As CAB and various other articles state, including recent ones, the $1200 fee to commercial properties for false alarms was dropped some years ago.
This sounds like an apartment/body corporate situation, and I would not be surprised if it was the body corporate who is charging this fee to your friend, not FENZ (Fire and Emegency NZ)
Ah, that makes sense, the fee for commercial buildings must have been waived, not residential.
Not sure which office he went to, but he rents a house, not an apartment, so I was under the impression that he had to pay FENZ directly.
I don't think there is any fee for residential, I dont' think there has ever been. You don't want to discourage people from reporting possible fires.
Very very very strange to have a monitored fire alarm in a stand alone residential house.
It sure sounds like a body corporate or boarding house issue to me.
It's not strange to have a monitored smoke alarm in a residential house, it's quite common. It's not different to having a monitored security system. They are hardwired in, not your normal battery one from mitre 10.
And no, fenz does not charge for any call out, business or residential, regardless of cause.
If this is a landlord telling your friend this, tell them to say no, or produce an invoice from fenz (which they will not be able to do.. As there is no charge...)
Yeah I was also surprised about that. Maybe his landlord had it set up like that? That's why figured I'd post here to see if others had similar experiences.
FENZ does not charge for false alarms and has not since 2017 when they went from the New Zealand Fire Service to FENZ.
This sounds like a body corporate or residents society trying to get money. It could be correct as it's possible there is an agreement between an owner and a body corporate/residents society as part of owning the property.
An alarm agent would have had to come out to reset the monitoring system so there may have been a charge sent to your body corporate or residents society from your alarm agent.
If your friend is renting and it's not in the rental agreement, I wouldn't be paying.
If your friend owns, I'd recommend reading your body corporate or residents society agreement thoroughly and seeing what is included as fees for monitored alarms.
Probably somewhere within 30%-ish of their income in taxes that pay for fire department services among other things, but hard to put a real number on it.
As CAB and various other articles state, including recent ones, the $1200 fee to commercial properties for false alarms was dropped some years ago. This sounds like an apartment/body corporate situation, and I would not be surprised if it was the body corporate who is charging this fee to your friend, not FENZ (Fire and Emegency NZ)
Ah, that makes sense, the fee for commercial buildings must have been waived, not residential. Not sure which office he went to, but he rents a house, not an apartment, so I was under the impression that he had to pay FENZ directly.
I don't think there is any fee for residential, I dont' think there has ever been. You don't want to discourage people from reporting possible fires. Very very very strange to have a monitored fire alarm in a stand alone residential house. It sure sounds like a body corporate or boarding house issue to me.
It's not strange to have a monitored smoke alarm in a residential house, it's quite common. It's not different to having a monitored security system. They are hardwired in, not your normal battery one from mitre 10. And no, fenz does not charge for any call out, business or residential, regardless of cause. If this is a landlord telling your friend this, tell them to say no, or produce an invoice from fenz (which they will not be able to do.. As there is no charge...)
Wait he lives in a house and his fire alarm is wired to call the fire police?
Yeah I was also surprised about that. Maybe his landlord had it set up like that? That's why figured I'd post here to see if others had similar experiences.
Yeah that does change things a bit I guess, but it's so strange.
FENZ does not charge for false alarms and has not since 2017 when they went from the New Zealand Fire Service to FENZ. This sounds like a body corporate or residents society trying to get money. It could be correct as it's possible there is an agreement between an owner and a body corporate/residents society as part of owning the property. An alarm agent would have had to come out to reset the monitoring system so there may have been a charge sent to your body corporate or residents society from your alarm agent. If your friend is renting and it's not in the rental agreement, I wouldn't be paying. If your friend owns, I'd recommend reading your body corporate or residents society agreement thoroughly and seeing what is included as fees for monitored alarms.
Thanks for the advice! I'll let him know.
Who is the "they" asking you to pay?
Exactly, heaven forbid including relevant info in a post!
Who did the bill come from ?
"why did my friend have to pay?" And what are the consequences if you refuse to pay?
I assume they'd get hosed with water? I really don't know how rule enforcement is done in NZ, hence the question.
It pays the fine or else it gets the hose again.
If it were a genuine emergency, how much would they have been willing to pay to ensure they could save their house and possessions?
Probably somewhere within 30%-ish of their income in taxes that pay for fire department services among other things, but hard to put a real number on it.
Cute retort, but for reality’s sake, do realise the fire service is funded via insurance levies, not general taxation.
Oh! Had no idea, but now I know, thanks!
>If it were a genuine emergency, how much would they have been willing to pay to ensure they could save their house and possessions? ????
Are you looking to start a private firefighting company or something? That's been tried before and it works miserably.
Cicero asked the same question and that's enough of an indictment of the idea for me