The Kentucky Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (KBFAA) dodged a governmental bullet and developed a new certification program for security installers last month when Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed a new exemption from a law for low voltage installers that would have required them to be master electricians.

Last year, the Kentucky legislature passed an electrical license law requiring “anyone involved in installing or servicing light, heat, or power” to have the same training as a master electrician, said KBFAA president Doug Vernon.

“They hadn’t even considered certification of low voltage installers,” he said. “Having to have a master electrician would have been cost prohibitive for us.”

After speaking with lawmakers, Vernon found they were very “amicable” to his case.

“After we explained, we needed to come up with new regulations for the quality of people who do low-voltage work,” he said.

With the help of the NBFAA, Vernon and his organization worked with the government to develop a new set of regulations for low voltage installers.

The new code reads that installers must have a minimum of two years experience and then take a certification exam over the NFPA Electrical Code 70 set of regulations, a 500-page document.

Vernon said the new regulations will raise the standards for entering the security business in Kentucky.

“Lots of people have been involved with installing home theater, central vacuuming, and garage doors without anyone really looking [at their qualifications]. Our profession is very much for standards that are a baseline for what someone must know,” he said.

To read the new regulations, go to http://hbc.ppr.ky.gov/

electrical_licensing_index.htm. For information on testing and to request application forms, contact Vernon at cdvernon@kih.net.