GALVESTON — A Katy-based Alarm company is being accused of unnecessarily "red tagging" an apartment complex's fire alarm panels which caused the local fire marshal to charge over $11,000 for fire watch personnel to be at the property.
OGC Lago Mar Apartments LP filed a complaint Oct. 19 in the Galveston County District Court against AlarmTechs Inc., alleging breach of contract and negligence.
The plaintiffs alleged that on July 15 and 16, 2020, AlarmTechs performed a fire sprinkler and alarm inspection on their apartment complex property and determined that a new flow switch and new alarm panels were needed for three of their buildings.
According to their complaint, OGC approved AlarmTech's bid for the needed repairs on July 20, 2020, and the issues were "red tagged and placed on 24/7 fire watch" until repairs could be made. OGC claims that on July 24, 2020, the fire marshal told them that only the fire marshal can assign a certified person to be on fire watch until the repairs are made and sent someone to begin fire watch on the complex at $35 per hour.
The plaintiffs allege that on Aug. 5, 2020, AlarmTechs made the needed repairs and informed them that the alarm panels only needed to be reprogrammed and that the repairs were downgraded to a "yellow tag." OGC alleges they spent $11,410 on fire watch fees which were unnecessary due to AlarmTechs' negligence.
OGC seeks monetary relief of $100,00 or less, interest and all other just relief. They are represented by J. Davis Watson of The Watson Law Firm LLP in College Station.
Galveston County District Court case number 20CV1515