1-1 By: Armbrister S.B. No. 478 1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 6, 1995; February 8, 1995, 1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development; 1-4 February 28, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 1-5 9, Nays 0; February 28, 1995, sent to printer.) 1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-7 AN ACT 1-8 relating to an exemption of certain fire alarm devices from certain 1-9 license requirements. 1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-11 SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 3, Article 5.43-2, 1-12 Insurance Code, is amended to read as follows: 1-13 (b) The licensing provisions of this article shall not apply 1-14 to: 1-15 (1) a person or organization in the business of 1-16 building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices 1-17 that may include in part the installation of a fire alarm or 1-18 detection system if: 1-19 (A) the person or organization is a party to a 1-20 contract that provides that the installation will be performed 1-21 under the direct supervision of and certified by a licensed 1-22 employee or agent of a firm registered to install and certify such 1-23 an alarm or detection device and that the registered firm assumes 1-24 full responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection 1-25 device; and 1-26 (B) the person or organization does not plan, 1-27 certify, lease, sell, service, or maintain fire alarms or detection 1-28 devices or systems; 1-29 (2) a person or organization that owns and installs 1-30 fire detection or fire alarm devices on the person's or 1-31 organization's own property or, if the person or organization does 1-32 not charge for the device or its installation, installs it for the 1-33 protection of the person's or organization's personal property 1-34 located on another's property and does not install the devices as a 1-35 normal business practice on the property of another; 1-36 (3) a person who holds a license or other form of 1-37 permission issued by an incorporated city or town to practice as an 1-38 electrician and who installs fire or smoke detection and alarm 1-39 devices in no building other than a single family or multifamily 1-40 residence if: 1-41 (A) the devices installed are: 1-42 (i) single station detectors; or 1-43 (ii) multiple station detectors capable of 1-44 being connected in such a manner that actuation of one detector 1-45 causes all integral or separate alarms to operate, if the detectors 1-46 are not connected to a control panel or to an outside alarm, do not 1-47 transmit a signal off the premises, and do not use more than 120 1-48 volts; and 1-49 (B) all installations comply with provisions of 1-50 the adopted edition of Household Fire Warning Equipment, National 1-51 Fire Protection Association Standard No. 74; 1-52 (4) a person or organization that sells fire detection 1-53 or fire alarm devices if the sales are exclusively over-the-counter 1-54 or by mail order and if the person or organization does not plan, 1-55 certify, install, service, or maintain this equipment; 1-56 (5) response to a fire alarm or detection device by a 1-57 law enforcement agency or fire department or by a law enforcement 1-58 officer or fireman acting in an official capacity; 1-59 (6) a Texas registered professional engineer acting 1-60 solely in his professional capacity; 1-61 (7) a person or an organization that provides and 1-62 installs at no charge to the property owners or residents a 1-63 battery-powered smoke detector in a single-family or two-family 1-64 residence if: 1-65 (A) the smoke detector bears a label of listing 1-66 or approval by a testing laboratory approved by the State Board of 1-67 Insurance; 1-68 (B) the installation complies with provisions of 2-1 the adopted edition of National Fire Protection Association 2-2 Standard No. 74; 2-3 (C) the installers are knowledgeable in fire 2-4 protection and the proper use of smoke detectors; and 2-5 (D) the detector is a single station 2-6 installation and not a part of or connected to any other detection 2-7 device or system; 2-8 (8) a regular employee of a registered firm who is 2-9 under the direct supervision of a licensee; 2-10 (9) a building owner, the owner's managing agent, or 2-11 their employees who install battery-operated single-station smoke 2-12 detectors or who monitor fire alarm or fire detection devices or 2-13 systems in the owner's building, and in which the monitoring is 2-14 performed at the owner's property and monitored at no charge to the 2-15 occupants of the building, and complies with applicable standards 2-16 of the National Fire Protection Association as may be adopted by 2-17 rule promulgated under this Act, and utilizes equipment approved by 2-18 a testing laboratory approved by the State Board of Insurance for 2-19 fire alarm monitoring; or 2-20 (10) a person employed by a registered firm that sells 2-21 and installs a smoke or heat detector in a single-family or 2-22 two-family residence if: 2-23 (A) the detector bears a label of listing or 2-24 approval by a testing laboratory approved by the State Board of 2-25 Insurance; 2-26 (B) the installation complies with provisions of 2-27 the adopted edition of National Fire Protection Association 2-28 Standard No. 74; 2-29 (C) the installers are knowledgeable in fire 2-30 protection and the proper use and placement of detectors; and 2-31 (D) the detector is a single station 2-32 installation and not a part of or connected to any other detection 2-33 device or system. 2-34 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the 2-35 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-36 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-37 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-38 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 2-39 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 2-40 passage, and it is so enacted. 2-41 * * * * *