Larry Glenn from the State Fire Marshal’s office pointed out to me that I erred in the paragraph below published in the last newsletter..

“There was a lot of discussion about 25 following Robert’s presentation. I’m going to keep the comments here short since, as I mentioned earlier, much is still in the air and since the TAG is scheduled to meet next week anything I say here may change. I can say without a doubt that 25 is now the law throughout Washington. I can also say without fear of contradiction that the special license idea for IT&M is dead. The only companies that will be able to perform IT&M will be fully licensed, level 3 sprinkler contractors. There may be additional restrictions added but fire alarm only companies, fire extinguisher only companies, etc. will need at a minimum a level 3 sprinkler contractor’s license if they want to legally perform IT&M on any system that falls under the definitions in NFPA 25.”

What I should have said was that the special plumbers license was a dead issue. Fully licensed level 3 sprinkler contractors will be able to do IT&M on their existing license and fire extinguisher and fire alarm companies may do IT&M if the company is also a level 3 sprinkler contractor or has what will be the new Sprinkler System Inspection and Testing Contractor License issued by the State Fire Marshal. This license excludes these companies from testing fire pumps, deluge, pre-action, foam or chemical based fire protection systems. All technicians working for this type of company need to be certified by the Chief of the State Patrol, through the Director of Fire Protection. To obtain such a certification the technician needs to successfully complete the elements required for certification as a NICET IT&M level 2 or 3 or have NICET certification as a level 3 or 4 AS layout technician. There will be a short window where other methods of certification are available. I’ll address these in the next newsletter since I don’t know when these changes to the WAC will become enforceable and the timeline is tied to that date. The certification of the technician applies to all IT&M technicians whether they work for a sprinkler contractor or an inspection and testing contractor although a technician working for a sprinkler contractor may perform IT&M on any system or device that the contractor is licensed to design and install.