Access control installers in Delaware: who needs what

For this trade, responsibility sits with the Board of Electrical Examiners as well as the State Police in Delaware. Access control isn't named by either body, so which license you need depends on the door wiring and what the doors are linked to.

A company that links card readers to a burglar alarm is acting as a security alarm business. 24 Del. C. chapter 12 bars anyone from running that kind of business unless they are licensed by the State Police Professional Licensing Section. Under the law, an alarm system means equipment that signals a hazard police are expected to respond to.

The steps are spelled out on the State Police alarms page. Every licensed agency has to put up a cash or surety bond, and the license lasts 2 years. Anyone selling, installing or servicing alarms must hold a State Police ID card that stays valid 5 years.

You have to be 18 or older and clear a fingerprint background check to work. While working, the cardholder must keep the card on them and produce it on request. For that reason, tell the technician at your door you want to see their card.

• According to the state's Business First Steps index, a new agency license costs $25 and a renewal is $10.
• The worker's ID card runs $20, with an extra $69 for the fingerprint check.

Anything the National Electrical Code covers counts as electrical work in Delaware, and doing it calls for a state electrician license. Communication and low voltage contractors with energy-limited systems are exempt under the board's rule 10.1.6. Security and burglar systems appear on that list; low voltage fire alarm systems, however, are not included.

The board proposed getting rid of that exemption in 2025, noting that the National Electrical Code covers the work now. Should the change go into effect, an electrician license would become necessary for low voltage installers. Before you sign a contract, check with the board for the most current status.

The path for fire alarm wiring is a separate one. The electrical rules refer you to Fire Alarm Signaling licensees, which the Office of the State Fire Marshal gives out. Whenever your locks must release on a fire alarm, that tie-in counts as fire alarm work.

The 2024 Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) and the 2023 National Electrical Code are adopted through Delaware's State Fire Prevention Regulations. The codes set out how a maglock or powered latch must allow people to get out. Local permits come from your county or town building office.

Go to the Division of Professional Regulation's DELPROS License Look-Up. Pick individual or facility, then run a search. Any discipline also appears in the results. Ask an alarm company to show its State Police agency license.