(1)
Sprinkler Fitter Licensing. No person shall engage in
sprinkler fitting unless he or she is licensed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 146,
§ 85. Licenses shall be carried on the person at all times the licensee is
engaged in sprinkler fitting work and shall be furnished for inspection by the
licensee upon request by the Commissioner, the Chief, or a District Engineering
Inspector.
Every applicant shall file with the Division, an application on
a form provided by the Division, accompanied by the appropriate fee. All
completed and approved applications for examination shall be filed with the
Division 30 days before the day of examination.
(a)
Apprentice Sprinkler Fitter
License. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 146, § 85A, applicants for a
sprinkler fitter apprentice license shall, before starting his or her
apprenticeship, file an application, accompanied by the appropriate fee, with
the Division and shall provide documentation that the applicant is employed by
a Massachusetts Sprinkler Contractor. The application shall be made on a form
furnished by the division.
Each applicant will be limited to two renewals of his or her
apprentice license unless otherwise approved by the Bureau.
(b)
Sprinkler Fitters/Journeyman
Sprinkler Fitter License. Every applicant for a sprinkler
fitters/journeyman sprinkler fitters' license must be a high school graduate or
possess a high school equivalency certificate. Furthermore, each applicant:
Shall have worked for not less than 8,000 hours in
Massachusetts as an apprentice and have successfully completed not less than
144 hours of study for each year of the term of apprenticeship. The sprinkler
training course must be approved by the Department and shall consist of
practical, shop-related work; all NFPA standards related to Fire Protection and
State Codes; (related instruction classes, correspondence courses, or other
specially designed curriculum, any of which must be approved by this Bureau is
considered acceptable in satisfying this requirement).
Candidates for examination must pass a written examination and
must correctly answer 70% or more of the examination questions to qualify for a
license.
For the purpose of computing the requirement for a student or
graduate of an apprentice sprinkler fitter's course approved by the Department
and accredited by a recognized State or Federal accrediting agency or licensed
by the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Director of the school shall
verify the transcript of the actual attendance and grades of the applicant on a
Verification of Sprinkler Fitter Course Hours form.
Verification of on-the-job training from an employer shall
include the following information:
1.Name, address, and telephone number of the
employer at which the applicant has worked;
2.The employer's Sprinkler Contractor license
number; and
3.The total number of
hours of sprinkler fitter work experience the applicant has received.
If any applicant is denied examination by the Division for
failure to meet the requirements of 528 CMR 11.04, the applicant may be
admitted for examination as a sprinkler fitter by a majority vote of the
Bureau:
a.by possessing qualifications
other than those specified in
528 CMR 11.00;
b.by possessing a sprinkler fitter's license
or certificate from any other state or foreign country without serving the
required time as an apprentice as specified in
528 CMR 11.00.
(2)
Fire Protection Sprinkler Contractor Licensing. No
person shall engage in the preparation of technical drawings, installations,
maintenance, service, inspections or testing of a fire protection sprinkler
system or use any title, sign, card, or device indicating, or intending to
indicate, or represent in any manner that he or she is or represents a licensed
fire protection sprinkler system contractor without first obtaining the fire
protection sprinkler system contractor's license.
Qualifications for Fire Protection Sprinkler System
Contractor's License and Requirements of Fire Protection Sprinkler Systems
Contractor
(a) To become a Contractor
under 528 CMR, an applicant must have satisfactorily passed an examination
prescribed by the Division.
(b)
Every applicant shall fulfill the following prerequisites:
1.Must be at least 18 years of age;
2.Must be or have in its full time employ a
valid license holder who is a person or an owner, partner, officer, or in a
full time management position of a fire protection sprinkler system
Contractor;
3.Must have completed
not less than 300 hours of study in a sprinkler training course that is
approved by the Department and consists of practical, shop-related
work.
4.Must have five years of
experience in the fire protection sprinkler system business in a responsible
position such as managing, preparing technical drawings, or performing
installation and provide written proof from his employers detailing his length
of time and positions held.
5.Candidates for examination must pass a
written examination and must correctly answer 70% or more of the examination
questions to qualify for a license.
(c) Fire Protection Sprinkler System
Contractor license holders shall prominently display their fire sprinkler
system contractor license number on all commercial vehicles, offers, invoices,
installation drawings, and on all stationery used in their business. The
lettering of the license number required to be displayed on all commercial
vehicles used in the fire protection sprinkler system contractor's business
shall be visible, legible and prominently displayed on vans, trucks, and doors
of stake body trucks.
(d) A license
is not transferable.
(e) In no case
shall a license holder be employed by more than one fire protection sprinkler
system contractor at one time. If the license holder should leave the
employment of the fire protection sprinkler system contractor, the contractor
and the license holder must notify the Department within 30 days.
If the license holder should leave the employment of the fire
protection sprinkler system contractor, the contractor shall have 60 days to
submit a new application identifying another license holder. If such new
application is not received within the allotted time, the Department shall
revoke the license of the fire protection sprinkler system contractor. The
contractor shall be permitted to complete only that work which is under
contract at the time the license is revoked. No new work may be
undertaken.
(f)
License Applications. Each application for a license
shall be filed with Bureau through the Department of Public Safety on a form
furnished by the Department. The fee for the first license of a contractor and
for any biennial renewal thereof; or for examination therefore shall be
determined annually by the Commissioner of Administration under the provision
of M.G.L. c. 7, § 3 for the filing thereof. No examination will be
required for a renewal, unless the applicant fails to renew his or her license
within one year after the license expiration date.
(g) Every applicant who is to obtain a fire
protection sprinkler system contractor's license shall surrender his or her
journeyman's sprinkler license to the Department before the contractor's
license will be issued.
Upon renewal of the fire protection sprinkler systems
contractor's license, if a fire protection sprinkler system contractor ceases
to be an owner, partner, officer, or in a full time management position of a
fire protection sprinkler system contractor, and the license was not revoked or
suspended, upon application, they shall automatically be re-issued a journeyman
sprinkler fitter's license, without examination.
Any person who has successfully obtained a fire protection
sprinkler systems contractor license and was re-issued a journeyman sprinkler
fitter's license pursuant to 528 CMR 11.04(2)(g), and while holding the
journeyman sprinkler fitter's license becomes an owner, partner, officer, or
works in a full time management position of a fire protection sprinkler system
contractor, and can provide sufficient proof to the Department that he or she
previously held a fire protection sprinkler system contractor's license, and
that license was not revoked or suspended, upon application, they shall be
re-issued a fire protection sprinkler system contractor's license without
re-examination.
(h)
Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary,
no renewal license shall be issued by the Department unless licensee provides
proof of liability insurance, including "completed operations" coverage in the
amount of $500,000 minimum per occurrence, which has been issued by an
insurance company licensed to do business in the Commonwealth, or a bond or
other type indemnity against liability providing substantially equivalent
coverage. The liability insurance certificate shall list the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, Department of Public Safety as the certificate holder.