CBIA Bill Moves to Senate: Would Allow Sprinkler Installations by Plumbers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 17, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — AB 433 (Gordon) has been approved by the Assembly Floor on a 73-0 vote. Introduced in February, this CBIA-sponsored measure would allow residential fire sprinkler systems in new homes to be installed by licensed plumbers.
Under existing statute, all fire sprinkler systems must be installed by a “fire protection contractor” holding a specialty C-16 contractor license. Fire sprinkler systems for one- and two- family homes are relatively easy to design and install, in comparison to larger, more complex structures and tall commercial buildings. A licensed plumbing contractor (C-36) has the knowledge and experience needed to install fire sprinkler systems in one- and two-family dwellings, however current law does not authorize them to perform this duty.
At the present time, there are only 2,000 licensed C-16 contractors in the State of California and as the housing economy improves, there will be a growing shortage of licensed contractors available to do this work. According to the Contractors State License Board, California has over 15,000 licensed plumbers.
AB 433 would allow the installation of a fire sprinkler system in a new home by either a licensed C-36 plumber or a licensed C-16 fire protection contractor. It is anticipated that the Senate Rules Committee will assign this bill to the Senate Business, Professions & Economic Development Committee.
For additional information contact Bob Raymer.
Media Contact:
Megan MacNee
(916) 340-3352
mmacnee (at) cbia (dot) org
