By Smithee H.B. No. 2636
74R4683 MWV-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to premium discounts by certain insurance companies for
1-3 persons installing home security devices.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 1, Article 5.33A, Insurance Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Subdivisions (4) and (5) to read as follows:
1-7 (4) "U.L." means Underwriters Laboratories.
1-8 (5) "Siren" includes a horn, bell, whistle, or other
1-9 device, located inside or outside of a burglar alarm system control
1-10 box, that is designed to emit a loud noise when activated.
1-11 SECTION 2. Section 6(a), Article 5.33A, Insurance Code, is
1-12 amended to read as follows:
1-13 (a) A person's property qualifies for a homeowners insurance
1-14 premium reduction if <the property>:
1-15 (1) the property meets the following minimum
1-16 specifications:
1-17 (A) exterior doors must be solid core doors that
1-18 are 1-3/8 inches thick and must be secured by dead-bolt locks;
1-19 (B) metal doors must be secured by dead-bolt
1-20 locks;
1-21 (C) double doors must meet the specifications
1-22 provided by Subdivision (1) of this subsection, must have the
1-23 inactive door secured by header and threshold bolts that penetrate
1-24 metal strike plates, and in the case of glass located within 40
2-1 inches of header and threshold bolts, must have the bolts
2-2 flush-mounted in the edge of the door;
2-3 (D) sliding glass doors must be secured by
2-4 secondary locking devices to prevent lifting and prying;
2-5 (E) dutch doors must have concealed flush-bolt
2-6 locking devices to interlock upper and lower halves and must be
2-7 secured by a dead-bolt lock;
2-8 (F) garage doors must be equipped with
2-9 key-operated locking devices; and
2-10 (G) windows must be secured by auxiliary locking
2-11 devices; or
2-12 (2) the person provides the insurer with a certificate
2-13 of installation issued by the installer of the electronic burglar
2-14 alarm indicating that the person's home is equipped with an
2-15 electronic burglar alarm that meets the following requirements:
2-16 (A) all exterior entry doors, including the door
2-17 from the garage to the interior of the home and all hatches for the
2-18 attic and basement, <structure openings> are protected by switch
2-19 contacts except that switch contacts are not required on the garage
2-20 door <contacted>;
2-21 (B) all exterior structure openings that
2-22 physically open, except those described by Paragraph A of this
2-23 subsection, are either protected by switch contacts, or protected
2-24 by a motion detector or a photo-electric light beam that is located
2-25 in the immediate proximity of each opening;
2-26 (C) an interior protection device is provided by
2-27 using a passive or active area motion detector, a photo-electric
3-1 light beam, or an interior door switch;
3-2 (D) the system includes an interior and exterior
3-3 siren;
3-4 (E) <(C)> all alarm equipment installed at the
3-5 home is U.L. or Factory Mutual Research Corporation (FM) listed for
3-6 its intended purpose;
3-7 (F) the burglar alarm <approved and> is
3-8 monitored by a U.L. <approved> central monitoring station listed
3-9 for "CVSU, Monitoring Station-Residential-Burglar Alarm Systems";
3-10 and
3-11 (G) <(D)> all sales, service, installation, and
3-12 monitoring of the system are performed <done> in compliance with
3-13 the Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act
3-14 (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
3-15 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
3-16 applies only to an insurance policy that is delivered, issued for
3-17 delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 1996. A policy that is
3-18 delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed before January 1, 1996,
3-19 is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
3-20 effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
3-21 that purpose.
3-22 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.