1. (a) The administration of examinations for certification, including performance skill evaluations, shall be conducted in compliance with the Commission and International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) regulations. It is incumbent upon Commission staff, committee members, training officers and field examiners to maintain the integrity of any state examination (or portion thereof) for which they are responsible.
2. (b) Exams will be based on curricula as currently adopted in the Commission's Certification Curriculum Manual.
3. (c) Commission examinations that receive a passing grade shall expire two years from the date of the examination.

4. (d) The Commission shall prescribe the content of any certification examination that tests the knowledge and/or skill of the examinee concerning the discipline addressed by the examination.

   1. (1) An examination based on Chapter 1, "Basic Fire Suppression Curriculum" as identified in the Certification Curriculum Manual may consist of four sections: Fire Fighter I, Fire Fighter II, First Responder Awareness, and First Responder Operations.
   2. (2) An examination based on Chapter 4, "Basic Fire Inspector Curriculum" as identified in the Certification Curriculum Manual may consist of three sections: Inspector I, Inspector II, and Plan Examiner I.
   3. (3) All other state examinations consist of only one section.
   4. (4) The Head of Department examination will be based on NFPA 1021, Chapter 7.
5. (e) The individual who fails to pass a Commission examination for state certification will be given one additional opportunity to pass the examination or section thereof. This opportunity must be exercised within 180 days after the date of the first failure. An individual who passes the applicable state certification examination but fails to pass a section thereof for an IFSAC seal(s) will be given one additional opportunity to pass the section thereof. This opportunity must be exercised within two years after the date of the first attempt. An examinee who fails to pass the examination within the required time may not sit for the same examination again until the examinee has re-qualified by repeating the curriculum applicable to that examination.
6. (f) An individual may obtain a new certificate in a discipline which was previously held by passing a Commission proficiency examination.
7. (g) If an individual who has never held certification in a discipline defined in §421.5 of this title (relating to Definitions), seeks certification in that discipline, the individual shall complete all certification requirements.
8. (h) If an individual completes an approved training program that has been evaluated and deemed equivalent to a certification curriculum approved by the Commission, such as an out-of-state or military training program or a training program administered by the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas, the individual must pass a Commission examination for certification status and meet any other certification requirements in order to become eligible for certification by the Commission as fire protection personnel.

9. (i) An individual or entity may petition the Commission for a waiver of the examination required by this section if the person's certificate expired because of the individual's or employing entity's good faith clerical error, or expired as a result of termination of the person's employment where the person has been restored to employment through a disciplinary procedure or a court action. All required renewal fees including applicable late fees and all required continuing education must be submitted before the waiver request may be considered.

   1. (1) Applicants claiming good faith clerical error must submit a sworn statement together with any supporting documentation that evidences the applicant's good faith efforts to comply with Commission renewal requirements and that failure to comply was due to circumstances beyond the control of the applicant.
   2. (2) Applicants claiming restoration to employment as a result of a disciplinary or court action must submit a certified copy of the order, ruling or agreement restoring the applicant to employment.

Source Note:The provisions of this §439.1 adopted to be effective March 27, 2006, 31 TexReg 2700; amended to be effective December 3, 2006, 31 TexReg 9619; amended to be effective August 10, 2009, 34 TexReg 5413.