Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 55 - PUBLIC SAFETY › Part V - Fire Protection › Chapter 32 - Property Protection Licensing › Section V-3221 - Qualifying Persons

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
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.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
				  Promulgated in accordance with
				  R.S.
				  40:1664.2 et
				  seq.