The Burglar and Fire Alarm Association of Michigan

Great news!

As you may know, thanks to diligent BFAAM members, BFAAM was recently informed of a decision made by a cable company with customers in southeast Michigan that will impact their customers that also maintain security alarm systems. The cable company, WOW!, and BFAAM have been discussing the impact since BFAAM was alerted.

BFAAM is pleased to announce that effective immediately, WOW! customers can dial seven digits, ten digits and / or eleven digits to place calls with no restrictions. Therefore, the problem for the life safety industry has been resolved.

While this situation in particular has been satisfactorily resolved, BFAAM will remain on the alert for similar changes elsewhere. Going forward, with the ability for any company to declare itself a telephone company, regulations and oversight are limited and our industry could see this problem arise again and again. In the meantime, those BFAAM with members with WOW! customers can rest assured that the situation has been resolved.

BFAAM Included in the Bulletin

The BULLETIN is a quarterly publication of the Bureau of Construction Codes and Fire Safety within the Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG)
** Click here to view the BULLETIN

** Click here to search the Department of Labor and Economic Growth's listing for Security Alarm Contractors

** Click here to search the Department of Labor and Economic Growth's listing for Fire Alarm Contractors

Let me first say that it is an honor to be your President once again. Please know that I will make every effort to promote BFAAM in a professional manner on behalf of you and our membership.

I would like to thank Hank Luks, our immediate Past President, for his many efforts during his tenure as President of BFAAM. His tireless effort on behalf of BFAAM is sincerely appreciated.

We are in full training mode with many, many sessions for our members. Dan Decker is holding several of the Fire Alarm Code Update courses throughout 2008. These courses are specifically tailored for our members to meet local license requirements. Dan is also providing our members with the NICET Fire Alarm Technician Prep Course in the fall. If you are looking to get your Technicians NICET certified for Fire Alarm installation � this is the year to do it. In addition to fire, we will be holding many additional training sessions at the Spring and Fall conferences � watch the website and our Newsletters for updates on these sessions.

A great deal of time and effort reviewing the Bylaws which govern BFAAM in an effort to continually provide our membership with the best in representation. We will be asking for your input in this process at our meeting.

There is strength in numbers. BFAAM has been the voice of the Security and Fire industry here in Michigan for over 30 years and through all of these years, our membership has remained strong. We are looking to make it stronger yet by actively reaching out to those companies that are not members of BFAAM. Our newest Board Members, Chris Johnson, John Romano and Bill Elpers have accepted the challenge to reach out to these potential members and you too can do your part. If you know someone who is not a member, but should be � please let them know of the benefits of our membership and encourage them to join us.

We are always watching for potential problems and promise on the legislative side of things. We were successful in repealing the License Fee increase and the recent Tax Increases of the Governor.

We are now taking a more active approach to working hand-in-hand with our legislators in Lansing to actively promote the causes of BFAAM. I am happy to announce that we are ready to launch our very own PAC specifically established to further BFAAM�s cause on your behalf. The PAC is the creation of Hank Luks and he is our first Chairman of the PAC Committee � Hank will update you on the PAC at the May meeting.

I look forward to seeing you all on May 8^th at our Spring Conference. We have a great agenda scheduled just for you � the Security and Fire Professional.

Thank you for your interest in advertising with The Burglar and Fire Alarm Association of Michigan (B.F.A.A.M.). We would appreciate your support by advertising in our newsletter. The publication is distributed bi-annually.

Our newsletters are distributed to all licensed burglar and fire alarm companies in Michigan, as well as to some companies outside of Michigan, law enforcement, Fire AHJ's, and many other interested parties.



			1000 West St. Joseph Hwy, Suite 200 P.O. Box 15339 Lansing, Michigan 48901-5339 Tel.: (517) 485-4832 Fax: (517) 485-9408