Belleville’s fire department has issued an advisory aimed at businesses and landlords.
This comes after the department received complaints about high-pressure tactics by companies offering inspections on items like fire extinguishers and smoke alarms.
Senior fire prevention officer John Lake says one complaint included an inspection without authorization.
Lake says some of the prices were questionable as well, saying one business owner was charged $165 for service on two fire extinguishers.
“I don’t follow fire extinguisher pricing but I would suspect you could buy two new fire extinguishers for less than $165.”
Lake says business owners should talk to representatives and ask about prices, get local references, find out if the company provides records of the annual tests and if the person doing the work is properly certified.
The companies’ insurance is vital to know about as well, according to Joseph Smith.
Smith is a commercial account executive with Newman, Oliver Insurance Brokers in Kingston.
He says any company offering fire inspection services should have commercial general liability and failure to perform.
“The failure to perform covers the contractor in case there’s a fire or something happens and that system doesn’t perform properly and there’s a total loss or injuries,” Smith said.
Smith says the failure to perform coverage should be for at least $2 million dollars.
Business owner policies can vary, and Smith says finding the answers to the insurance questions could be part of their policy.
If the business owner doesn’t check, they could be on the hook for the costs of a fire and potential law suits.
Smith says those costs could spell the end of the business.
“It could put you out of business also,” Smith said, “which, if it’s your sole source of income and a lot of family run businesses are, it could be devastating.”
Smith recommends sitting down with their insurance broker so the business owner knows what is required of them under their insurance policy.
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