Maryland Backflow Tester Certification Courses
32-hour Certification Backflow Class Schedule ( $900 )
We are offering private courses only for the state of Maryland, check out our private course program
Minimum of 5 students for Maryland Private Courses
8-hour Backflow Renewal Class Schedule ( $350 )
We are offering private courses only for the state of Maryland, check out our private course program
DLLR, WSSC, and DC Approvals
For Maryland State, Our 32 and 8 hour courses are approved by the Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation - Plumbing Board. This course is mostly taken as a pre-requisite for a plumbing license application or required to keep a license registered with the state or a county.
For WSSC, I am not completely sure that they would accept the certificates for the plumbing license, they should accept it for testing backflow preventers though, we did make a submission to them with our ABPA / ASSE credentials but have not heard back. The instructor is supposed to be listed on a WSSC instructors list, but I can't seem to find it online any more.
For Washington DC, our 32-hour course and single party examination has been acceptable to DC Water for many years. You just submit your diploma with some other information directly to DC Water
More Information About our New Course Version
We are currently offering the same single party certification program that has become very popular with the regulators and students alike that we offer in New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts at the same price, and is interchangeable with many other states and can use as an "out of state license" qualification to sit for the Virginia DPOR backflow tester qualifications
It is a 32-hour program over four 8-hour days ( no other state regulated programs allow a 32-hour course to be done in three days with homework, the way we had done it in the past and almost all course providers in Maryland currently do it ), the testing procedures utilized are the USC 10th Edition version using a 2 valve test kit, including supplemental auxiliary procedures that are often required by local jurisdictions.
There is a closed book ( no study aids ) written examination, you have to get a 70% to pass, questions will be scrambled, if you are caught cheating you will fail. If a student does not speak and write English to a professional proficiency, there is basically a zero percent chance the student will pass, please do not set up a class for recent immigrants and bring up that you just paid me a whole lot of money, integrity during examinations is more important when you have a reputable organization across multiple states.
There is a closed book ( no study aids ) practical examination, you have to test the RP, DCV, and PVB and fill out a testing report form, this will include simulated failures on at least one of the devices.
We do allow retakes for the examination if you fail, the retake cannot take place on the same day as the failed exam.
See below some videos including prep materials and powerpoint slides we use:
The Complete Guide to Testing Backflow Preventers - By the Book
What are Backflow Preventers and How to Test Them
Explanation of Types of Check Valves and Testing Procedures
Air Inlet & Relief Valves including General Testing Procedures
Statement from the President on Revised Instructor Credentials
As you may or may not be aware, we had a few instructors over the years, including myself ( Dustin ), also with my father before ( Charlie ), where the instructors held the UF/TREEO instructor's certification. It was a very simple program back then, you went to Gainesville, FL, for a week, passed their exam with at least 90%, and then just went on your way. Many of the instructors in the state used this program.
TREEO ended up changing up their instructors program a month or so before I was eligible to renew, the license lasted 5 years, so I guess they waited until that exact moment to decide to change it, and then had a series of extensions, and we have been excluded from it since then at their discretion ( June 2023 was the end of the final extension ). I don't believe this was due to any specific issue with our courses or like general qualifications or integrity related issue, just a preference on their end.
So, I went and got some additional instructor qualifications, including a proctor's certification from ABPA (the Certification Chairman for ABPA is also the Director of USC/FCCHR Henry Chang, or he was in the recent past, and they use USC 10th Edition testing procedures exclusively); they are the gold standard for third party backflow certifications and written / practical examinations. You should definitely check them out and join their association if you are involved in the backflow industry. We also got certified with IAMPO / ASSE and they told me I scored a 98/100 on their exam via email. My first thought was " which two did I miss " but I guess no one is perfect, probably misread the question or the answer. Both organizations are very professional and nationally recognized in every conceivable way, and I learned a lot from both. These two licenses serve as a statement of competency for me to instruct our courses in Maryland since COMAR lists both of them in their instructor requirements.
We submitted these credentials to the DLLR Board for Plumbing in November 2024 and received a confirmation at one of their meetings from the General Secretary that they received them. There was no vote on acceptance, or any discussion, they called up new business and waited like 20 seconds so maybe I was supposed to say something, they could have also said something, but I didn't think it was necessary after one of our past students brought to my attention that DLLR never removed my name as a Board Approved Instructor, despite formal communications between them and myself about the lapse in the TREEO license and it has been 2 years now. We always had an in house instructors certification for proctoring single party exams that is set up the same way as ASSE's instructor's program and accepted by 10+ states, I am taking their silence as a tacit approval for these changes and an understanding of the situation, I do not want to force them to vote on it, sitting in on their meetings, they always have a lot of very serious things going on I don't want to distract from their normal business. So basically I am planning to sit in on their board meetings and be available for questions if they have them. If they don't like the new system, I can try to put something else together, but these additional certifications and my decade of experience and commitment to integrity in the certification process should be sufficient. It is ultimately up to their discretion on who to accept for backflow training and also their scope is much larger including all plumbing and gas related training and licensing.
Thanks - Dustin Kruger
Which Backflow Preventer Testing Procedures Should I Use?
We have found the USC-10th Edition testing procedures to be the most efficient. On our YouTube Channel, we created a series of videos where we test the four types of preventers using these procedures:
The Complete Guide to Testing Backflow Preventers - By the Book
Reduced Pressure Principle (RPZ) - USC 2-Valve Procedures
Double Check Valve Assembly (DCV) - USC Procedures
Pressure Vacuum Breaker (PVB) - USC Procedures
Spill Resistant Vacuum Breaker (SVB) - USC Procedures
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