BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 458

By: Bohac

Insurance

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, only fire alarm planning superintendents can teach at a training school offering courses in fire alarm installation and service. Interested parties note that fire alarm planning superintendents must be licensed engineers or pass a test that is the equivalent of an engineer's exam regarding fire alarm systems, and the parties contend that such standards are higher than necessary for a person to adequately teach a course in fire alarm installation and service. The parties further contend that these high standards also make it difficult for schools approved by the state fire marshal to find and keep qualified instructors because most of the fire alarm planning superintendents are already in high demand or are subject to other employment commitments that make it impracticable for them to teach fire alarm installation and service courses.

H.B. 458 seeks to expand the pool of available residential fire alarm training school instructors, without circumventing the testing and license requirements already in place, by adding additional qualified instructors to train novice residential fire alarm technicians about fire alarm installation and service.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 458 amends the Insurance Code provision requiring a residential fire alarm training school instructor to hold a fire alarm planning superintendent license in order to be eligible for approval by the state fire marshal as a training school instructor to add as alternatives to that license a residential fire alarm superintendent license and a fire alarm technician license.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.