La. Admin. Code tit. 55 § V-3221

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section V-3221 - Qualifying Persons

A. Each certified firm or each firm seeking certification shall employ at least one qualifying person for each endorsement it is making application for. No property protection system or equipment shall be certified, inspected, installed, integrated, maintained, serviced, sold, or submitted to the state fire marshal for review if the firm does not employ a qualifying person as provided herein.

B. The qualifying person shall be a paid employee working a minimum of 32 hours per week and shall receive a W-2 or K-1 tax form from the firm. The qualifier shall only qualify one firm for which he is employed. An individual may not qualify multiple firms at the same time. A contract employee cannot be used to fulfill this requirement except as provided by subsection G below. A qualifier must physically reside within 150 miles of the office for which he or she qualifies.

C. The qualifying person shall be primarily and actively engaged in direct supervision of the daily property protection activity of the firm's employees and for those systems or equipment for which the firm holds endorsements for. If a firm holds multiple endorsements, then multiple qualifiers may be utilized to meet this requirement. Upon request by the state fire marshal or his representative(s), a qualifier shall provide documentation attesting to his or her supervision of any certification, integration, inspection, installation, maintenance or service performed by the firm he or she qualifies.

D. A qualifier must meet the minimum examination, certification, or training requirements as established by the Life Safety and Property Protection Advisory Board. The state fire marshal shall send notice to licensed firms of all changes to qualifier credentials made by the Life Safety and Property Protection Advisory Board.

E. At anytime that a firm finds itself without a qualifying person, such firm shall only be able to continue certifying, inspecting, maintaining and/or servicing existing contractual obligations for that endorsement but shall not engage in any new work until a qualifying person has been employed as provided herein. A firm may not submit plans to the Office of the State Fire Marshal when it finds itself without a qualifying person.

F. This office shall be notified in writing within 10 working days anytime a qualifying person's employment is terminated for any reason.

G. A firm which loses its qualifying person and has timely notified the Office of the State Fire Marshal shall have 90 days to hire another qualifying person. If after the loss of such an employee, a replacement cannot be found within the 90 days, the firm may make a request to the Office of the State Fire Marshal to temporarily hire a qualifying person on a contractual basis. Good cause must be shown why another employee cannot be permanently hired. Approval by the Office of the State Fire Marshal for the hiring of a qualifying person on a contractual basis shall not exceed six months. Not later than 30 days prior to the expiration of the six-month period, the firm may request an additional six-month period to employ a qualifying person on a contractual basis if good cause is shown why the firm cannot hire an employee to fulfill this requirement. The Office of the State Fire Marshal may grant one additional six-month period during which a firm may employ a qualifying person on a contractual basis.

H. Failure to notify this office in writing within 10 working days of the loss of a qualifying person will cause forfeiture of any extension of time to hire another qualifying person.

I. A qualifying person must obtain an individual employee license as required by these rules. Licensure of the qualifier shall include a signed and notarized affidavit indicating the employment relationship and duties of the qualifier. If a firm desires to use multiple qualifiers for submitting plans and supervising the property protection activity of the firm, then it must register and license the additional qualifiers with the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

La. Admin. Code tit. 55, § V-3221

Promulgated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of State Fire Marshal, LR 37:2741 (September 2011).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 40:1664.2 et seq.