Quick Reference

License and registration term

A renewal is valid for two years; the renewal fee for each year of it is payable on renewal.

Notice of impending expiration

The state fire marshal must send written notice at least 30 days before expiration, to your last known address.

First reinstatement band

Expired 90 days or less: the renewal fee plus a late fee capped at one-fourth of the initial fee.

The reinstatement cliff

Expired two years or longer cannot be renewed at any price — only a fresh initial application.

Cure period for an incomplete renewal

Entitled to 30 days from notice of the deficiencies — but ONLY if there has been no lapse in the required insurance.

Change-notification duties

Designated employee, corporate officers, firm name or address, licensee name or address, and a new or additional employing firm.

Ownership change — runs BEFORE

A total change of ownership invalidates the certificate; the application for a new one is due at least 14 days before the change.

Initial fire alarm license

Technician, monitoring technician, and superintendent classes alike. The residential fire alarm technician license is $50 for its first year.

License renewal, two years

The statutory ceiling is set per year, and the commissioner has set the fee at it — which is why the two-year figure is exactly twice.

Initial certificate of registration

A firm working exclusively in single station devices pays half. A branch office certificate is $150 initially, not prorated.

Registration renewal, two years

Branch office renewal is $300 for two years, on the main office's renewal date.

License late fee, first band

One-fourth of the $120 initial fee — the rule's figures are the statutory formula worked out, not a separate schedule.

Firm late fee, first band

Plus $37.50 for each branch office the firm operates. In the second band it is $500 plus $150 per branch — a firm's lapse is priced by how many offices it runs.

Test fee, and retest fee

Where the State Fire Marshal's Office administers it. All fees are forfeited if the applicant does not appear.

The whole family

Installation and service (white), inspection/test (blue), yellow and red. Warnings go OUTSIDE the cover; the installation label goes inside.

Service label — minimum in place

Overlapped by about half an inch over its predecessor to keep a readable history.

Inspection/test label — minimum in place

Retention is NOT uniform across the family: two years for service, five for inspection/test, and the warning labels stay until cleared.

Yellow label notice, business days

Written notice to the owner, the occupant or their representative, and the local AHJ, of the conditions listed on the label.

Red label, inoperable — written notice

Immediate ORAL notice, then written notice by the next business day. A fault or impairment runs on three business days instead.

Clearing a tag — notice to the AHJ

Business days after removal. A warning label comes off only after correction and a service label certifying it.

Certificate copy to the AHJ

After completion of the installation. Owed on a modification or an addition as much as on a new system, outside one- and two-family residences.

Certifying company's copy

For the life of the system or ten years, whichever occurs first. The original stays at the site.

Service and testing records

Complete records of all service, maintenance and testing, available for examination by the state fire marshal.

Residential drawings held by the firm

One- and two-family residences: the installing firm keeps the drawings and produces them to the owner or the AHJ on request.

Licenses issued

Plus two approvals, for instructors and training schools. Each license is defined by the functions it covers, not by a rank.

May plan a system

Fire alarm planning superintendent, residential fire alarm superintendent as applicable, or a Texas registered professional engineer.

Before the system is switched on

Back-boxes before cable, cable before devices, devices before activation — by a licensed technician or planner, on the inspection form.

Corrective action — calendar days

If INITIATION of corrective action does not take place within ten calendar days, the registered firm must notify the AHJ.

Carry a criminal offense

Registration, branch offices, and licensing — a Class B misdemeanor. Every one is about authority to work, not the quality of the work.

Of administrative action

Action against the credential, a cease and desist order, an administrative penalty, and restitution. Amounts are set by rule outside this book's sources.

Bar on reapplying after revocation

And then only with a request for a public hearing to show cause why a new issuance should not be denied.

Before monitoring is discontinued

Minimum notice to the property owner and the local AHJ where a service ends before the contract does. The AHJ half falls away for a one- or two-family dwelling.