Fire brigade call out fee - advice

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by ACH123, 17th Jun, 2019.

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  1. ACH123

    ACH123 Active Member

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    Hi - having a headache with fire alarms.

    We got a new fire system installed and everything was ticked for compliance.

    In less than 3 months, a visitor's child unintentionally pressed a fire alarm button in this boarding house and called out the fire brigade. We later got charged $1600 for this call out by the fire monitoring services.

    I personally find the charge unfair as the kid pressed the button because he was left unsupervised.

    So right now I got CCTV footage of this event and want some advice on how I should approach this.:

    - Try to get the charge waived under S43 of the Fire/Rescue Act NSW; or
    - chase up the tenant, which the visitor went to see, for the fee; or
    - cop the fee.

    Appreciate any advice from anyone who has experience in this.
     
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  2. Michael Mitchell

    Michael Mitchell Well-Known Member

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    The answer is D) All of the above, :)
     
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  3. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    Id try all those points in the same order you suggested
     
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  4. Marg4000

    Marg4000 Well-Known Member

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    I doubt you could recover from the tenant. The child was not his/hers, so nit their responsibility.

    Maybe from the parent?
    Marg
     
  5. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    What's in the lease?

    In reality, they're BH tenants, so what are your chances of recovery?
     
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  6. mikey7

    mikey7 Well-Known Member

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    What kind of system is it? Why is it so easy to push?
     
  7. Michael Mitchell

    Michael Mitchell Well-Known Member

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    MCP's (manual call points) are generally everywhere and easily accessible in all but class 1a buildings

    upload_2019-6-18_12-54-5.png

    "All Class 2 and Class 3 Sole Occupancy Units (SOU) that are to be monitored by the QFES will be tested by pragmatic means", I think class 1b (boarding houses) may also be required in some situations to have their fire alarm system monitored by QFES - so every false alarm and fire truck gets called out = bam $$$ fee
     
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  8. Lacrim

    Lacrim Well-Known Member

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    I would beg to have it waived c/o of the tenants negligence
     
  9. MyPropertyPro

    MyPropertyPro REBAA Buyer's Agents Sutherland Shire & Surrounds Business Member

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    Go hard on option A! As mentioned above, not only will it be difficult to recover but will also cost you $$s in trying to recover it.

    Are they the ones with glass/plastic covers? It may be cheaper in the long run to retrofit with these if not.

    - Luke
     
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  10. ACH123

    ACH123 Active Member

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    Quick update on this for my NSW peeps. Learnt a lesson today.

    You can request a waiver with your AFASP once you receive an invoice within 180 day timeframe. Unfortunately I dabbled with this too long and requested the waiver beyond 180 days.

    There is something called 'Guideline No.4' on Fire and Rescue NSW website that outlines the process and the grounds which you request for a waiver.

    Something to note for the future!
     
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  11. qak

    qak Well-Known Member

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    Can you write into the boarding agreements that tenants are responsible for call-out fees incurred from their negligence/neglect/acts/omissions ... whatever terminology is needed?
     
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  12. marmot

    marmot Well-Known Member

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    Why didnt they fit the type the require 2 separate and deliberate actions.
    Where a glass needs to be broken first and then a button or switch activated.
    It stops unintentional accidents and stops wasting the time of the fire bigade everyime someone mistakingly presses the button.