# Write a testing scope providers can answer

Lesson 1 of [Choose and review backflow testing](https://backflowtesters.fyi/academy/choose-and-review-backflow-testing.md), 12 minutes.

## Describe the job before comparing offers

A backflow testing enquiry should identify the work you are buying. Routine testing of known assemblies is different from identifying unknown equipment, investigating a failed result or replacing protection. Write the request in plain language, and ask providers to identify assumptions. This lesson offers a purchasing method; it does not prescribe technical testing procedures or an official contract form.

Start with the service address and water supplier. Include the supplier's notice and any previous report. Seattle's test form identifies the facility, service address and preventer's physical location as distinct fields. A large address may have more than one assembly, so “test the building” can leave uncertainty about which equipment the price covers.

## Build an assembly list

For each known assembly, provide its location, type, make, model, serial number and size if those details are available. Seattle's report contains these identity fields. Keep a separate entry when there are multiple assemblies, even if their models match. Write “not known” for missing information instead of assuming that nearby equipment is the item on an old report.

Ask the provider to confirm the inventory when attending and to flag a mismatch before reporting against the wrong identity. If access or identity needs a separate visit, ask how that will be handled in the proposal. A clear list makes it possible to compare the same scope across several offers without inventing a standard market price.

## State the result you need

A useful requested deliverable is a completed test report for each assembly in scope, together with the agreed submission evidence. Seattle's form separates initial testing, cleaning or repairs and final testing. Ask the provider to explain what its routine testing price covers if the initial result is a failure. Do not treat a promise to “make it compliant” as a complete explanation of the work and paperwork.

Seattle requires testing after repair or replacement. Loudoun Water also requires a failed device to be repaired or replaced and retested under its local programme. Ask your own authority what the local follow-up process requires, then ensure the proposal explains who will arrange that follow-up. Keep testing, repair approval and retesting visible as separate decisions, even if one provider can perform the whole job.

## Check eligibility before confirming

Ask for the attending tester's credential details and confirm that the local programme accepts them. Seattle also requires the tester's current certification and test-kit calibration documents in its system before reports can be submitted. Ask whether the provider has completed the authority's current registration or document requirements. This is a check on local acceptance, not a claim that every authority uses Seattle's process.

Discuss who is responsible for access and who can authorise extra work. Ask whether testing affects service and what arrangements the provider needs from you. Do not promise uninterrupted operation on the provider's behalf. If a fire-protection connection is involved, ask the relevant responsible parties what coordination is required before work is booked.

## Put open items into the request

End with a short list of questions: which assemblies are included, who will test, what happens after a failure, what paperwork is supplied and who submits it. Ask for written answers so each offer can be read against the same request. The purpose is to remove avoidable ambiguity, not to select an assembly type or direct the tester's method. Those technical decisions remain with the competent provider and responsible authority.

## Sources

- https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/SPU/Services/Water/SPU_Backflow-Preventer-Inspection-Field-Test-Report_2023.pdf
- https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/water/water-quality/backflow-prevention/backflow-testing
- https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/water/water-quality/backflow-prevention/requirements-and-devices
- https://www.loudounwater.org/residential-customers/cross-connection-backflow

Also on the [web page](https://backflowtesters.fyi/academy/choose-and-review-backflow-testing/write-a-testing-scope).