1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the sale, servicing, installation, or monitoring of
 1-3     fire alarms, fire detection devices, or other alarm systems.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 3(b), Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (b)  The licensing provisions of this article shall not apply
 1-8     to:
 1-9                 (1)  a person or organization in the business of
1-10     building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices
1-11     that may include in part the installation of a fire alarm or
1-12     detection system if:
1-13                       (A)  the person or organization is a party to a
1-14     contract that provides that the installation will be performed
1-15     under the direct supervision of and certified by a licensed
1-16     employee or agent of a firm registered to install and certify such
1-17     an alarm or detection device and that the registered firm assumes
1-18     full responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection
1-19     device; and
1-20                       (B)  the person or organization does not plan,
1-21     certify, lease, sell, service, or maintain fire alarms or detection
1-22     devices or systems;
1-23                 (2)  a person or organization that owns and installs
1-24     fire detection or fire alarm devices on the person's or
 2-1     organization's own property or, if the person or organization does
 2-2     not charge for the device or its installation, installs it for the
 2-3     protection of the person's or organization's personal property
 2-4     located on another's property and does not install the devices as a
 2-5     normal business practice on the property of another;
 2-6                 (3)  a person who holds a license or other form of
 2-7     permission issued by an incorporated city or town to practice as an
 2-8     electrician and who installs fire or smoke detection and alarm
 2-9     devices in no building other than a single family or multifamily
2-10     residence if:
2-11                       (A)  the devices installed are:
2-12                             (i)  single station detectors; or
2-13                             (ii)  multiple station detectors capable of
2-14     being connected in such a manner that actuation of one detector
2-15     causes all integral or separate alarms to operate, if the detectors
2-16     are not connected to a control panel or to an outside alarm, do not
2-17     transmit a signal off the premises, and do not use more than 120
2-18     volts; and
2-19                       (B)  all installations comply with provisions of
2-20     the adopted edition of Household Fire Warning Equipment, National
2-21     Fire Protection Association Standard No. 74;
2-22                 (4)  a person or organization that sells fire detection
2-23     or fire alarm devices if the sales are exclusively over-the-counter
2-24     or by mail order and if the person or organization does not plan,
2-25     certify, install, service, or maintain this equipment;
2-26                 (5)  response to a fire alarm or detection device by a
2-27     law enforcement agency or fire department or by a law enforcement
 3-1     officer or fireman acting in an official capacity;
 3-2                 (6)  a Texas registered professional engineer acting
 3-3     solely in his professional capacity;
 3-4                 (7)  a person or an organization that provides and
 3-5     installs at no charge to the property owners or residents a
 3-6     battery-powered smoke detector in a single-family or two-family
 3-7     residence if:
 3-8                       (A)  the smoke detector bears a label of listing
 3-9     or approval by a testing laboratory approved by the State Board of
3-10     Insurance;
3-11                       (B)  the installation complies with provisions of
3-12     the adopted edition of National Fire Protection Association
3-13     Standard No. 74;
3-14                       (C)  the installers are knowledgeable in fire
3-15     protection and the proper use of smoke detectors; and
3-16                       (D)  the detector is a single station
3-17     installation and not a part of or connected to any other detection
3-18     device or system;
3-19                 (8)  a regular employee of a registered firm who is
3-20     under the direct supervision of a licensee;
3-21                 (9)  a building owner, the owner's managing agent, or
3-22     their employees who install battery-operated single-station smoke
3-23     detectors or who monitor fire alarm or fire detection devices or
3-24     systems in the owner's building, and in which the monitoring is
3-25     performed at the owner's property and monitored at no charge to the
3-26     occupants of the building, and complies with applicable standards
3-27     of the National Fire Protection Association as may be adopted by
 4-1     rule promulgated under this Act, and utilizes equipment approved by
 4-2     a testing laboratory approved by the State Board of Insurance for
 4-3     fire alarm monitoring; [or]
 4-4                 (10)  a person employed by a registered firm that sells
 4-5     and installs a smoke or heat detector in a single-family or
 4-6     two-family residence if:
 4-7                       (A)  the detector bears a label of listing or
 4-8     approval by a testing laboratory approved by the State Board of
 4-9     Insurance;
4-10                       (B)  the installation complies with provisions of
4-11     the adopted edition of National Fire Protection Association
4-12     Standard No. 74;
4-13                       (C)  the installers are knowledgeable in fire
4-14     protection and the proper use and placement of detectors; and
4-15                       (D)  the detector is a single station
4-16     installation and not a part of or connected to any other detection
4-17     device or system; or
4-18                 (11)  a person or organization licensed to install or
4-19     service burglar alarms under the Private Investigators and Private
4-20     Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
4-21     Statutes) that provides and installs in a single-family or
4-22     two-family residence a combination keypad that includes a panic
4-23     button to initiate a fire alarm signal if the fire alarm signal:
4-24                       (A)  is monitored by a fire alarm firm registered
4-25     under this article; and
4-26                       (B)  is not initiated by any fire or smoke
4-27     detection device.
