George,
If you are referring to the typical residential combination fire/burglar panel with a plug-in low voltage power supply it is a Class II system and is not required to be grounded if supplied with a LISTED class II power supply (which is the case if it is a LISTED alarm system). The grounding of the panel is primarily for transient protection for the electronics. You are correct in requiring the installer to do so as it is part of the listing and labeling (110.3B)of the panel (and I have not seen one that wasn't so labeled). Typically the specified grounding wire is relatively small...like 16AWG, so a even a 1/2" metal pipe is a far better conductor than that to transients. Yes, there are questions about whether a metal water pipe in the area of the panel has continuity to ground at all. That too is an enforcement issue and to your discretion. Personally I try to locate panels close to the service and make use of the GEC or some common bonding point whenever possible. Also yes, I have dealt with the arguments of the ground connection 'bringing' the lightning to the system. I consider it a nonargument. The system must be installed as instructed. I cannot fix all the other grounding and bonding issues the may adversely affect the performance. If the system dies from a lightning strike it likely would have with or without the grounding...so just do it.
