By:  Haywood                                           S.B. No. 800
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the licensing of plumbing inspectors.
    1-2        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-3        SECTION 1.  Article 6243-101, V.T.C.S., Section 2(B)(5), is
    1-4  amended to read as follows:
    1-5              (5)  "Plumbing Inspector" means any person employed by
    1-6  a political subdivision for the purpose of inspecting plumbing work
    1-7  and installations in connection with health and safety laws and
    1-8  ordinances, who has no financial or advisory interests in any
    1-9  plumbing company, and who has successfully fulfilled the
   1-10  qualification and examination <examinations and> requirements of
   1-11  the Board.
   1-12        SECTION 2.  Article 6243-101, V.T.C.S., Section 8, is amended
   1-13  by adding new Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
   1-14        (e)  The qualification and examination requirements for a
   1-15  plumbing inspector shall be limited to a requirement that the
   1-16  inspector is a high school graduate or the holder of a high school
   1-17  equivalency credential based upon the General Educational
   1-18  Development (G.E.D.) Test and has passed an examination
   1-19  administered by any of the following agencies:
   1-20              (1)  the Board;
   1-21              (2)  the Building Officials Code Administrators (BOCA);
   1-22                  (3)  The International Association of Plumbing and
   1-23  Mechanical Officials (IAPMO);
    2-1              (4)  The International Conference of Building Officials
    2-2  (ICBO);
    2-3              (5)  the Southern Building Code Congress International
    2-4  (SBCCI); or
    2-5              (6)  a successor to any of these agencies.
    2-6        (f)  A plumbing inspector's license shall be renewed if the
    2-7  applicant has obtained at least six hours of continuing education
    2-8  units through a course administered by:
    2-9              (1)  the Board, BOCA, IAPMO, ICBO, SBCCI, or a
   2-10  successor to any of these agencies;
   2-11              (2)  a state-accredited college or university that
   2-12  offers courses in plumbing codes and plumbing inspection practices
   2-13  and techniques; or
   2-14              (3)  an individual, business, or association that has
   2-15  obtained approval from the Board to provide training in plumbing
   2-16  codes and plumbing inspection practices.
   2-17        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-18  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-19  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-20  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-21  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.