Backflow Certification
To become a certified backflow tester you will have to take a course lasting a minimum of 30 hours. These courses are put on by the authority having jurisdiction in your area and are to the standards of the AWWA(American Water Works Association). You will be required to purchase the cross connection control manual and pay a fee, to be determined by the course provider (mine was $800). Upon completion of the course you will be certified to test backflow preventers for a maximum of 5 years before you will need to recertify(basically a shortened, 9 hour version of the same course).
Although the backflow certification course is open to a wide variety of occupations; such as: plumbers, sprinkler fitters, pipe fitters, engineers, building maintenance workers and so on. They may not be eligible to test in their jurisdiction, as some municipalities will have more stringent standards; IE: journeymen for 5 years. You should consult your municipal authority prior to taking the course for regulations in your area.
Backflow Certification Course Outline
- Theory
- History
- Legal and health aspects
- Local codes and bylaws
- Forms, tags
- Symbols and abbreviations
- Types of backflow prevention devices and how they operate
- Hazard classification and device selection
- Hands on testing of all devices
- Written exam with a minimum pass mark of 75%