79R4784 YDB-F
By: Hamilton H.B. No. 1020
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of certain fire protection sprinkler
system journeymen and apprentices.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1, Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, is
amended by amending Subdivisions (11) and (12) and adding
Subdivisions (15) and (16) to read as follows:
(11) "Certificate of registration" means the document
issued to:
(A) a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor authorizing the contractor [same] to conduct business in
this state; or
(B) an apprentice authorizing the apprentice to
install, alter, maintain, service, or inspect fire protection
sprinkler systems as an employee of a fire protection sprinkler
system contractor.
(12) "License" means the document issued to a
responsible managing employee or a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor employee authorizing that employee [same] to engage in
the fire protection sprinkler system business in this state.
(15) "Fire protection sprinkler system apprentice"
means a person who:
(A) installs, alters, maintains, services, or
inspects a fire protection sprinkler system or any part of the
system as an employee of a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor; and
(B) has less than 8,000 hours of experience as an
employee of a contractor.
(16) "Fire protection sprinkler system journeyman"
means a person who:
(A) installs, alters, maintains, services, or
inspects a fire protection sprinkler system or any part of the
system as an employee of a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor; and
(B) has at least 8,000 hours of experience as an
employee of a contractor.
SECTION 2. Section 3(a), Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The board shall administer this article and may issue
rules necessary to its administration through the State Fire
Marshal. Under rules adopted under this subsection, the board
shall operate [may create] a specialized licensing or registration
program for fire protection sprinkler system contractors and for
journeymen and apprentices of those contractors.
SECTION 3. Section 4, Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (c-1), (c-2), and (d-1) and amending
Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(c-1) Each employee of a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor who installs, alters, maintains, services, or inspects a
fire protection sprinkler system and who has at least 8,000 hours of
documented experience as a fire protection sprinkler system
employee or apprentice shall obtain a journeyman license. The
board shall issue the license conditioned on the successful
completion of the examination requirement and other requirements
prescribed by the rules adopted under this article. Each applicant
for a journeyman license must submit with the application a
nonrefundable examination fee in an amount not to exceed $30.
(c-2) Each employee of a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor who installs, alters, maintains, services, or inspects
fire protection sprinkler systems and who has less than 8,000 hours
of experience as an employee of a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor must register with the board as an apprentice. To be
eligible for registration, the applicant must:
(1) be enrolled in an apprenticeship program certified
by this state or the United States;
(2) meet other requirements prescribed by the rules
adopted under this article; and
(3) submit a nonrefundable registration fee in an
amount not to exceed $15.
(d) An initial contractor [A] certificate of registration
and an initial managing employee [a] license are valid for a period
of one year from the date of issuance [issue] and are renewable
[annually] on payment of the renewal [annual] fee[; provided,
however, that the initial certificates of registration or licenses
issued on or after September 1, 1983, may be issued for periods of
less than one year and the annual fee shall be prorated
proportionally].
(d-1) A journeyman license and an apprentice certificate of
registration are valid for one year from the date of issuance and
are renewable on the anniversary of the date of issuance on payment
of the applicable renewal fee. The renewal fee for a journeyman
license is $30. The renewal fee for an apprentice certificate of
registration is $15.
SECTION 4. Sections 5(a) and (c), Article 5.43-3, Insurance
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The board shall not issue a contractor certificate of
registration under this article unless the applicant files with the
board evidence of a general liability insurance policy that
includes products and completed operations coverage. The limits of
insurance coverage required by this section shall be in an amount
not less than $100,000 combined single limits for bodily injury and
property damage for each occurrence and not less than $300,000
aggregate for all occurrences per policy year, unless the board
increases or decreases the amounts under Section 7 of this article.
The policy shall be conditioned to pay on behalf of the insured
those amounts that the insured is legally obligated to pay as
damages because of bodily injury and property damage caused by an
occurrence involving the insured or the insured's servant, officer,
agent, or employee in the conduct of any business registered under
this article.
(c) Failure to maintain liability insurance required under
this section constitutes grounds for the denial, suspension, or
revocation of a contractor certificate of registration issued under
this article after notice and opportunity for hearing.
SECTION 5. Section 5A(a), Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Each renewal of a license or certificate of registration
issued under this article is valid for a period of one year [two
years]. The managing employee license fee or contractor
registration fee [for each year of the two-year period] is payable
on renewal.
SECTION 6. Section 5B, Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) A person who fails the examination for a fire protection
sprinkler system journeyman license may not retake the examination
before the 90th day after the date of the initial examination.
