S.B. No. 1354
AN ACT
relating to the licensing and regulation of plumbers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivisions (4), (5), (7), (8), and (10),
Section 1301.002, Occupations Code, are amended to read as follows:
(4) "Journeyman plumber" means a person licensed under
this chapter who:
(A) has met the qualifications for registration
as a plumber's apprentice or for licensing as a tradesman
plumber-limited license holder;
(B) has completed at least 8,000 hours working
under the supervision of a master plumber;
(C) installs, changes, repairs, services, or
renovates plumbing or supervises any of those activities; [and]
(D) has passed the required examination; and
(E) has fulfilled the other requirements of the
board.
(5) "Master plumber" means a person licensed under
this chapter who:
(A) is skilled in the design, planning, and
superintending of plumbing and in the practical installation,
repair, and servicing of plumbing;
(B) has worked as a journeyman plumber:
(i) for at least four years; or
(ii) for at least one year and has
successfully completed a training program approved by the United
States Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship or another
nationally recognized apprentice training program accepted by the
board [secures permits for plumbing work];
(C) [is knowledgeable about the codes,
ordinances, or rules governing the activities described by
Paragraphs (A) and (B);
[(D)] performs or supervises plumbing work;
[and]
(D) [(E)] has passed the required examination;
and
(E) has fulfilled the other requirements of the
board.
(7) "Plumbing" means:
(A) a fixture, appurtenance, appliance, or
piping, including a disposal system, used [in or around a building
in which a person lives or works or in which persons assemble,] to:
(i) supply, distribute, circulate, or
recirculate water, other liquid, or gas; or
(ii) eliminate sewage for a personal or
domestic purpose;
(B) a fixture, appurtenance, appliance, or
piping used outside a building to connect the building to:
(i) a supply of water, other liquid,
medical gases and vacuum, or other gas on the premises; or
(ii) the main in the street or alley or at
the curb;
(C) a fixture, appurtenance, appliance, or
piping, including a drain or waste pipe, used to carry wastewater or
sewage from or within a building to:
(i) a sewer service lateral at the curb or
in the street or alley; or
(ii) a disposal or septic terminal that
holds private or domestic sewage; or
(D) the installation, repair, service, or
maintenance of a fixture, appurtenance, appliance, or piping
described by Paragraph (A), (B), or (C).
(8) "Plumbing inspector" means a person who:
(A) is employed by a political subdivision or
state agency, or contracts as an independent contractor with a
political subdivision or state agency, to inspect plumbing in
connection with health and safety laws, including ordinances, and
plumbing and gas codes; [and]
(B) has passed the required examination; and
(C) has fulfilled the other requirements of the
board.
(10) "Tradesman plumber-limited license holder" means
a person who:
(A) has completed at least 4,000 hours working
under the direct supervision of a journeyman or master plumber as a
plumber's apprentice;
(B) has passed the required examination [and
fulfilled the other requirements of the board];
(C) constructs and installs plumbing for
one-family or two-family dwellings; [and]
(D) has not met or attempted to meet the
qualifications for a journeyman plumber license; and
(E) has fulfilled the other requirements of the
board.
SECTION 2. Section 1301.052, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1301.052. WORK INSIDE COUNTIES OR INSIDE OR OUTSIDE
MUNICIPALITIES. A person is not required to be licensed under this
chapter to perform plumbing, other than plumbing performed in
conjunction with new construction, repair, or remodeling, on a
property that is:
(1) located in a subdivision or on a tract of land that
is not required to be platted under Section 232.0015, Local
Government Code; [or]
(2) not connected to a public water system and is
located outside a municipality; [or]
(3) located outside a municipality and connected to a
public water system that does not require a license to perform
plumbing; or
(4) located inside a municipality that is within a
county that has fewer than 50,000 inhabitants and that:
(A) has [with] fewer than 5,000 inhabitants; and
(B) by municipal ordinance has authorized a
person who is not licensed under this chapter to perform plumbing[,
unless an ordinance of the municipality requires the person to be
licensed].
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 1301.053, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A person is not required to be licensed under this
chapter to perform:
(1) plumbing incidental to and in connection with the
business in which the person is employed or engaged if the person:
(A) is regularly employed as or acting as a
maintenance person or maintenance engineer; and
(B) does not engage in plumbing for the public;
(2) construction, installation, or maintenance on the
premises or equipment of a railroad if the person is an employee of
the railroad who does not engage in plumbing for the public;
(3) plumbing if the person is engaged by a public
service company to:
(A) lay, maintain, or operate its service mains
or lines to the point of measurement; and
(B) install, change, adjust, repair, remove, or
renovate appurtenances, equipment, or appliances;
(4) appliance installation and service work, other
than installation and service work on water heaters, that involves
connecting appliances to existing openings with a code-approved
appliance connector if the person performs the work as an appliance
dealer or an employee of an appliance dealer; or
(5) water treatment installations, exchanges,
services, or repairs.
