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Panel advances bill to restore sprinkler‑fitter certification standards
Summary
The committee advanced SB 1299 to the Labor and Employment Committee after testimony from the bill sponsor and trade groups arguing a certification framework is needed to ensure sprinklers are installed and maintained safely. Members raised questions about cost and labor implications.
Chair Rhodesia Ransom opened the committee and invited the senator author to present SB 1299, the State Fire Marshal Fire Suppression Education and Training Safety Act, which would place training and certification requirements for fire sprinkler fitters into statute after parts of the prior regulatory framework were struck down on procedural grounds.
The senator said the bill accepts committee amendments to clarify definitions and would create an enforceable framework so that "only properly trained and certified professionals perform this critical life safety work." He and witnesses emphasized the public‑safety rationale: sprinkler systems save lives and must be installed and maintained by trained workers.
Martin Bendiol, testifying for the California State Pipe Trades Council, told the committee that apprenticeship programs combine classroom instruction with thousands of hours of supervised on‑the‑job training and that the court challenge disrupted enforcement of those standards but did not reject the substance of certification. Randy Roxon, executive director of the Sprinkler Fitters Association of California, said the bill largely codifies a decade‑old certification program and would restore supervision ratios and written exams by the State Fire Marshal.
Assemblymember DeMaio questioned whether the bill would increase housing and construction costs for ordinary Californians and noted many states lack similar requirements; he also expressed concern about union influence. The sponsor and supporters said the bill is intended to reinstate preexisting certification practices rather than create novel burdens on construction and that the Administrative Procedures Act ruling was procedural, not an evaluation of safety benefits.
The committee recorded a roll‑call on the motion that SB 1299 do pass as amended to the Committee on Labor and Employment; members recorded a mix of ayes and no votes and the chair said the roll would be held open for an absent member. The bill moves forward for further consideration.
