Basically, it appears that Califonia requires anyone who holds himself out
as a provider of a service in a number of fields to be licensed by the
State. This reduces the number of fly-by-night operatations (FIX YOUR VCR
CHEAP!) and consumer rip-offs. The statutes themseves can be scary; a
Service Contractor (as defined in the statute) if uninsured must
demonstrate a net worth of one hundred million dollars!
It seems to me from my cursory laymans reading (I am not a lawyer) that
it's not really illegal for to help neighbors if it's not *business*. That
said, there are reasons NOT to, that have nothing to do with laws. Oh,
and 9802(c)? Looks to me as if you don't need a state license to fix an
Amateur transceiver, transmitter or amplifier. Their _use_ requires an FCC
license, so California is silent about their repair.
California does regulate who does alarm system installation and repairs
(except owners) and so, I think do other states.
Owner installed systems can be a problem. Some decades ago, when EGE (now
an HRO store) was on the West side of Salem NH, they were in a shopping
center with an RF-sensitve alarm. They had to ask visitors not to operate
their HF mobiles, since the town was fining them $200 for every false alarm
and they could get ten or twenty such alarms on Icom day alone. A former
Radio Shack in North Andover had a manager-installed alarm I could set off
with 70 watts on 2 meters from across the parking lot. And (I know it
sounds cruel) I laughed like a loon the night I set a half dozen car alarms
at 0200 while mobile on 80 CW; was gone before everyone came rushing out to
the curb, thank goodness!
However, these are a different kettle of fish from a commercially installed
alarm panel. The professional provider/installer does this for a living,
and they have a professional liability (that's what that $100,000,000 is
for). A manufacturer warranty -- in this case DSC -- (for example, see
http://www.basshome.com/subcategory_519.htm ) maybe helpful to the
non-professional installer; DSC seems even to claim exemption from the
warranty of implied suitability most states require sellers and vendors to
assume.
My admittdly cursory Web search shows that alarm firms in order to make RFI
less of a prpblem often require multiple triggers to prevent false alarms,
although this could delay real ones. The user in THIS case might be able
to specify on his panel how many triggers it takes before notification is
made. This doesn't get rid of the susceptibility problem, but it could get
rid of undesired alarms.
Cortland Richmond
KA5S
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