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 1301.203, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The board may employ a field representative to assist
the board in enforcing this chapter and rules adopted under this
chapter. A field representative must [be]:
(1) hold a license as a plumber under this chapter;
(2) be knowledgeable of this chapter and municipal
ordinances relating to plumbing; and
(3) be [(2)] qualified by experience and training in
plumbing practice.
SECTION 5. Section 1301.354, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) At the applicant's request, the board may credit an
applicant under Subsection (b) with a number of hours determined by
board rule against the number of hours of work experience required
to take an examination if the applicant has received an associate of
applied science degree from a plumbing technology program that:
(1) includes a combination of classroom and on-the-job
training; and
(2) is approved by the board and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
SECTION 6. Subchapter H, Chapter 1301, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 1301.405 to read as follows:
Sec. 1301.405. MANDATORY TRAINING FOR DRAIN CLEANER, DRAIN
CLEANER-RESTRICTED REGISTRANT, AND RESIDENTIAL UTILITIES
INSTALLER. (a) To renew the certificate of registration, a person
who holds a certificate of registration under this chapter as a
drain cleaner, drain cleaner-restricted registrant, or residential
utilities installer must annually complete at least six hours of
approved training that includes training in health and safety
requirements, board-approved plumbing codes, and water
conservation.
(b) A person may receive credit for participating in a
training program only if the program is provided:
(1) by a person approved by the board; and
(2) according to criteria adopted by the board.
(c) The board by rule may exempt certain persons from the
requirements of this section if the board determines that the
exemption is in the public interest.
SECTION 7. Section 1301.551, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
(e) A municipality or other political subdivision in this
state that requires a plumbing contractor to obtain a permit before
the person performs plumbing shall by telephone, fax, or e-mail:
(1) accept permit applications;
(2) collect required fees; and
(3) issue the required permits.
(f) If drawings of proposed plumbing work are required by
the municipality or other political subdivision, the municipality
or political subdivision shall specify how permit drawings are to
be submitted.
(g) A person who is required to obtain a permit under this
section is not required to pay a plumbing registration fee or
administrative fee in a municipality or any other political
subdivision.
(h) A plumbing contractor must register, electronically or
in person, with a municipality or other political subdivision that
requires registration before performing plumbing regulated by the
municipality or other political subdivision.
SECTION 8. Sections 1301.552 and 1301.553, Occupations
Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1301.552. CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE FOR PLUMBING PERMIT
IN POLITICAL SUBDIVISION. A political subdivision that requires a
plumbing contractor to obtain a permit before performing plumbing
in the political subdivision shall verify through the board's
Internet website, or by contacting the board by telephone, that the
plumbing contractor has on file with the board [master plumber to
have a bond before issuing a permit to the master plumber shall
accept either a bond or] a certificate of insurance. The
certificate of insurance must:
(1) be written by a company licensed to do business in
this state;
(2) provide for commercial general liability
insurance for the master plumber for a claim for property damage or
bodily injury, regardless of whether the claim arises from
negligence or on a contract; and
(3) provide coverage of not less than $300,000 for all
claims arising in a one-year period.
Sec. 1301.553. PLUMBING INSPECTIONS IN MUNICIPALITY THAT
OVERLAPS ANOTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION [MUNICIPAL UTILITY
DISTRICT]. [(a)] If the boundaries of a municipality and another
political subdivision [a municipal utility district] overlap, only
the affected municipality may perform a plumbing inspection and
collect a permit fee.
[(b) The standard used in the plumbing inspection may not be
less restrictive than the standard used by the municipal utility
district.]
SECTION 9. (a) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas
State Board of Plumbing Examiners shall adopt the rules and approve
the programs necessary to implement the changes in law made by this
Act to Chapter 1301, Occupations Code.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act to the requirements
for issuance of a license or certificate of registration under
Chapter 1301, Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, apply only
to an application submitted for the issuance or renewal of a license
or certificate of registration under Chapter 1301, Occupations
Code, on or after January 1, 2010. An application submitted before
that date is governed by the law in effect when the application was
submitted, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1354 passed the Senate on
April 2, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1354 passed the House on
May 26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 131, Nays 14, one
present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor