13/10/2026
Fire Alarm Company challenges Fire Marshal on request for letter authorizing work...
QUESTION:
I am a licensed fire alarm contractor in South Florida. Like all contractors we do build-outs on buildings that other contractors provide required services. I have a local Fire Marshal requiring a letter from the contractor for the building stating it is ok to perform work on that system. The Fire Marshal acknowledged he has never seen a letter be provided and the building is stuck with whatever pricing is put forward by the contractor of record. The Fire Marshal will not issue the permit without this letter. This seems he is creating a monopoly with this action. I am questioning the legality and power of the Fire Marshal to do so. In N.F.P.A. 72 it states the building owner can hire whomever they want as long as the licensing criteria's are met. Is the Fire Marshal over stepping? Thank you for your time.
ANSWER:
Your inquiry seems to say that the Fire Marshal is requiring the General Contractor to provide a letter that you are permitted to work on the fire alarm. Unless you mean that the contractor that the Fire Marshal wants the letter from is the fire alarm company on record as monitoring and inspecting the fire alarm. Generally the most practical and best advice, when it comes to the Fire Marshal, is try to get along and, while you can question requests, I’d keep it friendly as possible. Getting on the wrong side of the Fire Marshal, a code enforcement officer you will necessarily interact with over and over, is not a good idea. If it becomes unbearable then appropriate challenge may be in order for your business survival.
First clarify which contractor the Fire Marshal is referring to. If it is the General Contractor, the request may be nothing more than confirmation that you are authorized to work on the project and that your work is being coordinated with the other trades. If there is no General Contractor controlling the work, ask—politely—whether a letter from the building owner or the owner’s authorized representative will satisfy the requirement.
If the Fire Marshal means the fire alarm company presently monitoring or inspecting the system, the request is more troubling. The Fire Marshal certainly has authority to enforce the Florida Fire Prevention Code, applicable NFPA standards and permit requirements, and there may be legitimate concerns about programming, records, monitoring or maintaining the system’s integrity. But the incumbent alarm company should not ordinarily have the right to prevent the owner from retaining another properly licensed contractor merely by withholding consent.
I would start by asking, in a non-confrontational way, who must provide the letter, what the letter needs to say and the reason for it. You may be able to resolve the issue by supplying an owner authorization and whatever coordination or system information is reasonably required. If the Fire Marshal insists upon the incumbent alarm company’s permission and that company refuses or uses the requirement to block your work, then ask for the requirement and its legal basis in writing. Only if the issue cannot be resolved informally should you consider an administrative appeal or advice from Florida counsel.
*SHARED FROM KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
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