BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 759
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 759 (Daly)
As Amended March 28, 2014
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 23, 2013) |SENATE: |33-0 |(April 7, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: B., P. & C.P.
SUMMARY : Expands the locksmith licensure exemption to include a
person who is licensed, certified, or registered with the Bureau
of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) pursuant to the
Alarm Company Act, if the locksmithing duties of that person are
performed in combination with the installation or maintenance of
an alarm system, as specified, and limited to work on electronic
locks or access control devices that are controlled by an alarm
system.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Exempt any person licensed, certified, or registered with BSIS
under the Alarm Company Act from locksmithing requirements, as
specified, if the duties of that person's position that
constitute locksmithing are performed in combination with the
installation, maintenance, moving, repairing, replacing,
servicing, or reconfiguration of an alarm system as defined,
and limited to work on electronic locks or access control
devices that are controlled by an alarm system control device,
including the removal of existing hardware.
2)Make technical and conforming changes.
3)Declare that the bill is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Licenses and regulates, generally, alarm companies and
employees, locksmith companies and locksmiths, security
guards, proprietary private security employers and officers,
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private investigators, private patrol operators, and
repossession agencies and their employees by the BSIS within
the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
2)Licenses and regulates locksmiths and registers employees of
locksmiths by the BSIS under the locksmith law. (Business and
Professions Code (BPC) Section 6980 et seq.)
3)Defines "locksmith" to mean any person who, for any
consideration or compensation, engages in the business of
rekeying, installing, repairing, opening or modifying locks,
or who originates keys for locks, including electronic cloning
of transponder keys and any other electronic programming of
automotive keys and electronic operating devices, such as key
fobs, door and ignition key devices, and successive electronic
and other high-security key technology, and does not include a
person whose activities are limited to making a duplicate key
from an existing key. (BPC Section 6980(j))
4)Prohibits a person from engaging in the activities of a
locksmith unless he or she holds a valid locksmith license, is
registered under the locksmith law, or is exempt from the
provisions of the locksmith law. (BPC Section 6980.10)
5)Exempts from locksmith licensing requirements certain
individuals and practices, including tow truck operators,
retail services limited to rekeying and recombination of
locks, law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency
medical personnel, and new motor vehicle dealers. (BPC
Section 6980.12)
6)Exempts from locksmith licensing requirements a person
registered with the BSIS as an employee of a repossessor, if
the duties constituting locksmithing are ancillary to the
primary duties and functions of the person's position. (BPC
Section 6980.12(e))
7)Licenses and regulates alarm company operators and certifies
and registers employees of alarm companies, including alarm
agents, under the Alarm Company Act. (BPC Section 7590 et
seq.)
8)Defines "alarm company operator" to mean any person who, for
any consideration, engages in business or accepts employment
to install, maintain, alter, sell, monitor, or service alarm
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systems, or who responds to alarm systems, except for any
alarm agent, as specified. (BPC Section 7590.2)
9)Defines "alarm agent" to mean a person employed by an alarm
company operator whose duties include selling on premises,
altering, installing, maintaining, moving, repairing,
replacing, servicing, responding, or monitoring an alarm
system, or a person who manages or supervises a person
employed by an alarm company to perform any of those duties or
any person in training for any of those duties. (BPC Section
7590.1(o))
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS :
1)This bill expands the locksmith license exemption to include
an alarm company operator or employee if the locksmithing
duties of that person are performed in combination with the
installation or maintenance of an alarm system, as specified,
in order to reflect new technologies in alarm systems and
eliminate duplicative licensure requirements. Authorizing
alarm companies to install and maintain locks that are part of
an alarm system and for which they have special expertise
without requiring dual licensure or the use of an outside
professional would reduce the cost of doing business, which
would also benefit consumers. The bill is sponsored by ADT
Security Services.
2)According to the author, "Currently, [some] alarm companies
are required by law to undergo two background checks by the
Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) as both
an alarm company and as locksmiths.
"Since some security systems allow the ability to remotely lock
and unlock doors, BSIS has determined that alarm companies
must obtain a secondary locksmith license to continue business
operations.
