NEW YORK — In the fall, a newly amended licensing law will take effect in New York that aims to reduce the state’s widespread unlicensed activity.
Recent passage of the licensing bill capped a 15-year-long effort by the New York Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (NYBFAA) to prosecute individuals who install, service or maintain security or fire alarm systems without a license.
The bill amends a 1992 law that instituted alarm licensing but failed to instruct which government agency would be responsible for enforcement and administrating fines.
“The original law had absolutely no teeth at all,” NYBFAA Vice President Ron Petrarca tells SSI. “Enforcing it became a finger-pointing game between the Department of State and the Attorney General. They even tried to pawn it off on the local district attorneys.”
Unlicensed alarm practitioners can now be called before an administrative judge who can impose fines beginning at $1,000 for a first offense to $10,000 for a fourth and each subsequent violation.
