Senate Bill No. 119
(By Senator Manchin)
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[Introduced January 27, 1994; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article three-c, relating
to persons who install and inspect fire protection systems;
requiring certification of competency; defining intent and
certain terms; providing exemptions; setting certification
qualifications; providing for transferability,
assignability, renewal and reciprocity; establishing
application fees; requiring a seal; delineating the effect
of denial, suspension and revocation of certificate;
defining noncompliance and the related penalty; excluding
applicability of local ordinances; and providing for the
disposition of fees, fines and other receipts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article three-c, to readas follows:
ARTICLE 3C. SUPERVISION OF FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND
INSTALLATIONS.
§29-3C-1. Declaration of purpose.
This article is enacted to protect the health, safety and
welfare of the public and to protect public and private property
by requiring that people who perform fire protection work are
certified by the state fire marshal as being competent to perform
the work.
§29-3C-2. Necessity of certificate.
After the effective date of this article, a person, firm or
corporation may not perform, offer to perform or engage in fire
protection work for compensation or hire within this state unless
the person, firm or corporation possesses an appropriate
certificate issued by the fire marshal.
§29-3C-3. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(a) "Certificate of registration" means the certificate
issued by the state fire marshal to a person, firm or corporation
engaged in fire protection work who has satisfactorily met the
requirements of section five of this article.
(b) "Certificate of competency" means the certificate issued
by the state fire marshal to an individual who has satisfactorily
met the requirements of section five of this article.
(c) "Certificate holder" means an individual who has been
issued a certificate of competency by the state fire marshal.
(d) "Fire protection contractor" means a person, firm or
corporation who engages in the business of fire protection work
and employs a certificate holder.
(e) "Fire protection work" means the installation and
inspection of piping (both above and below ground) utilizing
water, gases or chemicals for the purpose of controlling or
suppressing fire.
(f) "Fire protection system" means a system of piping used
in fire protection work which may require shop drawings which
have been prepared by, or the preparation has been supervised by,
a certificate holder in accordance with fire protection
engineering standards.
(g) "Inspection" means a visual examination of a fire
protection system or portion of it to verify that it appears to
be in operating condition and is free of physical damage.
Inspections are performed as required by the national fire
protection association standards adopted under the state fire
code.
(h) "Installation" means the initial placement of a system
or its extension or alteration after the initial placement.
(i) "Shop drawings" means the technical drawings that
identify the components and installation requirements used for
the installation of fire protection systems.
§29-3C-4. Exemptions; nonapplicability of certificate
requirements.
This article does not apply to and a certificate may not berequired for:
(a) Inspections performed by building officials, fire
marshal inspectors and insurance inspectors;
(b) A person working under the supervision of a certificate
holder;
(c) Persons installing limited area sprinkler systems served
by a domestic water supply consisting of six sprinkler heads or
less in one structure; or
(d) A person who, while employed by a public utility or its
affiliate, performs fire protection work in connection with the
furnishing of public utility service.
§29-3C-5. Certificates; classes of certificates; issuance of
certificates by fire marshal; qualifications required for
certificate; nontransferability and nonassignability of
certificates; expiration of certificates; renewal;
reciprocity.
(a) The following classes of certificate may be issued by
the state fire marshal: (1) "Certificate of registration;" (2)
"temporary certificate of registration;" and (3) "certificate of
competency."
(b) The state fire marshal shall issue the appropriate class
of certificate to a person, firm or corporation upon a finding
that the person, firm or corporation possesses the
qualifications for the class of certificate to be issued.
(c) The qualifications for each class of certificate to be
issued are as follows:
(1) For a "certificate of registration" a person, firm or
corporation must demonstrate that they employ a certificate
holder on staff who serves as an employee, owner, partner or
officer.
(2) For a "temporary certificate of registration" a person,
firm or corporation must have been engaged in fire protection
work for at least five years and must employ a certificate holder
within twenty-four months after the effective date of this
article. Upon the expiration of twenty-four months after the
effective date of this article, no temporary certificates of
registration shall be issued.
(3) For a "certificate of competency" a certificate holder
must demonstrate competence by passing the National Institute for
Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) test for an
engineering technician certificate, level III or higher, in the
fire protection field for which the certificate holder is to be
employed. If a NICET test has not been established in the field
for which the certificate holder is to be employed, the
certificate holder must show competence by providing a
manufacturer's certificate of training until the NICET test in
that field becomes available, at which time the certificate
holder must pass the certification test under NICET regulations.
(d) No certificate issued under this article is assignable
or transferable.
(e) All certificates issued by the state fire marshal shall
expire on the thirtieth day of June following the year of issueor renewal.
(f) (1) Each expiring certificate may be renewed without
need for examination and without limit as to the number of times
renewed when a renewal is sought for the same class of
certificate previously issued and for the same person, firm or
corporation to whom it was originally issued upon payment to the
state fire marshal of a renewal fee of fifty dollars if the
application for renewal and payment of the fee is made before the
date of expiration of the certificate.
(2) In the case of a failure to renew a certificate on or
before the thirtieth day of June, the person named in the
certificate may, upon payment of the renewal fee and an
additional fee of fifteen dollars, receive from the state fire
marshal a deferred renewal of the certificate which shall expire
on the thirtieth day of June in the ensuing year. No person,
firm or corporation may perform fire protection work upon
expiration of the person's, firm's or corporation's certificate
until a deferred renewal for the certificate is issued by the
state fire marshal even if the person, firm or corporation has
applied for the deferred renewal of the certificate.
