AFSA National Manager of Chapter Relations and advisor on government affairs stated the following on the California Sprinkler Act:
“Even with the onerous requirements set forth in California, merit shop contractors can abide by the rules and flourish just as they always have. The act will also benefit the merit shop by reducing the number of unlicensed or otherwise unqualified contractors and installers.”
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Opposition: The Upstate New York Chapter of the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA), a trade organization representing merit shop fire sprinkler contractors, strongly opposes this bill. Currently, hundreds of trusted independent small businesses safely install sprinkler systems which protect their communities.
These businesses provide well-paying jobs to thousands of skilled sprinkler fitters which could disappear if this bill is passed. AFSA is working with the legislature on another bill that would license at the contractor level, which we believe, is the most appropriate method of regulating our industry.
Fact: The AFSA National Manager of Chapter Relations and advisor on government affairs stated the following on the California Sprinkler Act:
"Even with the onerous requirements set forth in California, merit shop contractors can abide by the rules and flourish just as they always have. The act will also benefit the merit shop by reducing the number of unlicensed or otherwise unqualified contractors and installers."
Opposition: Sprinkler fitters are trained on the job and through professional training programs but this bill mandates a single apprenticeship program creating a one-size fits all approach and disproportionately impacts independent familyowned businesses.
This bill would limit entry into a well-paying trade by requiring individuals regardless of their skills, experience or aptitude be taught under arbitrarily designated standards. Our businesses provide valuable on-the-job training that far surpasses any apprentice program and while the Upstate NY AFSA is a strong advocate of formal apprenticeship training, we recognize there are many ways to learn our trade and do not want to see a barrier to entry established.
Fact: The Bill doesn't mandate a single one size fits all program, nor does it mandate an arbitrary designated standard. In fact the majority of the contractors that penned the opposition letter have registered apprentice programs with NY DOL and use the NCCER/AFSA curriculum that they wrote which is accepted and approved by NY DOL.
Barriers do not exist in this Bill for entry into a program, this bill creates a pathway into the middle class through training and legitimizing the trade. Barriers are created by utilizing temporary employees hired through manpower hiring firms without training programs that lead to Journeyperson status and good paying jobs.
Opposition: Requiring each individual fitter to be licensed is unnecessary and a huge financial burden on small businesses. This legislation would impose significant costs on contractors reaching in the thousands per employee.
Successful small contractors operating safely and effectively in our industry would not be able to absorb these costs.
Fact: There are zero provisions within this Bill to impose any costs on the contractors for employees to be licensed.
Opposition: If enacted, this bill would require highly skilled fire sprinkler fitters to either complete an arbitrarily approved New York State Department of Labor apprentice program or successfully 'test out.'
We do not believe a 'test out' option is appropriate because it establishes yet another barrier to entry for otherwise skilled individuals who may not thrive in a standardized testing environment.
Fact: The AFSA/NCCER program curriculum, which is currently being used by the majority of the Upstate NY Chapter of the AFSA has been accepted and approved by NY DOL therefore there is no such thing as an arbitrarily approved program.
Furthermore, New York residences should feal confident that the people installing life safety fire protection systems have a basic understanding of this highly skilled trade. The "test out" option would ensure programs actually teach and train apprentices to become a journeyperson and not just reap the benefits of paying apprentice wages on prevailing wage work.
Opposition: Unfortunately. without the expertise of these trade professionals it is impossible to fairly judge the qualification, knowledge or skill level of a fire sprinkler fitter.
Fact: The Bill includes fire sprinkler contractors as well as a NYS licensed Fire Protection Engineer on the board.
Opposition: On behalf of the Empire Chapter of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, representing long-standing fire sprinkler contractors in the State of New York, we write in OPPOSITION to the above referenced legislation.
Fact: The Empire Chapter is inconsistent with other state Chapters that supports Sprinkler Fitter licensing, such as Michigan and California. Meanwhile Connecticut, Massachusetts, Road Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio and West Virginia all have Licensing requirements. The NFSA wrote a letter critical of the proposed Missouri Bill because it didn’t mandate sprinkler fitter licensing in the legislation. Letter is posted in this section.
Opposition: This legislation requires individuals who perform work on fire sprinkler systems be licensed by the state of New York. Simply put, we would be in favor of this if it were licensing the company, but NOT the individual. If enacted, it will make it more difficult for companies to do business in New York State. This legislation is an unwarranted burden on companies that provide fire protection solutions as a part of a total life safety system.
Fact: As stated in the 2nd paragraph the individual must obtain a license therefore the burden is not on the company. It would however make it more difficult to do business in New York State when companies try to utilize unqualified, untrained and in some cases undocumented workers to perform this highly skilled work.
Opposition: As it stands, the state and local governments already struggle with enforcement of adopted National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and International Code Council (ICC) codes and standards. Supporting state and local authorities enforcing them should be a much higher priority than licensing individual fitters who install fire suppression systems.
Fact: As stated in the 3rd paragraph, "local governments struggle with enforcement of NFPA codes". This Bill will give code enforcement agencies another tool to ensure these life safety systems are installed by trained and qualified individuals. Local go
Opposition: Enactment of this legislation would also create unnecessary and unwarranted barriers to entry for many potential employees. This is the exact opposite of what the state should be doing, particularly as we begin the post-pandemic economic recovery.
It creates unnecessary obstacles to employment into a well-paying trade. Our members already provide all necessary training that prepares filters to successfully participate in the installation and maintenance of fire suppression systems.
Fact: This is a false and misleading statement as there are zero barriers for entry into any training programs, training a qualified and ready work force is exactly what got this industry through the pandemic. During a global pandemic, New York State officials issued travel directives and asked non-essential employees to work remotely. During that unprecedented time the men and women in the fire protection trade were deemed as an essential work force to keep critical life safety systems working to protect the public and critical infrastructure.
Opposition: Fire suppression systems are permitted and inspected by various local and state agencies and there are presently several levels of approvals and inspections required to ensure systems are installed properly to function as designed in the event of a fire.
Fact: This is a contradiction to the claims in opposition 3.
Opposition: In closing, this bill will make hiring good employees by New York State fire sprinkler contractors more difficult while imposing additional unnecessary administrative burdens on the State of New York.
As members of the Empire Chapter of the National Fire Sprinkler
Association, we instead SUPPORT a different approach by licensing the companies that provide fire suppression systems. Current legislation (S.4008/A.3272) is supported by the fire sprinkler industry and is consistent with existing licensing requirements for other industries including electronic life safety.
Fact: The Bill would not impede the entry or hiring of "good employees" the contractor only approach leaves the worker behind and would not stop the unqualified, untrained and in some cases undocumented workers from performing this highly skilled work. In the New England market New York is one of the last states to have any sprinkler fitter licensing requirements.
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