there was some timer built in?). When I disconnected the 5 wires that go to the siren, the alarm just died away to a drone after about 5 seconds so i'm 99% certain its the battery. well in fact I know its the battery because I swapped the battery out and it works fine.

Just not sure where I stand. Company is member of NACOSS and NSIB.

I think my mum is going to cancel the contract anyway (might go with someone else or just get a newer alarm as its quite old!) but what irritates me is. I know the battery was nackered and I don't think its gone bad in the space of a week but surely the alarm co should have checked that.

thanks

Lorraine

JUST READING BACK THROUGH THAT. FOR CLARIFICATION, its the siren battery thats shot not the panel battery (is that called the backup battery?)

[Guest rjbsec]

With all that you have done to the system it is unlikely that you could prove much now, not to mention having put yourself in danger from mains electricity.

Better in hindsight to have either presented your suspicions to the manager of the company, their Inspectorate, or obtain the services of an impartial installer to examine the system and prepare a report for you.

[Guest]

Yep, live and learn.

I think most of us here would say any warranties would be void if anyone else tampers with the system whilst it is under a maintenance contract. I know my contract says words to that effect.

[Paul Giles]

hi guys, thanks for the quick replies.

Just not sure where I stand. Company is member of NACOSS and NSIB.

Is NSIB the bronze award for NSI companies? Thought this was only for guarding companies?

Has the control panel battery got a date written on the side? it MUST have a date of installation in accordance with BS4737.

Did he leave a service checklist detailing everything that had been tested?

[Guest Lorraine]

hi,

I appreciate I have probably voided the warranty, but I'd rather that my parent's house is safe rather than quibble over a warranty.

I can't say I'm too concerned with mains electricity to be honest! I rewired my house and installed an alarm so i feel pretty confident with it.

as for the panel (menvier ts700) battery there is no install date on it. Its a Yuasa battery 12v type (same as in my texecom panel). Looks like the same type that is installed in motorcycles. The manufacture date is November 01.

The bell box is a novaguard, i think this is made by gardtec? Anyway that doesn't have a battery install date on it.

His service checklist reads as follows:

1. Walk test

2. Battery Voltage (I assume this is the panel back up battery)

3. Bell Test

4. tamper test

I think he does number 4 by pulling out the wire from the panel as oppposed to taking the fronts off the PIR's which I would have thought would have been a better method!

Company is definitely nacoss registered as its got the owl on it. also says some blurb about NSIB but that could be out of date as the first entry on the the service record is from 1996.

[Guest rjbsec]

hi,

I appreciate I have probably voided the warranty, but I'd rather that my parent's house is safe rather than quibble over a warranty.

I can't say I'm too concerned with mains electricity to be honest! I rewired my house and installed an alarm so i feel pretty confident with it.

as for the panel (menvier ts700) battery there is no install date on it. Its a Yuasa battery 12v type (same as in my texecom panel). Looks like the same type that is installed in motorcycles. The manufacture date is November 01.

The bell box is a novaguard, i think this is made by gardtec? Anyway that doesn't have a battery install date on it.

His service checklist reads as follows:

1. Walk test

2. Battery Voltage (I assume this is the panel back up battery)

3. Bell Test

4. tamper test

I think he does number 4 by pulling out the wire from the panel as oppposed to taking the fronts off the PIR's which I would have thought would have been a better method!

Company is definitely nacoss registered as its got the owl on it. also says some blurb about NSIB but that could be out of date as the first entry on the the service record is from 1996.

TS700 is now an old panel although there are many out there.

A battery manufactured in Nov 01 could still be in an adequate condition but it may well be at the end of its useful life - when was it installed? As has been stated earlier 5 years is the manufacturers recommended maximum but experience shows that some can last barely a year (rare) and others can appear to be fine after twice the recommended lifespan as I've found out several times when doing takeovers of old systems.

We've had complaints on this forum about batteries being left too long and about batteries being replaced too quickly for profit - its a judgment call in some cases (where there is no external pressure).

Finally, I'm impressed with your house rewire - but as for mains electricity, please don't be "confident", be careful!

[Guest Lorraine]

hi all,

thought i would post a reply as i have had some progress. I reported the company in question to the NSI and they told me that they would investigate. I didn't think much of it until today when I got a phone call from a chap at the NSI.

Turns out the NSI did some spot checks on the alarm company's installs and they found some substandard workmanship and low and behold a number of alarm sirens that were flat - even though they were on maintenance contracts! The local paper is running an article about it next week!

I also got a bit of a wrist slap for taking off someone's panel but suprisingly the NSI guy was more worried about me getting electrocuted. Do they assume that all members of public are stupid!?!?

Thanks for the help guys

Lorraine

[Rich]

I also got a bit of a wrist slap for taking off someone's panel but suprisingly the NSI guy was more worried about me getting electrocuted. Do they assume that all members of public are stupid!?!?

Thanks for the help guys

Lorraine

Not just members of the public, but those that have no training of alarm sysems, electronics or electrics. We would never tell anyone to take the front off the panel, its not just the mains that is dangerous, putting your tongue across a 7Ah battery will have a slightly less forgiving effect than it does when you stick a 9v PP3 on your tongue. Knowing about electricity is not the same as understanding it.