1. (a) An individual who is employed as the head of a fire department, on or after March 1, 1999, must be certified by the commission, within one year of appointment. During the period of temporary appointment the individual must comply with the continuing education requirement specified in Chapter 441 of this title (relating to Continuing Education).

2. (b) In order to be certified as a head of a fire department providing fire suppression, an individual shall:

   1. (1) hold a certification as a fire protection personnel in any discipline that has a commission approved curriculum that requires structural fire protection personnel certification and five years experience in a full-time fire suppression position; or

   2. (2) provide documentation in the form of a sworn affidavit of ten years experience as an employee of a local governmental entity in a full-time structural fire protection personnel position in a jurisdiction other than Texas; and

      1. (A) document completion of continuing education, that meets the requirements of Chapter 441, for each year the individual has been out of the fire service up to a maximum of five (5) years; and
      2. (B) successfully pass a written commission examination based on the basic structural fire protection personnel curriculum as specified in Chapter 439 of this title (relating to Examinations for Certification); or
   3. (3) provide documentation in the form of a sworn affidavit of ten years of experience as a certified part-time fire protection employee; or
   4. (4) provide documentation in the form of a sworn affidavit of ten years experience as an active volunteer fire fighter in one or more volunteer fire departments that meet the requirements of subsection (c) of this section and successfully pass a written commission examination based on the basic structural fire protection personnel curriculum as specified in Chapter 439 of this title (relating to Examinations for Certification).
3. (c) The ten years of volunteer service must include documentation of attendance at 40% of the drills for each year and attendance of at least 25% of a department's emergencies in a calendar year while a member of a volunteer fire department or departments with 10 or more active members that conducts a minimum of 48 hours of drills in a calendar year.
4. (d) Individuals certified as the head of a fire department meeting the requirements of subsection (b)(2) and (b)(4) will receive a certification as head of a fire department providing fire suppression, and must meet the continuing education requirement as provided for in Chapter 441 of this title (relating to Continuing Education).
5. (e) For disciplines requiring emergency care attendant certification from the Texas Department of Health, the requirement may be satisfied by documentation of equivalent training or certification in lieu of current certification by the Texas Department of Health.
6. (f) Except as provided for under subsection (b) of this section, an individual who is not certified as structural fire protection personnel shall not engage in fire fighting activities including incident command, direction of fire fighting activities or other emergency activities typically associated with fire fighting duties, i.e. rescue, confined space and hazardous materials response.

7. (g) In order to be certified as the head of a fire department providing fire prevention activities only, an individual shall:

   1. (1) hold a certification as a fire inspector, fire investigator, or arson investigator and have five years of full-time experience in fire prevention activities; or

   2. (2) provide documentation in the form of a sworn affidavit of ten years experience with a local governmental entity in a full-time, part-time or volunteer fire inspector, fire investigator, or arson investigator position with ten years of experience in fire prevention activities; and

      1. (A) document completion of continuing education, that meets the requirements of Chapter 441, for each year the individual has been out of the fire service up to a maximum of five (5) years; and
      2. (B) successfully pass a written commission examination based on the basic inspector or investigator curriculum as specified in Chapter 439 of this title (relating to Examinations for Certification).
   3. (3) Individuals certified as the head of a fire department meeting the requirements of subsection (g)(2), but are not certified in another discipline, will receive a certification as head of a fire department providing fire prevention, and must meet the continuing education requirement as provided for in Chapter 441 of this title (relating to Continuing Education).
8. (h) Holding the head of a fire department certification does not qualify an individual for any other certification.
9. (i) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to supercede Chapter 143, Local Government Code, in regard to appointment of a head of a fire department.

Source Note:The provisions of this §449.1 adopted to be effective March 1, 1999, 24 TexReg 792.