(g) To the extent that other jurisdictions provide for the
licensing or certification of fire protection installers or
contractors, the state fire marshal may grant the same or
equivalent classification of certificate without written
examination upon satisfactory proof furnished to the state fire
marshal that the qualifications of the applicant are equal to, orgreater than, the qualifications required by this article and
upon payment of the required fee: Provided, That as a condition
to reciprocity, the other jurisdictions must extend to certified
installers of this or the other state, the same or equivalent
classification.
§29-3C-6. Applications; fees.
(a) The state fire marshal shall prepare and arrange for the
receipt of applications from those who intend to perform fire
protection work in the state of West Virginia. The application
shall be sufficiently detailed to enable the state fire marshal
to determine the presence or absence of an applicant's
qualifications for a certificate of a particular class. The
state fire marshal may, if he or she considers it necessary,
require applicants to supply affidavits or other documents
attesting to the applicant's qualifications from past employers,
other installers, engineers and others with knowledge of the
applicant's qualifications. The state fire marshal may make such
other inquiries as he or she considers necessary to determine the
qualifications of the applicant. An applicant expressly consents
to the inquiries by the state fire marshal by his or her
application.
(b) Applications for each certificate shall include the
following fee: Certificate of registration or temporary
certificate of registration, one hundred dollars; and certificate
of competency, one hundred dollars.
(c) The state fire marshal shall prepare and arrange for theregistration and filing of the qualifications of certificate
holders and compile a record of certificate holder names and
NICET certificate numbers for easy reference during plans review.
(d) Shop drawings for the initial installation or extensive
renovation of fire protection systems shall be submitted to the
fire marshal for plan review to assure compliance with applicable
requirements of the national fire protection association
standards adopted under the state fire code. All shop drawings
shall be signed by the certificate holder and include his or her
certificate number.
§29-3C-7. Certificate holder seal; use of seal.
Each certificate holder shall obtain and use a seal for all
work prepared by him or her under his or her direct supervision.
The design of the seal shall be as follows:
§29-3C-8. Denial of certificate; suspension and revocation of
certificate.
(a) The state fire marshal shall deny a certificate to any
applicant who fails to establish or who lacks the necessary
qualifications for a certificate for the class of certificate
desired.
(b) The state fire marshal may upon complaint or his or her
own inquiry, after notice and hearing as provided by articlefive, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, suspend or revoke the
certificate of any person, firm or corporation who holds a
certificate if:
(1) The certificate was granted upon an application or
documents supporting the application which materially misstated
the terms of the applicant's qualifications or experience;
(2) The person subscribed or vouched for the misstatement by
an applicant;
(3) The person incompetently or unsafely performs fire
protection work; or
(4) The person violated any statute of the state of West
Virginia, any rule lawfully promulgated by an agency of the state
of West Virginia or any ordinance of any municipality or county
of the state of West Virginia which protects the consumer or
public against unfair, unsafe, unlawful or improper business
practices.
(c) Any person aggrieved by an order or decision of the
state fire marshal under this article is entitled to judicial
review as provided by section eighteen, article three of this
chapter.
§29-3C-9. Effect of noncompliance with article; failure to
obtain certificate.
Any person, firm, corporation or employee thereof, or any
representative, member or officer of the firm or corporation,
individually, entering upon or engaging in the business of
performing any fire protection work as defined in this article,without obtaining the required certificate or otherwise complying
with this article, is for the first offense guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one hundred dollars. For a second or subsequent
offense, the penalty and punishment is a fine of not less than
one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
Each day during which the fire protection work is performed
without the required certificate or while in noncompliance with
any of the provisions of this article, after official notice that
the work is unlawful, is a separate offense.
Any fire protection work performed by a person, firm or
corporation which is determined by the state fire marshal to
constitute a safety or health hazard to members of the public, or
any fire protection work of an extensive nature being performed
by any person without the required certificate or otherwise in
noncompliance with the requirements of this article or contrary
to an order or rule promulgated lawfully by the state fire
commission or fire marshal, is subject to being issued a citation
or to a civil action in the name of the state in the circuit
court of the county where the work is being performed for an
injunction against the person, firm or corporation, enjoining the
work or violation. A circuit court by mandatory or prohibitory
injunction may compel compliance with the provisions of this
article, with the lawful orders of the state fire marshal and
with any final decision of the state fire marshal or state fire
commission. The state fire marshal shall be represented in allproceedings by the prosecuting attorney of the county for
issuance of citations, and he or she shall be represented by the
attorney general or his or her assistants for other matters.
§29-3C-10. Nonapplicability of local ordinances; exclusive
certificate.
After the effective date of this article no municipality,
local government or county may require, as a condition precedent
to permission for the performance of fire protection work within
that jurisdiction, any license or other evidence of competence as
an installer from any person, firm or corporation which is the
holder of a valid and current certificate issued pursuant to this
article.
§29-3C-11. Disposition of fees, fines and other receipts.
All fees or other moneys received as a result of actions
under this article shall be paid to the state fire marshal. The
receipts shall be deposited by the state fire marshal in a
special account with the state treasurer for the use of the state
fire marshal in administering this article as provided in
subsection (c), section twelve-b, article three of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require persons who
install and inspect fire protection systems to obtain a
certification of competency from the State Fire Marshal who is
given the authority to establish classes and fees for
certification. The bill also establishes sanctions and penalties
for noncompliance with certification requirements.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.