"Current [statutes] relating to alarm companies [do] not reflect
the emerging home automation security market. Home automation
security systems include the ability to control locks, turn
off lights remotely, open and close window blinds, and adjust
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room temperature. Installation and altering of locking
mechanisms is a major service component of these security
systems.
"Whereas locksmiths must be licensed by the state, certain
professions such as tow truck operators and re-possessors are
not required to do so. [This bill] streamlines state law on
locksmith licensing requirements, as well as reflects
technological advances in home security systems, by exempting
alarm companies from locksmith licensing requirements if the
management of locks is part of their service models.
"Recent Senate [amendments] further clarified the conditions
upon which an exemption would apply for alarm companies."
3)Many alarm companies incorporate the use of electronic
surveillance systems that monitor door locks and allow the
alarm company or the owner to remotely lock and unlock doors
of a building. Under existing law, only a licensed locksmith
can install and maintain such a system. Therefore, in order
for a licensed alarm company to install door locking devices
in an alarm system, the alarm company must either obtain a
locksmith license or employ or hire a licensed locksmith.
SB 1077 (Price), Chapter 291, Statutes of 2012, authorized alarm
companies to be organized and licensed by BSIS as a limited
liability company (LLC). Initially, alarm companies licensed
as LLCs sought to become licensed as locksmiths; however, it
was found that licensed locksmiths are not authorized to
organize as LLCs. In addition, since the practice of
locksmithing and alarm companies are both licensed and
regulated by BSIS, both types of licensees must undergo
criminal background checks by the BSIS.
The proponents of this bill contend that requiring an alarm
company to also be licensed as a locksmith is unnecessary and
duplicative, since both are under the jurisdiction of the
BSIS, and that the bill makes clear that the exemption only
applies to door locks that are part of an overall alarm
system.
4)According to the sponsors, "Advances in technology have
allowed traditional alarm companies to expand their system
capabilities to include additional features. Alarm companies
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can now offer customers the ability to receive text and video
alerts from their homes, view real time video, remotely adjust
and monitor the heating and air conditioning systems for
comfort or energy efficiency, and control lighting and door
locks as part of the overall alarm system.
"Recently, it has come to our attention, and that of BSIS, that
alarm companies be licensed and background checked as both
alarm companies and as locksmiths due to the fact that some
security systems include the ability to remotely lock and
unlock doors. This double-licensure is required despite the
fact that these locks are ancillary to the work alarm
companies perform. Licensing requirements and other
regulations should be commensurate with the responsibilities
performed. In this case, requiring alarm companies to also
hold locksmith licenses is duplicative and unnecessary.
"[This bill] builds on an existing exemption within the
Locksmith law that was provided to the repossessor industry.
The door locks that are included in this exemption are as much
a part of the alarm system as all the components that make up
that system, and [the] recent amendments make it clear that
the exemption is only for locks that are part of an overall
alarm system. Alarm companies will continue to be fully
licensed as Alarm Companies, but we do not believe that they
should need a second, duplicative license from the BSIS to
offer their products within the State of California."
5)According to the California Locksmith's Association (CLA),
"Employees of alarm companies would not be required to follow
the consumer protection requirements provided in the Locksmith
Act. Fragmenting the Locksmith Industry would make it more
difficult to regulate.
"[This] bill would cause confusion. Two different technicians
(lock and alarm) while performing the same type of work on the
same type of door would be held to two different standards.
One would have to follow the Locksmith Act and one would not.
The consumer would not know that they are not afforded the
same level of consumer protection. There would be no state
oversight of the locksmithing activities alarm companies would
be providing under the exemption proposed by [this bill].
"There is no urgent need for the California Legislature to enact
AB 759 as an urgency measure. Instead of the proposed
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expedited rush towards a new exemption from consumer
protection, the development and implementation of new
technologies in the field of home automation security systems
support a thorough review of these technologies and the
identification of appropriate protections for consumers who
purchase these products and services. There is no finding
that the California Locksmith Act is preventing consumers from
promptly securing residential and business properties using
alarm systems with automated locking features that warrants
the AB 759-proposed exemption from the Act."
6)This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved version of this bill was deleted. This
bill, as amended in the Senate, is inconsistent with the
Assembly actions and the provisions of this bill, as amended
in the Senate, have not been heard in an Assembly policy
committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Eunie Linden / B., P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0003137