1. For Employment during the Contribution Period.



1. General Rule
   
   For periods during the Contribution Period, a Participant will be credited with Pension Credits on the basis of his Hours of Service in Covered Employment on which contributions to the Pension Fund were required to be made in accordance with the following schedule:
   
   

   Hours Within the Pension Calendar Year	Credits
   1700 or more	1.0
   1550 or more but less than 1700	.9
   1400 or more but less than 1550	.8
   1200 or more but less than 1400	.7
   1000 or more but less than 1200	.6
   950 or more but less than 1000	.5
   750 or more but less than 950	.4
   550 or more but less than 750	.3
   350 or more but less than 550	.2
   Less than 350	None

   
   
   

   For purposes of this Plan, a full year of participation equals 2000 Hours of Service in Covered Employment.

2. Hour Bank
   
   For any calendar year after 1979, Hours in excess of 1700 for which contributions have actually been received will be credited to an Hour Bank for each Participant.
   
   Hours will be withdrawn from the Participant's Hour Bank and credited to the Participant to provide additional tenths of Pension Credit for any year after 1974:
   
   
   1. during which a Participant is credited with at least two-tenths (.2) Pension Credit but less than one (1.0) Pension Credit, and
      
      
   2. in which the Participant has at least one (1) Hour of Service in Covered Employment but has not earned two-tenths (.2) Pension Credit due to an on-the-job injury in Covered Employment in that Calendar Year if a Social Security Disability Award is subsequently granted to the Participant with respect to a disability caused by that injury.
   
   
   
   No more than one (1) Pension Credit may be earned in any one (1) calendar year.
   
   Any Hours in a Participant's Hour Bank at the Effective Date of any pension are canceled. However, a Participant who returns to Covered Employment after Retirement or continues in Covered Employment after his Required Beginning Date will again have Hours in excess of 1700 for which contributions have actually been received credited to an Hour Bank which can be applied to service after the Participant’s initial Effective Date of Retirement or Required Beginning Date.
   
   No more than 3,400 Hours total may be credited to a Participant from his Hour Bank during all periods of service under the Plan.
   
   Pension Credit based on Hours withdrawn from a Participant's Hour Bank will be taken into account to determine if a Participant has incurred a Break in Continuity.
   
   
2. For Employment before the Contribution Period (Past Service).
   
   A Participant will be credited with Pension Credits for periods before the Contribution Period on the basis of his work in Covered Employment and will be granted credit subject to the following conditions and limitations:
   
   
   1. The maximum of such Pension Credits for any Employee will be twenty (20).
   
   
   
   2. Credit for fractions of a year will be granted in accordance with the following schedule:
   
   
   

   Fractions of a Year	Credit
   Less than 6 months	0.5 years
   6 months to 1 year	1.0 years

   
   
   3. Any Employee who has not reached his 65th birthday before the Participation Date of a Participating Sprinkler Local Union representing him will be granted his Pension Credits for continuous employment before the Participation Date if, and only if, during the four (4) year period which ends two (2) years after the Participation Date, the Employee had been employed by an Employer under a Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Employee was reported to this Fund or the National Automatic Sprinkler Industry Welfare Fund as having worked at least 4,000 Hours during that four (4) year period. However, if the Employee works fewer than 4,000 Hours during the four (4) year period, he will be granted Pension Credit for continuous employment before the Participation Date once he earns three (3) Pension Credits, for Hours for which contributions are required to be made and subject to all other applicable rules of the Plan; provided he earned at least two-tenths (.2) of a Pension Credit during the two (2) year period following the Participation Date and such Pension Credit is not canceled due to a subsequent Break in Service.
   
   
   

1. General Rule.
   A Participant will be credited with one (1) Year of Vesting Service for each Calendar Year during the Contribution Period (including periods before he became a Participant) in which he completed at least 950 Hours of Service in Covered Employment. This rule is subject to the following subsections.



2. Additions.
   
   
   1. If a Participant works for a Contributing Employer in a job not covered by this Plan and such employment is continuous with his employment with that Employer in Covered Employment, his Hours of Service in such non-covered job during the Contribution Period after December 31, 1975 will be counted toward a Year of Vesting Service.
   
   
   
   2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Participant works for a Contributing Employer as an apprentice in a category of apprenticeship not covered by this Plan, his Hours of Service in such non-covered apprentice category during the Contribution Period after December 31, 1975 will be counted toward Years of Vesting Service whether or not his employment with the Employer in a non-covered apprenticeship category is continuous with his employment with that Employer in Covered Employment.
      
      Vesting Service credited under this subsection (b)(2) which would not be credited under subsection (b)(1) is limited to two (2) years unless the approval of the Trustees is obtained by the parties to the Collective Bargaining Agreement under which an apprentice may be employed for more than two (2) years in a non-covered apprenticeship category.
   
   
   
   3. For purposes of this section, employment is continuous with Covered Employment if there is no resignation, discharge, or other termination of employment between the Covered Employment and the non-covered employment.
   
   
   
3. Exceptions.
   A Participant is not entitled to Vesting Service for the following periods:
   
   
   1. Years before a Permanent Break in Service as defined in Section 4.03 (d) for periods before January 1, 1976.
   
   
   
   2. Years before a Permanent Break in Service as defined in Section 4.03(c).
   
   
   
4. Application of Hour Bank to Vesting Service.
   For years after 1984 in which a Participant has at least two-tenths (.2) Pension Credit but has not met the requirements of Section 4.02(a) to be credited with a Year of Vesting Service, Pension Credit Hours in the Participant's Hour Bank under Section 4.01(a)(2) which are applied to provide additional tenths of Pension Credit are also applied to meet the requirements for a Year of Vesting Service under Section 4.02(a). No more than one (1) Year of Vesting Service may be earned in any one (1) calendar year.

