How to verify a backflow tester

Verifying a backflow tester means matching the person to the credential your state and your water supplier accept. There is no single national lookup. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not publish a tester roster. Start with the state drinking-water or licensing page, then confirm the water supplier will take that person’s report for your assembly.

Where a public list exists

Oregon’s Drinking Water Services keeps a public tester list, and it says the list is voluntary. A tester must have a Construction Contractors Board or Landscape Contractors Board license to be on it. Absence from the list does not mean the person is uncertified. Presence on the list is not a complete substitute for checking the expiration date on the card. Certifications expire on December 31, on a cycle tied to the first letter of the last name.

Missouri’s Department of Natural Resources publishes a list of certified backflow prevention assembly testers and says the list is not an endorsement. Certification lasts three years and depends on ABPA or ASSE exams that include Missouri-rule questions, plus notice to the Department. An ABPA card from another state is not the Missouri certification until that notice step is done.

Utah’s Division of Drinking Water puts a tester search on its cross-connection page and says the Division does not endorse any tester or company. The tester certificate expires three years from the date the exams were passed. Use the search, then ask for the card. The Division also suggests getting more than one quote.

Massachusetts posts a spreadsheet of certified backflow testers and cross-connection surveyors on its public drinking-water operations page. Connecticut’s Drinking Water Section says to verify a certification in the state eLicense lookup. It also says its hire list is not an endorsement and is not everyone in the state. Louisiana’s Department of Health publishes an approved general-tester list. South Carolina’s Department of Environmental Services points customers to a listing of certified testers and says the Department itself is the certifying agency.

Washington’s Department of Health links a public list of Backflow Assembly Testers and a certification-verification tool, and it says testers provide the Department validation card when the water purveyor requires it. Use the state tool rather than a copy of an old card alone.

Where you check two credentials

Michigan’s FAQ says a public water supply may accept results only from a master plumber, a journey plumber, or a supervised apprentice who also holds valid ASSE 5110 certification. ASSE 5110 alone is not enough. Verify the plumber license through the state’s skilled-trades lookup and the ASSE certification through the ASSE search the FAQ names. Maryland requires both a Board-approved backflow certification and a master or journey plumber license before a person may certify the test.

Nevada says the Division of Environmental Protection does not keep a tester list. Ask for a current certificate from the California-Nevada Section of AWWA, from ABPA, or from another organization the Division has approved, and use the lookup those organizations provide. Arizona’s approved authorities are named on the Department of Environmental Quality page. Ask which of those authorities issued the card.

What to look at on the card

Check the person’s name, the credential title, and the expiration date. Oregon, Missouri, Utah, Tennessee, Mississippi, and South Carolina all use multi-year terms, so a card from several years ago may be dead. Tennessee’s public portal lets the holder view the certificate number, expiration, and status. Ask the tester to do that if you are unsure. Match the title to the job. A cross-connection specialist or program administrator is not automatically the field tester. See Tester and cross-connection specialist.

Then call the water supplier, or read the notice it sent. Some suppliers accept only their own form. Iowa’s tester rule says a registered tester uses the local administrative authority’s form when an ordinance requires it. A valid state registration plus the wrong form can still leave you out of compliance with the city.

If you cannot find a roster

Several states require cross-connection programs and do not publish a tester list. Florida, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Alaska’s drinking-water rule are examples from the state pages in this set. In those places, verification is a question to the water supplier: who will you accept, and how do I confirm that person? Write down the answer. Do not fill the gap with a national card the state page never names.

For the questions to ask on the phone, use Questions to ask before you hire a tester.