The Florida Senate

633.539  Requirements for installation, inspection, and maintenance of fire protection systems.--

(1)  The requirements for installation of fire protection systems are as follows:

(a)  Contractors of fire protection systems shall be certified under s. 633.521

(b)  Equipment shall be listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., or Factory Mutual Laboratories, Inc., or shall comply with nationally accepted standards. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt by rule procedures for determining whether a laboratory is nationally recognized, taking into account the laboratory's facilities, procedures, use of nationally recognized standards, and any other criteria reasonably calculated to reach an informed determination.

(c)  Equipment shall be installed in accordance with the applicable standards of the National Fire Protection Association and the manufacturer's specifications.

(d)  Each piece of equipment supplied shall be guaranteed for a period of 1 year against defects in material or operations.

(e)  The contractor shall furnish the user with operating instructions for all equipment installed, together with a diagram of the final installation.

(2)  Equipment shall be inspected, serviced, and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's maintenance procedures and with applicable National Fire Protection Association standards. The inspection of fire protection systems shall be conducted by a certificateholder or holder of a permit issued by the State Fire Marshal. The permitholder may perform inspections on fire protection systems only while employed by the certificateholder. This section does not prohibit the authority having jurisdiction or insurance company representatives from reviewing the system in accordance with acceptable oversight standards.

(3)  For contracts written after June 30, 2005, the contractor who installs the underground piping from the point of service is responsible for completing the installation to the aboveground connection flange, which by definition in this chapter is no more than 1 foot above the finished floor, before completing the Contractor's Material and Test Certificate for Underground Piping document. Aboveground contractors may not complete the Contractor's Material and Test Certificate for Underground Piping document for underground piping or portions thereof which have been installed by others.

(4)  The Contractor V may install the cross-connection backflow prevention device as defined in this chapter on new installations. The retrofitting of a backflow device on an existing fire protection system will cause a reduction in available water pressure and probable system malfunction. The development of aboveground fire protection system hydraulic calculations is a task of the Contractor I and II, as defined in this chapter. Accordingly, a Contractor V is expressly prohibited from retrofitting cross-connection backflow prevention devices on an existing fire protection system, and only a Contractor I or Contractor II who is tasked to recalculate the system and take corrective actions to ensure that the system will function with the available water supply may retroactively install these backflow devices on existing fire protection systems.

History.--ss. 32, 40, ch. 89-233; s. 9, ch. 91-189; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 29, ch. 2005-147; s. 94, ch. 2006-1.