SECTION 7. Section 5C, Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 5C. CONTINUING EDUCATION. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b) of this section, the [The] board may adopt
procedures for certifying and may certify continuing education
programs. Participation in the programs is voluntary.
(b) The board shall adopt procedures for certifying and
shall certify continuing education programs for fire protection
sprinkler system journeymen. A journeyman or an apprentice must
successfully complete six hours of continuing education courses on
the laws and codes governing fire protection sprinkler systems to
be eligible to renew a license or certificate of registration under
this article.
(c) The board annually shall approve individuals, business
entities, or associations to provide continuing education courses.
A course provider must offer classroom and correspondence
instruction for each course offered as part of a continuing
education program for renewal of a license or certificate of
registration under this chapter.
(d) The board shall periodically publish a list of approved
subjects for continuing education courses.
(e) A course provider shall:
(1) provide a uniquely numbered certificate of
completion to a license or certificate holder only on completion of
a continuing education course by the person; and
(2) notify the board, in an electronic format approved
by the board, of a license or certificate holder's completion of a
course within 48 hours of the time of completion.
(f) The board shall annually review the operation of each
course provider to ensure that continuing education programs are
provided equitably across this state.
SECTION 8. Section 8, Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 8. PROHIBITED ACTS. A person or organization may not:
(1) plan, sell, install, maintain, or service a fire
protection sprinkler system without a valid certificate of
registration as a fire protection sprinkler system contractor;
(2) act as a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor under a certificate of registration without having at
least one full-time employee who holds a valid responsible managing
employee license; provided, however, that a person or organization
with a current certificate of registration may act as a fire
protection sprinkler system contractor for 30 days after the death
or dissociation of its licensed responsible managing employee or
for such longer period as may be approved by the board pursuant to
the rules adopted hereunder;
(3) act as a responsible managing employee,
journeyman, or apprentice for a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor without a valid license or certificate of registration,
as applicable;
(4) obtain or attempt to obtain a certificate of
registration or license by fraudulent representation; [or]
(5) plan, sell, install, maintain, or service a fire
protection sprinkler system in violation of this article or the
rules adopted under this article;
(6) refuse to display a license or certificate of
registration on request or fail to carry the license or certificate
of registration while engaged in an activity regulated under this
article; or
(7) enter into an agreement for the use of the person's
license or certificate of registration with another person who is
violating this article or is found to have violated this article or
whose license or certificate is currently suspended or has been
revoked in the preceding year.
SECTION 9. Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, is amended by
adding Section 10A to read as follows:
Sec. 10A. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A person who violates Section 8
of this article is liable for a civil penalty in an amount not to
exceed $5,000 for each violation. Each day a violation occurs
constitutes a separate violation.
(b) In determining the amount of the civil penalty, the
court shall consider the seriousness of the violation, including:
(1) the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of
a prohibited act;
(2) the hazard or potential hazard to the health,
safety, or economic welfare of the public created by the violation;
(3) the economic harm to property or the environment
caused by the violation;
(4) the history of previous violations;
(5) the amount necessary to deter future violations;
(6) efforts made to correct the violation; and
(7) any other matter that justice may require.
(c) The attorney general or the appropriate district or
county attorney, in the name of the state, may institute and conduct
an action authorized by this section in a district court of Travis
County or of a county in which any part of the violation occurs.
(d) A penalty collected under this section by the attorney
general shall be deposited to the credit of the general revenue
fund. A penalty collected under this section by a district or
county attorney shall be deposited to the credit of the general fund
of the county in which the suit was heard.
SECTION 10. (a) Not later than January 1, 2006, the Texas
Department of Insurance and the state fire marshal shall adopt
rules and establish the procedures and examination requirements
necessary to implement the licensing of fire protection sprinkler
system journeymen and the registration of fire protection sprinkler
system apprentices under Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, as amended
by this Act.
(b) A fire protection sprinkler system journeyman is not
required to hold a license under Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, as
amended by this Act, before July 1, 2006.
(c) A fire protection sprinkler system apprentice is not
required to register under Article 5.43-3, Insurance Code, as
amended by this Act, before July 1, 2006.
(d) A fire protection sprinkler system employee who has at
least 8,000 hours of experience on the effective date of this Act
and who applies for a fire protection sprinkler system journeyman
license within six months of the effective date of this Act is not
required to pass a license examination under Article 5.43-3,
Insurance Code, as amended by this Act, to receive a journeyman
license.
SECTION 11. (a) The change in law made by Section 10A,
Article 5.43–3, Insurance Code, as added by this Act applies only to
conduct occuring on or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) Conduct occuring before the effective date of this Act
is covered by the law in effect when the conduct occurred, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2005.