 5-1           SECTION 2.  Section 7, Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, is
 5-2     amended to read as follows:
 5-3           Sec. 7.  CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED.  (a)  No person or
 5-4     organization may do any of the following:
 5-5                 (1)  plan, certify, lease, sell, service, install,
 5-6     monitor, or maintain fire alarm or fire detection devices or
 5-7     systems without a valid license or certificate of registration;
 5-8                 (2)  obtain or attempt to obtain a license or
 5-9     certificate of registration by fraudulent representation; or
5-10                 (3)  plan, certify, lease, sell, service, install,
5-11     monitor, or maintain fire alarm or fire detection devices or
5-12     systems contrary to the provisions of this article or the rules
5-13     formulated by the board under the authority of this article.
5-14           (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), a political
5-15     subdivision may not offer residential alarm system sales, service,
5-16     installation, or monitoring unless it has been providing monitoring
5-17     services to residences within the boundaries of the political
5-18     subdivision as of September 1, 1999.  Any fee charged by the
5-19     political subdivision may not exceed the cost of the monitoring.
5-20           (c)  A political subdivision may:
5-21                 (1)  offer service, installing, or monitoring for
5-22     property owned by the political subdivision or another political
5-23     subdivision;
5-24                 (2)  allow for the response of an alarm or detection
5-25     device by a law enforcement agency or fire department or by a law
5-26     enforcement officer or firefighter acting in an official capacity;
5-27     or
 6-1                 (3)  offer monitoring to a financial institution, as
 6-2     defined by Section 59.301, Finance Code, that requests, in writing,
 6-3     that the political subdivision provide monitoring service to the
 6-4     financial institution.
 6-5           (d)  The limitations in Subsection (b) do not apply to a
 6-6     political subdivision in a county with a population of less than
 6-7     80,000 or in a political subdivision where monitoring is not
 6-8     otherwise provided or available.
 6-9           (e)  For purposes of Subsections (b), (c), and (d), the
6-10     definition of "monitoring" means the receipt of fire alarm or
6-11     supervisory signals or retransmission or communication of those
6-12     signals to a fire service communications center that is located in
6-13     this state or serves property in this state.  This is not intended
6-14     to require a political subdivision to be licensed under Article
6-15     5.43-2, Insurance Code.
6-16           SECTION 3.  Subsections (d), (e), and (f), Section 13,
6-17     Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act (Article
6-18     4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by H.B. No.
6-19     2617, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, are
6-20     amended to read as follows:
6-21           (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), a political
6-22     subdivision may not offer residential alarm system sales, service,
6-23     installation, or monitoring unless it has been providing monitoring
6-24     services to residences within the boundaries of the political
6-25     subdivision as of September 1, 1999.  Any fee charged by the
6-26     political subdivision may not exceed the cost of the monitoring.
6-27           (e)  A political subdivision may:
 7-1                 (1)  offer service, installation, or monitoring for
 7-2     property owned by the political subdivision or another political
 7-3     subdivision;
 7-4                 (2)  allow for the response of an alarm or detection
 7-5     device by a law enforcement agency or by a law enforcement officer
 7-6     acting in an official capacity; or
 7-7                 (3)  offer monitoring in connection with a criminal
 7-8     investigation; or
 7-9                 (4)  offer monitoring to a financial institution, as
7-10     defined by Section 59.301, Finance Code, that requests, in writing,
7-11     that the political subdivision provide monitoring service to the
7-12     financial institution.
7-13           (f)  The limitations of Subsection (d) do not apply to a
7-14     political subdivision in a county with a population of less than
7-15     80,000 or in a political subdivision where monitoring is not
7-16     otherwise provided or available.
7-17           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
7-18           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
7-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
         _______________________________     _______________________________
             President of the Senate              Speaker of the House
               I certify that H.B. No. 3189 was passed by the House on May
         11, 1999, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
         Senate amendments to H.B. No. 3189 on May 27, 1999, by a non-record
         vote.
                                             _______________________________
                                                 Chief Clerk of the House
               I certify that H.B. No. 3189 was passed by the Senate, with
         amendments, on May 25, 1999, by a viva-voce vote.
                                             _______________________________
                                                 Secretary of the Senate
         APPROVED:  _____________________
                            Date
                    _____________________
                          Governor