1. General
   If a person has a Break-in-Service before he has earned Vested Status as defined in Section 7.10, it has the effect of canceling his plan participation, his previously credited Years of Vesting Service, and his previous Pension Credits. However, a Break-in-Service may be temporary, subject to repair by a sufficient amount of subsequent service. A longer Break-in-Service may be permanent.
   
   If Pension Credits for Employment before the Contribution Period are canceled under Section 8.04, and an Employee earns at least one (1) additional Pension Credit with another Contributing Employer before suffering a Permanent Break-in-Service, all Pension Credits lost as a result of the Employer's termination will be restored.
   
   
2. One-Year Break in Service.
   
   
   1. A person has a One-Year Break in Service in any Calendar Year after 1975 in which he fails to earn two-tenths (.2) of a Pension Credit during a Calendar Year.
   
   
   
   2. Employment with a Contributing Employer in non-covered employment after December 31, 1975, if creditable under Section 4.02(b), and total disability established to the satisfaction of the Trustees is counted as if it were Covered Employment in determining whether a Break-in-Service has been incurred.
   
   
   
   3. A One-Year Break-in-Service is repairable, in the sense that its effects are eliminated if, before incurring a Permanent Break-in-Service, the Employee subsequently earns a Year of Vesting Service (950 Hours). Previously earned Years of Vesting Service and Pension Credits will be restored. However, nothing in this paragraph (3) will change the effect of a Permanent Break-in-Service.
   
   
   
   4. Solely for the purpose of determining whether a One-Year Break-in-Service has occurred, the absence of an Employee from Service by reason of (A) her pregnancy, (B) birth of a child of the Employee, (C) placement of a child with the Employee in connection with his or her adoption of the child, or (D) care for such child for a period beginning immediately after such birth or placement will be credited as Hours of Service to the extent that Hours of Service would have been credited but for such absence (or, where that cannot be determined, eight Hours of Service per day of absence) to a maximum of 501 Hours for each such pregnancy, childbirth or placement. The Hours so credited will be applied to the Calendar Year in which such absence begins, if doing so will prevent the Employee from incurring a One-Year Break-in-Service in that Calendar Year; otherwise they will be applied to the next Calendar Year. The Trustees may require, as a condition for granting such credit, that the Employee establish in a timely fashion and to the satisfaction of the Trustees that the Employee is entitled to such credit. This subparagraph will apply only to absences that begin after December 31, 1984.
   
   
   
   5. For purposes of determining whether a Break-in-Service has occurred, employment solely as a fire sprinkler inspector for the federal government or a state, county, municipal or other government or agency is counted as if it were Covered Employment provided that an Employee has a total of fifteen (15) years of Pension Credit without respect to any Break-in -Service, prior to leaving Covered Employment to become a sprinkler inspector.
   
   
   
3. Permanent Break in Service after 1975.
   A person has a Permanent Break-in-Service if he has consecutive One-Year Breaks-in-Service, including at least one (1) after 1975, that equal or exceed the number of Years of Vesting Service with which he had been credited.
   
   However, an Employee will not have a Permanent Break-in-Service after December 31, 1985 until he has at least five (5) consecutive One-Year Breaks-in-Service.



4. Permanent Break in Service before 1976.
   A person who had not met the service requirements for a pension had a Permanent Break-in-Service before January 1, 1976, if he was not credited with at least two-tenths (.2) of a Pension Credit during the Contribution Period during at least one of two consecutive calendar years.



5. Effect of a Permanent Break in Service.
   If a person who has not met the requirements for a pension has a Permanent Break-in-Service, his previous Pension Credits, Years of Vesting Service and Hours in his Hour Bank are canceled.



6. Effect of Working in Non-Reciprocal Local for Purposes of Permanent Break in Service
   An individual who is a Participant on or after January 1, 2000, and who has incurred a Permanent Break-in-Service, will have a period of employment with a non-reciprocal pension plan affiliated with a United Association local union counted as if it were Covered Employment in determining whether a Permanent Break-in-Service has occurred, provided such period of employment is documented to the satisfaction of the Trustees.

An Employee who takes a leave of absence under the terms of the Family and Medical Leave Act will have that period of leave credited towards Vesting Service to the extent required under that Act. Periods of leave provided under the Family and Medical Leave Act will not be counted towards a Break-in-Service.

Periods of military service in any of the Armed Forces of the United States will be credited for purposes of this Plan to the extent required under the Military Selective Service Act, as amended, and any other applicable federal law.

Notwithstanding any provision of this plan to the contrary, contributions, benefits and service credit with respect to qualified military service will be provided in accordance with Section 414(u) of the Code. The liability for funding any obligation of the Plan to provide benefits in accordance with Section 414(u) of the Code will be allocated to the Plan.

When Employees covered by this Plan are working in jurisdictions covered by other pension plans which have reciprocal agreements with this Plan, and pension contributions received by the other plans from Employers are reciprocated to this Plan, Pension Credit will be granted to those Employees by this Plan in accordance with its Rules, proportionately, based on the amount of hourly contribution reciprocated, up to a maximum of one (1) Pension Credit per Calendar Year.

Solely for the purpose of determining eligibility for a Disability Pension under Section 3.07, Pension Credit will be granted to those Employees without a proportionate reduction based on the hourly contribution rate. Hours transferred for this purposes are counted only for purposes of determining eligibility and are not taken into account for purposes of computing the amount of the Disability Pension.

The Pension Plan for Road Sprinkler Fitters Local Union No. 669 became effective April 1, 1957. The first benefits became payable two years later as of April 1, 1959. Benefit payments for other Sprinkler Fitter Local Unions became effective two years after each Local Union's Participation Date as shown below.

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