H.B. No. 2447
AN ACT
relating to the sale and advertisement of portable fire
extinguishers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 9, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 797 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 797. PORTABLE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
Sec. 797.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "NFPA" means the National Fire Protection
Association.
(2) "Portable fire extinguisher" means a device that
contains liquid, powder, or gases for suppressing or extinguishing
fires.
Sec. 797.002. PORTABLE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS. A person may
not use the term "portable fire extinguisher" or "fire
extinguisher" in the sale or advertisement of an aerosol fire
suppression device or similar fire suppression device unless the
device conforms to NFPA Standard 10 (2010), "Standard for Portable
Fire Extinguishers," or a successor standard adopted by the
commissioner of insurance that is at least as stringent as the NFPA
Standard 10, and is specifically listed for that use by a testing
laboratory approved by the Texas Department of Insurance.
SECTION 2. Section 6001.001, Insurance Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 6001.001. PURPOSE. The purpose of this chapter is to
safeguard lives and property by:
(1) regulating:
(A) the leasing, selling, installing, and
servicing of portable fire extinguishers; and
(B) the planning, certifying, installing, and
servicing of fixed fire extinguisher systems; and
(2) prohibiting portable fire extinguishers, fixed
fire extinguisher systems, or extinguisher equipment that is not
[labeled or] listed by a testing laboratory approved by the
department.
SECTION 3. Section 6001.156(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The licensing provisions of this chapter do not apply
to:
(1) the filling or charging of a portable fire
extinguisher by the manufacturer before initial sale of the fire
extinguisher;
(2) the servicing by a firm of the firm's portable fire
extinguishers or fixed systems by the firm's personnel who are
specially trained for that servicing;
(2-a) the inspection of a firm's portable fire
extinguisher by a person who is:
(A) specially trained to perform portable fire
extinguisher inspections; and
(B) under contract with the firm for that
purpose;
(3) the installation of portable fire extinguishers in
a building by the building owner, the owner's managing agent, or an
employee of the building owner or the owner's managing agent;
(4) the installation or servicing of water sprinkler
systems installed in compliance with the National Fire Protection
Association's Standards for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems;
(5) a firm that is engaged in the retail or wholesale
sale of portable fire extinguishers that carry the [an approval
label or] listing of a testing laboratory approved by the
department, but that is not engaged in the installation or
servicing of those extinguishers;
(6) a fire department that services portable fire
extinguishers as a public service without charge, if the members of
the fire department are trained in the proper servicing of the fire
extinguishers;
(7) a firm that is a party to a contract under which:
(A) the installation of portable fire
extinguishers or a fixed fire extinguisher system is performed
under the direct supervision of and certified by a firm
appropriately registered to install and certify portable
extinguishers or fixed systems; and
(B) the registered firm assumes full
responsibility for the installation; or
(8) an engineer licensed under Chapter 1001,
Occupations Code, while acting solely in the engineer's
professional capacity.
SECTION 4. (a) Section 797.001, Health and Safety Code, as
added by this Act, and Section 6001.156(a), Insurance Code, as
amended by this Act, do not apply to the sale or advertisement of an
aerosol fire suppression device or similar fire suppression device
that, on or before September 1, 2013, is:
(1) listed for use as a portable fire extinguisher by a
testing laboratory approved the Texas Department of Insurance,
other than the National Fire Protection Association; and
(2) approved for use as a portable fire extinguisher
by the Texas Department of Insurance.
(b) This section expires September 1, 2015.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2447 was passed by the House on May 7,
2013, by the following vote: Yeas 94, Nays 37, 3 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2447 on May 22, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 83, Nays 65,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2447 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 20, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 23, Nays
8.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor