H.B. No. 2447

	AN ACT
	relating to the sale and advertisement of portable fire
	extinguishers.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 9, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended by adding Chapter 797 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 797. PORTABLE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
	Sec. 797.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)  "NFPA" means the National Fire Protection
	Association.
	(2)  "Portable fire extinguisher" means a device that
	contains liquid, powder, or gases for suppressing or extinguishing
	fires.
	Sec. 797.002.  PORTABLE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS. A person may
	not use the term "portable fire extinguisher" or "fire
	extinguisher" in the sale or advertisement of an aerosol fire
	suppression device or similar fire suppression device unless the
	device conforms to NFPA Standard 10 (2010), "Standard for Portable
	Fire Extinguishers," or a successor standard adopted by the
	commissioner of insurance that is at least as stringent as the NFPA
	Standard 10, and is specifically listed for that use by a testing
	laboratory approved by the Texas Department of Insurance.
	SECTION 2. Section 6001.001, Insurance Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 6001.001.  PURPOSE. The purpose of this chapter is to
	safeguard lives and property by:
	(1)  regulating:
	(A)  the leasing, selling, installing, and
	servicing of portable fire extinguishers; and
	(B)  the planning, certifying, installing, and
	servicing of fixed fire extinguisher systems; and
	(2)  prohibiting portable fire extinguishers, fixed
	fire extinguisher systems, or extinguisher equipment that is not
	[labeled or] listed by a testing laboratory approved by the
	department.
	SECTION 3. Section 6001.156(a), Insurance Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(a)  The licensing provisions of this chapter do not apply
	to:
	(1)  the filling or charging of a portable fire
	extinguisher by the manufacturer before initial sale of the fire
	extinguisher;
	(2)  the servicing by a firm of the firm's portable fire
	extinguishers or fixed systems by  the firm's personnel who are
	specially trained for that servicing;
	(2-a)  the inspection of a firm's portable fire
	extinguisher by a person who is:
	(A)  specially trained to perform portable fire
	extinguisher inspections; and
	(B)  under contract with the firm for that
	purpose;
	(3)  the installation of portable fire extinguishers in
	a building by the building owner, the owner's managing agent, or an
	employee of the building owner or the owner's managing agent;
	(4)  the installation or servicing of water sprinkler
	systems installed in compliance with the National Fire Protection
	Association's Standards for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems;
	(5)  a firm that is engaged in the retail or wholesale
	sale of portable fire extinguishers that carry the [an approval
	label or] listing of a testing laboratory approved by the
	department, but that is not engaged in the installation or
	servicing of those extinguishers;
	(6)  a fire department that services portable fire
	extinguishers as a public service without charge, if the members of
	the fire department are trained in the proper servicing of the fire
	extinguishers;
	(7)  a firm that is a party to a contract under which:
	(A)  the installation of portable fire
	extinguishers or a fixed fire extinguisher system is performed
	under the direct supervision of and certified by a firm
	appropriately registered to install and certify portable
	extinguishers or fixed systems; and
	(B)  the registered firm assumes full
	responsibility for the installation; or
	(8)  an engineer licensed under Chapter 1001,
	Occupations Code, while acting solely in the engineer's
	professional capacity.
	SECTION 4.  (a) Section 797.001, Health and Safety Code, as
	added by this Act, and Section 6001.156(a), Insurance Code, as
	amended by this Act, do not apply to the sale or advertisement of an
	aerosol fire suppression device or similar fire suppression device
	that, on or before September 1, 2013, is:
	(1)  listed for use as a portable fire extinguisher by a
	testing laboratory approved the Texas Department of Insurance,
	other than the National Fire Protection Association; and
	(2)  approved for use as a portable fire extinguisher
	by the Texas Department of Insurance.
	(b)  This section expires September 1, 2015.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2447 was passed by the House on May 7,
	2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 94, Nays 37, 3 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 2447 on May 22, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 83, Nays 65,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2447 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 20, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 23, Nays
	8.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor