Finding an access control installer in North Carolina

Work on door access in North Carolina is handled by 2 separate boards. "Monitored access control" installers and service providers are treated as a security systems business by Chapter 74D, the Security Systems Licensing Act.

To do that work, a firm must hold a license issued by the Security Systems Licensing Board, which sits within the Department of Public Safety. As stated on the board's license requirements page, a licensed firm needs to have a full-time employee who carries an electrical license. That credential is granted by the State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors.

Readers, keypads and door strikes are powered by thin, power-limited wiring, which is what low voltage describes. It means wiring of 50 volts or less and the control circuits that belong to it, per the board’s rules in 21 NCAC 18B. This exact wiring is what the SP-FA/LV special restricted class covers.

You may tie into a disconnect or junction box that was put in for the system by someone else if you hold SP-FA/LV. You must have 3,000 hours of experience, with at least 2,000 of them being primary. A special restricted license runs for 1 year from issuance and costs $100 annually.

The firm must submit liability insurance proof before the security systems license can be granted. The law requires at least $250,000 for 1 injured person, $500,000 for 2 or more people, and $100,000 in property damage coverage. The license is automatically suspended if that certificate lapses.

There is a screening step for technicians too. A licensed firm has 30 days from hiring to register its installers with the board, supplying fingerprints and a photo.

Buyers also get legal protection. If the person who sells, installs or services a security system is unlicensed or unregistered, the contract is void and cannot be enforced.

Typically, a security license goes to a company officer known as the qualifying agent. Alarm credentials from other states are not accepted here, so even a firm from a nearby state must get a North Carolina license.

• Look up a security license on the board’s active licensees list with a person’s name, company name or licensee number.
• To check an electrical license, search the board’s Verify License Search for a limited, intermediate or unlimited class, or the Special Restricted Fire Alarm/Low Voltage one.
• Request the technician’s registration card, which the board issues, while they are on site.

On an exit route, magnetic locks and powered strikes must still release so anyone can leave. The Office of the State Fire Marshal lists the 2018 North Carolina Building Code, drawn from the 2015 IBC, as the current code. Since November 1, 2021, the 2020 North Carolina Electrical Code has been in force.

Lawmakers postponed a more recent 2024 code package that contains a 2023 electrical code. The 2018 code remains in effect until its replacement gets a start date.

Yes, but only in a specific situation. Under Chapter 74D, a lock is exempt if it collects entry and exit logs but never transmits them live to a monitoring point. The installer has to carry a license granted by the North Carolina Locksmith Licensing Board.