SB 1299: State Fire Marshal Fire Sprinkler Fitter Certification Act.

Existing law authorizes the State Fire Marshal to propose, adopt, and administer the regulations that the State Fire Marshal deems necessary in order to ensure fire safety in buildings and structures within this state, including regulations related to construction, modification, installation, testing, inspection, labeling, listing, certification, registration, licensing, reporting, operation, and maintenance. Existing law authorizes the State Fire Marshal to establish and collect reasonable fees necessary to implement these provisions. Under existing law, the State Fire Marshal has enacted regulations for the certification and regulation of fire sprinkler fitters pursuant to the above-described authority. A violation of these regulations is a misdemeanor.

This bill, the State Fire Marshal Fire Sprinkler Fitter Certification Act, would codify and revise and recast the above-described regulations for the certification and regulation of fire sprinkler fitters. The bill would prohibit a person from working on a fire suppression system, as defined, without first being certified or registered by the State Fire Marshal, except as provided. The bill would establish training and other application requirements for a fire sprinkler fitter trainee, a fire sprinkler fitter apprentice, and a certified fire sprinkler fitter. The bill would impose specified supervision requirements and would require a licensed fire protection contractor or public entity, as applicable, to ensure the people it assigns to work on a fire suppression system are appropriately certified or registered.

This bill would enumerate the powers and duties of the State Fire Marshal with regard to the act. Upon receipt of a written complaint of an alleged violation of the act, the bill would require the State Fire Marshal to notify the local fire authority (authority) having jurisdiction and request that the authority investigate the complaint. If the authority is unable to investigate, the bill would require the authority to notify the State Fire Marshal within 5 days of receiving the notification and would authorize the State Fire Marshal to investigate. By imposing new duties on local entities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the State Fire Marshal or the authority to inspect project worksites, subject a person who violates the act to a notice of violation or correction order and subject components of the fire suppression system to removal, and, if the condition is not corrected immediately, issue a stop work order. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to implement provisions related to the administrative processes and fees applicable to fire sprinkler fitter trainees, apprentices, and certified professionals, and to penalize violators of the act, as provided. The bill would also authorize the State Fire Marshal to establish and collect fees no greater than the actual and reasonable costs necessary to implement the act. The bill would make a violation of the act a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.