Washington State Patrol
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Sprinkler Program · Levels of LicensingIn Washington State, a company contracting to design, install, inspect, test, maintain, and/or service any portion of a water-based fire protection sprinkler system must be licensed by the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office. In addition to the licensing requirements of the contracting company, any company licensed for design must have a full time employee certified by this office as a designer – their Certificate of Competency Holder. The licensing and certification levels must match. Any employee of any licensed fire protection sprinkler contracting company who performs the inspection and testing of water-based fire protection sprinkler systems must be certified by this office as competent to perform that work – an Inspection and Testing Technician. Each level of licensing and certification can only perform work based upon their level of licensing and certification. The following explains each level: Level IA level I Fire Protection Sprinkler System Contractor and their design Certificate of Competency Holder are allowed to do work on the installation and design of sprinkler systems falling under the purview of the National Fire Protection Association [N.F.P.A.] 13 – D. This means any single or dual family occupancy residential structure and its dedicated underground fire service main. This level of design requires either certification by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies [N.I.C.E.T.] of at least level 2 in Automatic Sprinkler Design Layout or can be tested by the state. To qualify for N.I.C.E.T. certification, you will need to contact them at their web address. If you wish to take the state examination for level 1 certification, please contact the Office of the State Fire Marshal at (360) 596-3914. Level IIA level II Fire Protection Sprinkler System Contractor and their design Certificate of Competency Holder are allowed to do work on the installation and design of sprinkler systems falling under the purview of N.F.P.A. 13 – D and 13 – R. This means any single or dual family occupancy residential structure up to and including a four-story structure and their dedicated underground fire service main. This level of design requires the Certificate of Competency Holder to have at least an N.I.C.E.T. level 2 certification in Automatic Sprinkler Design Layout. To qualify for N.I.C.E.T. certification, you will need to contact them at their web address. There you will find information for scheduling the test and an explanation of their certification process. Level IIIA level III Fire Protection Sprinkler System Contractor and their design Certificate of Competency Holder are allowed to do work on the installation and design of sprinkler systems falling under the purview of N.F.P.A. 13 – D, 13 – R, 13 and/or 24. This means any kind of work on any kind of structure including the dedicated underground fire service main of such structures. This level of design requires the Certificate of Competency Holder to have at least an N.I.C.E.T. level 3 certification in Automatic Sprinkler Design Layout. As this company is licensed to design and install all fire protection sprinkler systems, they are also allowed to perform inspection and testing of water-based fire protection systems. In order to do this, they will be required to have any employee who performs such work certified by this office as an Inspection and Testing Technician, as with the Inspection and Testing Contractors (I&T). To qualify for N.I.C.E.T. certification, you will need to contact them at their web address. There you will find information for scheduling the test and an explanation of their certification process. Level UA level U Fire Protection Sprinkler System Contractor and their Certificate of Competency Holder are allowed to do work on only the underground installation of the dedicated fire protection sprinkler system supply main falling under the purview of N.F.P.A. 24. This means any installation of underground work of any kind for any kind of structure. To qualify for this level, you will need to take the certification examination offered by this office. Please contact the Office of the State Fire Marshal at (360) 596-3914 for more information. Level I & T (Inspection and Testing)A level I & T Fire Protection Sprinkler System Contractor is not required to have a design professional on staff certified by this office and are allowed to contract for the inspection and testing work of a wet and dry pipe fire protection sprinkler system under the purview of N.F.P.A. 25. Each and every individual who physically performs such inspection and testing work must be certified by this office as competent. There are two means available to qualify for the Inspection and Testing Technician. WAC 212-80-175 explains the rules and processes. You will need to either provide to this office level II certification from N.I.C.E.T. in Inspection and Testing of Water-Based Fire Protection Sprinkler Systems or have successfully passed 32 elements identified as necessary to perform this work. Those elements are detailed on the Inspection and Testing Technician web page. Contact InformationIf you have any questions regarding the Fire Sprinkler Licensing Program, please contact: Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Daniel E. Johnson Mr. Humberto Rodriguez |
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