What Utah requires of an access control installer

Jobs that don't require a contractor license are listed by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL). Under the construction trades rule, installing power-limited circuits of class two or class three, as the National Electrical Code defines them, is on that list.

Low-energy cabling called power-limited circuits sits behind most strikes, request-to-exit buttons, keypads and readers. If that wiring is all a project uses, it is exempt. If the power supply needs its own new line-voltage circuit, that is electrical work; Utah licenses it with contractor classes like E200 General Electrical Contractor.

Equipment that detects and signals an unauthorized intrusion or entry, or signals a robbery, is what Utah calls an alarm system. An alarm company is any firm that sells, installs, services or monitors systems of that kind. Door contacts that signal forced entry to a burglar panel land on that side of the line.

A licensed alarm company or a licensed agent of an alarm company must handle alarm company work, under state law. Owners get one exception. Where the owner owns the system, the owner or the owner's employee may do the work.

The burglar alarm company application sets out the requirements to enter the field. Next, each technician needs an individual alarm company agent license, which begins with submitting fingerprint cards.

• The firm's qualifying agent must be one of its officers, directors, partners, proprietors or managers.
• The agent must have put in 6,000 hours at an alarm company and another 2,000 hours in a management job.
• The agent is required to pass the Qualifying Agent exam.
• Liability insurance: $300,000 per incident, with a total of at least $1,000,000, plus workers compensation.

You search DOPL's Licensee Lookup and Verification System by a name and profession, or by a license number. Verify the alarm company and, if line voltage is involved, check the electrical contractor as well.

The state construction code applies to exit doors equipped with maglocks. That code, under Utah Code 15A-2-103, adopts the 2024 International Building Code and the 2023 National Electrical Code, plus state and local amendments. Before any work begins, talk to the local building official about permits, since that official enforces the code.

Wiring that is power-limited Class 2 or Class 3 appears on DOPL's exempt list. An owner's employee may still work on the owner's alarm system under state law, even if that keypad arms an intrusion alarm.