Senate Bill No. 124
(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 perform fire alarm and detection service;
requiring certification; setting out a purpose; defining
certain terms; providing exemptions; certification
qualifications; providing for transferability,
assignability, renewal and reciprocity; setting forth
application fees; requiring a seal; effect of denial,
suspension and revocation of certificate; effect of
noncompliance; penalty for failure to comply; 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. FIRE ALARM AND DETECTION SERVICES.
§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 alarm and detection
work are certified by the state fire marshal as being competent
to perform the work.
§29-3C-2. Necessity of certificate; definitions.
After the effective date of this article, a person, firm or
corporation may not perform, offer to perform or engage in fire
alarm and detection 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 alarm and detection 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 alarm or detection contractor" means a person,firm or corporation who engages in the business of fire alarm and
detection work and employs a certificate holder.
(e) "Fire alarm or detection work" means the installation
and inspection of wiring, conduits, apparatus and equipment for
the purpose of initiating an alarm indicating the presence of
fire or smoke.
(f) "Fire alarm or detection system" means a system of
wiring and equipment used in fire alarm or detection work, which
may require shop drawings that have been prepared by or
preparation supervised by a certificate holder in accordance with
fire alarm or detection engineering standards.
(g) "Inspection" means a visual examination of a fire alarm
and detection 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 alarm and detection systems.
§29-3C-4. Exemptions; nonapplicability of certificate
requirements.
This article does not apply to and a certificate may not be
required for: (a) Inspections performed by building officials,fire marshal inspectors and insurance inspectors; (b) a person
working under the supervision of a certificate holder; or (c) a
person who, while employed by a public utility or its affiliate,
performs fire alarm and detection 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
certificate; expiration of certificates; renewal;
reciprocity.
(a) The following classes of certificate may be issued by
the state fire marshal: "Certificate of registration,"
"temporary certificate of registration," and "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 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 alarm and
detection work for at least five years and must employ acertificate holder within twenty-four months after the effective
date of this article. After twenty-four months of 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 field 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 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.
8(e) All certificates issued by the state fire marshal shall
expire on the thirtieth day of June following the year of issue
or renewal.
(f)(1) Each expiring certificate may be renewed without need
for examination and without limit as to the number of times
renewed, 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 andpayment 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 alarm and detection 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 alarm and detection 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 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 thereceipt of applications from those who intend to perform fire
alarm and detection 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 the 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 certificates shall include the
following fee: Certificate of registration, one hundred dollars;
certificate of competency, one hundred dollars.
(c) The state fire marshal shall prepare and arrange for the
registration 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 alarm and detection systems shall be submitted
to the fire marshal for plan review to assure compliance with
applicable requirements of the national fire alarm and detection
association standards adopted under the state fire code. Allshop 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 article
five, 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 alarm
and detection 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 alarm and detection 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 alarm and detection work is
performed without the required certificate or while innoncompliance with any of the provisions of this article, after
official notice that the work is unlawful, is a separate offense.
Any fire alarm and detection 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 alarm and detection 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 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
all proceedings 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 any license or other
evidence of competence as an installer from any person, firm orcorporation who or which holds a valid and current certificate
issued pursuant to this article, as a condition precedent to
permission for the performance of fire alarm and detection work
in the municipality, local government jurisdiction or county.
§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 him 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 certification
of persons who perform fire alarm and fire detection services.
The State Fire Marshal is required to ensure that people
certified are competent before issuing a certification. The bill
establishes classes of certification and requires that applicants
pay a fee for certification. The bill also provides penalties
for noncompliance with certification requirements.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.